MILTON's

WORK S.

PARADISE LO S T.

THE

VERSE.

HE measure is English heroic verfe without rhyme, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; rhyme being no neceffary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verfe, in longer works efpecially, but the invention of a barbarous age, to fet off wretched matter and lame meter; graced indeed fince by the ufe of fome famous modern poets, carried away by custom, but much to their vexation, hindrance, and conftraint to exprefs many things otherwife, and for the most part worse than elfe they would have expreffed them, Not without caufe therefore fome both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note have rejected rhyme both in longer and fhorter works, as have alfo long fince our beft English tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true mufical delight; which confifts only in apt numbers, fit quantity of fyllables, and the fenfe variouйly drawn out from one verfe into another, not in the ingling found of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned Ancients both in poetry and all good oratory. This neglect then of rhyme fo little is to be taken for a defect, though it may feem fo perhaps to vulgar readers, that it rather is to be efteemed an example fet, the first in English, of ancient liberty recovered to heroic poem, from the troublefome and modern bondage of rhyming.

BOOK I.

THE ARGUMENT.

This firft Book propofes, firft in brief, the whole fubject, Man's difobedience, and the lofs thereupon of Paradife wherein he was plac'd: Then touches the prime caufe of his fall, the Serpent, or rather Satan in the ferpent; who revolting from God, and drawing to his fide many legions of Angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven with all his crew into the great deep. Which action pafs'd over, the poem haftes into the midst of things, prefenting Satan with his Angels now falling into Hell, defcrib'd here, not in the center (for Heaven and Earth may be fuppos'd as yet not made, certainly not yet accurs'd) but in a place of utter darkneis, fitlieft call'd Chaos: Here Satan with his Angels lying on the burning lake, thunder-ftruck and aftonish'd, after a certain fpace recovers, as from confufion, calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him; they confer of their miferable fall. Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the fame manner confounded: They rife, their numbers, array of battel, their chief leaders nam'd, according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan and the countries adjoining. To thefe Satan directs his speech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them laftly of a new world and a new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy or report in Heaven; for that Angels were long before this visible

creation, was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers to a full council. What his affociates thence attempt. Pandemonium the palace of Satan rifes fuddenly built out of the deep: The infernal

VOL. II.

peers

there fit in council.

Ο

BOOK I.

Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whofe mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With lofs of Eden, till one greater Man
Reftore us, and regain the blissful feat,
Sing, heav'nly Mufe, that on the fecret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That fhepherd, who first taught the chofen feed,
In the beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rofe out of Chaos: Or if Sion hill

And reft can never dwell, hope never com
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning fulphur unconfum'd:
Such place eternal Justice had prepar'd
For thofe rebellious, here their pris'on crda
In utter darkness, and their portion fet
5 As far remov'd from God and light of Heave
As from the center thrice to th' utmost por
O how unlike the place from whence they
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhel
With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous
He foon difcerns, and welt'ring by his fide
One next himself in pow'r, and next in ca
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bol
Breaking the horrid filence thus began.

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15

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Faft by the oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song,
That with no middle flight intends to foar
Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in profe or rhyme.
And chiefly Thou, O Spi'rit, that dost prefer
'Before all temples th' upright heart and pure,
Inftruct me, for Thou know'ft; Thou from the firft
Waft prefent, and with mighty wings outfpread 29
Dove-like fatft brooding on the vast abyss,
And mad'ft it pregnant; what in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the height of this great argument
I may affert eternal Providence,
And juftify the ways of God to Men.

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35

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell, fay first what cause
Mov'd our grand parents, in that happy state,
Favor'd of Heav'n fo highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and tranfgrefs his will
For one restraint, lords of the world befides?
Who first feduc'd them to that foul revolt?
Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile,
Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceiv'd
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had caft him out from Heav'n, with all his hoft
Of rebel Angels, by whofe aid aspiring
To fet himself in glory' above his peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God
Rais'd impious war in Heav'n and battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the almighty Power
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky,
With hideous ruin and combuftion, down
To bottomlefs perdition, there to dwell
In adamiantin chains and penal fire,

Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms.

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If thou beeft he; but O thou fall'n! how
From him, who in the happy realms of ligh
Myriads though bright! If he whom mutual
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst
United thoughts and counfels, equal hope
And hazard in the glorious enterprise,
Join'd with me once, now mifery hath join
In equal ru'in into what pit thou feest
From what highth fall'n,fo much the stronger
He with his thunder: and till then who knew
Nor what the potent victor in his rage
The force of those dire arms? yet not for thi
Can elfe inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward luftre, that fix'd
And high disdain from fenfe of injur'd ment
That with the Mightiest rais'd me to conten
And to the fierce contention brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd,

That durft diflike his reign, and me preferr
His utmost pow'r with adverfe pow'r oppo
In dubious battel on the plains of Heaven,
And fhook his throne. What though the field be
All is not loft; th' unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to fubmit or yield,
And what is elfe not to be overcome;
That glory never shall his wrath or might
Extort from me. To bow and fue for grace
Who from the terror of this arm fo late
With fuppliant knee, and deify his power,
Doubted his empire; that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy' and shame beneath
This downfall; fince by fate the strength of Ga
And this empyreal substance cannot fail,

Nine times the space that measures day and night 50 Since through experience of this great event

55

To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquish'd, rolling in the fiery gulf,
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Referv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of loft happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witnefs'd huge affliction and difmay
Mix'd with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once, as far as Angels ken, he views
The difmal fituation wafte and wild;

A dungeon horrible on all fides round

60

In arms not worse, in forefight much advanc',
We may with more fuccefsful hope refolve
Irreconcileable to our grand foe,
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven.
Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy

So fpake th' apoftate Angel, though in pain, tif
Vaunting aloud, but rack'd with deep despair:
And him thus anfwer'd foon his bold compeer.
O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers,
That led th' imbattel'd Seraphim to war

As one great furnace flam'd, yet from those flames Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds

No light, but rather darknefs vifible

Serv'd only to discover fights of woe,

Fearless, indanger'd Heav'n's perpetual king,
And put to proof his high fupremacy,

Regions of forrow, doleful fhades, where peace 65 Whether upheld by ftrength, or chance, or fatt

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ach could have o'er-pow'r'd fuch force as ours) o'ereft us this our fpi'rit and strength entire mperly to fuffer and fupport our pains, by he may fo fuffice his vengeful ire, next him mightier fervice as his thralls

andr

7, WO

ht of war, whate'er his business bc, Ere the heart of Hell to work in fire, his errands in the gloomy deep; can it then avail, though yet we feel inth undiminish'd, or eternal being lasdergo eternal punishment?.

Created hugeft that swim th' ocean stream:
Him haply flumb'ring on the Norway foam
The pilot of fome finall night-founder'd skiff
Deeming fome iland, oft, as fea-men tell,
With fixed anchor in his skaly rind
Moors by his fide under the lce, while night
Invests the fea, and wifhed morn delays:

205

So stretch'd out huge in length the Arch-Fiend lay
Chain'd on the burning lake, nor ever thence 210
Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will
And high permiffion of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might

Heap on himself damnation, while he fought 215
Evil to others, and enrag'd might fee
How all his malice ferv'd but to bring forth
150 Infinite goodness, grace and mercy, shown
On Man by him feduc'd, but on himself
Treble confufion, wrath and vengeance pour'd. 220
Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool
His mighty ftature; on each hand the flames
Driv'n backward slope their pointing fpires, and roll'd
In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale.
Then with expanded wings he stears his flight 225
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air

155

nesto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend reply'd. omn Cherub, to be weak is miferable

uali

or fuffering: but of this be fare, prie ought good never will be our task, her to do ill our fole delight, feeling the contrary to his high will

be tra

t not s

marge

e to

we refift. If then his providence a four evil feek to bring forth good, abor must be to pervert that end, out of good still to find means of evil; h oft-times may fucceed, so as perhaps grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb moft counfels from their deftin'd aim. ee the angry victor hath recall'd

ninifters of vengeance and pursuit

That felt unufual weight, till on dry land
160 He lights, if it were land that ever burn'd
With folid, as the lake with liquid fire;
And fuch appear'd in hue, as when the force 230
Of fubterranean wind tranfports a hill/
Torn from Pelorus, or the fhatter'd fide
165 Of thund'ring Ætna, whofe combustible
And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire,
Sublim'd with mineral fury, aid the winds,
And leave a finged bottom all involv'd
With stench and fmoke: Such refting found the fole
Him follow'd his next mate,
Of unbleft feet.
Both glorying to have 'ícap'd the Stygian flood
As Gods, and by their own recover'd ftrength, 240
Not by the fufferance of fupernal Power.

170

to the gates of Heav'n: the fulphurous hail after us in ftorm, o'erblown hath laid fiery furge, that from the precipice leav'n receiv'd us falling: and the thunder, g'dwith red lightning and impetuous rage, 175 Taps hath spent his fhafts, and ceafes now bellow through the vast and boundless deep. us not flip th' occafion, whether scorn, fatiate fury yield it from our foe.

185

thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, 180 e feat of defolation, void of light, fe what the glimmering of thefe livid flames fts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend m off the toffing of thefe fiery waves, ere reft, if any reft can harbour there, id re-atlembling our afflicted Powers, fult how we may henceforth most offend ar enemy, our own lofs how repair, ow overcome this dire calamity, That reinforcement we may gain from hope, not what refolution from defpair. Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate With head up-lift above the wave, and eyes That fparkling blaz'd, his other parts befides Prone on the flood, extended long and large ay floting many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous fize, Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove, Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarfus held, or that fea-beast

Leviathan, which God of all his works

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1

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Is this the region, this the foil, the clime,
Said then the loft Arch-Angel, this the feat
That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom
For that celeftial light? Be' it fo, fince he
Who now is Sovran can difpofe and bid
What fhall be right: farthest from him is beft,
Whom reas'on hath equal'd, force hath made fupreme
Above his equals. Farewell happy fields,

Where joy for ever dwells: Hail horrors, hail 250
Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new poffeffor; one who brings
A mind not to be chang'd by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. 255
What matter where, if I be still the fame,
And what I fhould be, all but less than he
190 Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at loaft
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign fecure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than ferve in Heav'n.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' affociates and copartners of our lofs,
Lie thus aftonifh'd on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy manfion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet

Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more loft in Hell? 270 | Innumerable. As when the potent rod

275

So Satan fpake, and him Beelzebub
Thus anfwer'd. Leader of thofe armies bright,
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd,
If once they hear that voice, their livelieft pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard fo oft
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battel when it rag'd, in all affaults
Their fureft fignal, they will foon refume
New courage and revive, though now they lie
Groveling and proftrate on yon lake of fire,
As we ere while, aftounded and amaz'd,
No wonder, fall'n fuch a pernicious highth.

285

Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,
Way'd round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud j4-
Of locufts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile:
So numberlefs were thofe had Angels feen
Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell
'Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding fires;
Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' up-lifted fpear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their courfe, in even balance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain; 359
A multitude, like which the populous north
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous fons
Came like a deluge on the fouth, and spread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan fands.

35

Forthwith from every fquadron and each band The heads and leaders thither hafte where flood 290 Their great commander; Godlike fhapes and form Excelling human, princely Dignities,

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300

He fcarce had ceas'd when the fuperior Fiend
Was moving toward the fhore; his pond'rous fhield,
Ethereal temper, mafly, large and round,
Behind him caft; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whofe orb
Through optic glafs the Tufcan artist views
At evening from the top of Fefolé,
Or in Valdarno, to defcry new lands,
Rivers or mountains in her fpotty globe.
His fpear, to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of fome great aminiral, were but a wand,
He waik'd with to fupport uneasy steps
Over the burning marle, not like thole steps
On Heaven's azure, and the torrid clime
Smote on him fore befides, vaulted with fire:
Nathlefs he fo indur'd, till on the beach
Of that inflam'd fea he flood, and call'd
His legions, Angel forms, who lay entranc'd
Thick as autumnal leaves that itrow the brooks
In Vallombrofa, where th' Etrurian fhades.
High over-arch'd imbow'r; or scatter'd fedge
Affote, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd 305
Hath vex'd the Red-Sea coaft, whofe waves o'erthrew
Bufiris and his Memphian chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they pursued
The fojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore their floting carcafes
And broken chariot wheels: fo thick beftrown
Abje& and loft lay thefe, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He call'd fo loud, that all the hollow deep
Of Hell refounded. Princes, Potentates,
Warriors, the flow'r of Heav'n, once your's, now loft,
If fuch astonishment as this can feife
Eternal Spirits; or have ye chos'n this place
After the toil of battel to repofe

310

And Pow'rs that erft in Heaven fat on thrones; f
Though of their names in heav'nly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd
By their rebellion from the books of life.
Nor had they yet among the fons of Eve
Got the new names, till wand'ring o'er the eart
Through God's high fufferance for the trial of ma
By falfities and lies the greatest part
Of mankind they corrupted to forfake
God their Creator, and th' invisible
Glory of him that made them to transform
Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,
And Devils to adore for Deities:
Then were they known to men by various name!
And various idols through the Heathen world. $
Say, Mufe, their names then known, who first,who li
Rous'd from the flumber, on that fiery couch
At their great emp'ror's call, as next in worth
Came fingly where he stood on the bare ftrand
While the promiscuous crowd flood yet aloof. 3
The chief were thofe who from the pit of Hell
Roaming to feek their prey on earth, durit fix
Their feats long after next the feat of God,
Their altars by his altar, Gods ador'd
Among the nations round, and durst abide
Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd
Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd
320 Within its fanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations; and with curfed things
His holy rites and folemn feafts profan'd,
And with their darkness durft affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid king, befmear'd with blood
Of human facrifice, and parents tears,
Though for the noife of drums and timbrels loud
Their childrens cries unheard, that pafs'd through fi
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite
Worshipt in Rabba and her watery plain,
In Argob and in Bafan, to the ftream
Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with fuch
Audacious neighbourhood, the wifeft heart 4
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
His temple right against the temple' of God
On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove
The pleasant valley' of Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black Gehenna call'd, the type of Hell. 40

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325

Your wearied virtue, for the eafe you find
To flumber here, as in the vales of Heaven?
Or in this abject posture have ye fworn
To' adore the conqueror? who now heholds
Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood
With featter'd arms and enfigns, till anon
Fis fwift purfners from Heav'n gates difcern
Th' advantage, and defcending tread us down
Thus drooping or with linked thunderbolts
Tansfix us to the bottom of this gulf.
Awake, arife, or be for ever fall'n.
330
They heard, and were abash'd, and up they sprung
Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread,
Route and beftir themfelves ere well awake.

335

did they not perceive the evil plight which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; Vet to their general's voice they foon obey'd