Between thee and the woman I will put
Enmity, and between thine and her seed;
Her seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his heel."
So spake this Oracle, then verified
When Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve,
Saw Satan fall like lightning, down from Heaven,
Prince of the air; then rising from his grave,
Spoil'd principalities and powers, triumph'd
In open show, and, with ascension bright,
Captivity let captive through the air,
The realm itself of Satan, long usurp'd;
Whom he shall tread at last under our feet,
Even he, who now foretold his fatal bruise;
And to the woman thus his sentence turn'd.
"Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply,
By thy conception; children thou shalt bring
In sorrow forth; and to thy husband's will
Thine shall submit; he over thee shall rule."
On Adam last thus judgment he pronounced.
"Because thou hast hearken'd to the voice of thy wife
And eaten of the tree, concerning which
I charged thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat thereof;,
Cursed is the ground for thy sake; thou, in sorrow,
Shalt eat thereof, all the days of thy life;
Thorns also, & thistles, it shall bring thee forth,
Unbid; & thou shalt eat the herb of the field,
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat 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 return."
So judged he man, both Judge & Saviour sent;
And the instant stroke of death, denounc'd that day
Remov'd far off; then pitying how they stood
Before him, naked to the air, that now
Must suffer change, disdained not to begin,
Thenceforth, the form of Servant to assume,
As when he wash'd his servants' feet; so now
As Father of his family, he clad
Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or slain,
Or, as the snake, with youthful coat repaid;
And thought not much to clothe his enemies :
Nor he their outward only, with the skins
Of beasts, but inward nakedness, much more
Opprobrious, with his robe of righteousness,
Arraying, cover'd from his Father's sight.
To him, with swift ascent, he up return'd,
Into his blissful bosom re-assumed
A glory, as of old; to him appeased,
All, though all-knowing, what had pass'd with Mar
Recounted, mixing intercession sweet.
Meanwhile, ere thus was sinn'd & judg'd on earth,
Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death,
In counter-view within the gates, that now
Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame,
Far into Chaos, since the Fiend pass'd through,
Sin opening, who thus now to Death began.
"O Son, why sit we here, each other viewing
Idly, while Satan, our great author, thrives
In other worlds, & happier seat provides
For us, his offspring dear? It cannot be
But that success attends him; if mishap,
Ere this he had return'd, with fury driven
By his avengers, since, no place like this
Can fit his punishment, or their revenge.
Methinks I feel new strength within me rise;
Wings growing, and dominion given me, large
Beyond this deep; whatever draws me on,
Or sympathy, or some connatural force,
Powerful at greatest distance to unite,
With secret amity, things of like kind,
By secretest conveyance; thou, my shade
Inseparable, must with me along :
For Death from Sin no power can separate.
But lest the difficulty of passing back
Stay his return, perhaps over this gulf
Impassable, impervious, let us try,
Adventrous work, yet to thy power & mine
Not unagreeable, to found a path
Over this main, from Hell, to that new world
Where Satan now prevails; a monument
Of merit high, to all the infernal host;
Easing their passage hence, for intercourse,
Or transmigration, as their lot shall lead.
Nor can I miss the way, so strongly drawn,
By this new-felt attraction and instinct."
Whom thus the meagre Shadow answer'd soon.
"Go whither fate, and inclination strong,
Leads thee; I shall not lag behind, nor err
The way, thou leading; such a scent 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 snuff'd the smell
Of mortal change on earth. As when a flock
Of ravenous fowl, though many a league remote,
Against the day of battle, to a field,
Where armies lie encamp'd, come flying lured
With scent of living carcases, design'd
For death, the following day, in bloody fight:
So scented the grim Feature, and upturn'd
His nostrils wide into the murky air,
Sagacious of his quarry from so far.
Then both from out Hell-gates into the waste
Wide anarchy of Chaos, damp and dark,
Flew diverse; and with power, their power was great,
Hovering upon the waters, what they met,
Solid or slimy, as in raging sea
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 the imagin'd way,
Beyond Petzora, eastward, to the rich
Cathaian coast. The aggregated soil,
Death, with his mace petrific, cold and dry,
As with a trident, smote, and fix'd as firm
As Delos, floating once; the rest, his look
Bound, with Gorgonian rigour, not to move;
And with Asphaltic slime, broad as the gate,
Deep to the roots of Hell the gather'd beach
They fasten'd; & the mole immense wrought on,
Over the foaming deep, high arch'd, a bridge,
Of length prodigious, joining to the wall,
Immoveable, of this new fenceless world,
Forfeit to death; from hence, a passage broad,
Smooth, easy, inoffensive, down to Hell.
So, if great things to small may be compared,
Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke,
From Susa his Memnonian palace high,
Came to the sea; and, over Hellespont
Bridging his way, Europe with Asia join'd,
And scourged with many a stroke the indignant waves.
Now had they brought the work, by wondrous art
Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock,
Over the vex'd abyss, following the track
Of Satan, to the self-same place, where he
First lighted from his wing, and landed safe
From out of Chaos, to the outside bare
Of this round world with pins of adamant,
And chains, they made all fast; too fast they made
And durable; and now, in little space,
The confines met of empyrean Heaven,
And of this world; and on the left hand, Hell
With long reach interposed; three several ways,
In sight, to each of these three places led.
And now their way to earth they had descry'd,
To Paradise first tending, when, behold
Satan in likeness of an angel bright,
Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering
His zenith, while the sun in Aries rose:
Disguis'd he came; but those, his children dear
Their parent soon discern'd, though in disguise.
He, after Eve seduced, 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 their shame that sought
Vain covertures; but when he saw descend
The Son of God to judge them, terrified
He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun
The present, fearing, guilty, what his wrath.
Might suddenly inflict: that past, return'd
By night, and listening, where the hapless pair
Sat in their sad discourse, and various plaint,
Thence gather'd his own doom; which understood,
Not instant, but of future time, with joy
And tidings fraught, to Hell he now return'd;
And at the brink of Chaos, near the foot
Of this new wonderous pontifice, unhop'd,
Met, who to meet him came, his offspring dear.
Great joy was at their meeting; and, at sight
Of that stupendous bridge, his joy increased.
Long he admiring stood, till Sin, his fair
Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke.
"O parent! these are thy magnific deeds,
Thy trophies, which thou view'st as not thine own';
Thou art their author, and prime architect:
For I no sooner in my heart divined
(My heart, which, by a secret harmony,
Still
moves with thine, join'd in connection sweet,)
That thou on earth hadst prosper'd, 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 achieved our liberty, confined
Within Hell-gates till now; thou us empower'd
To fortify thus far, and overlay
With this portentous bridge, the dark abyss.
Thine now is all this world; thy virtue hath won
What thy hands builded not; thy wisdom gain'd
With odds, what war hath lost, and fully avenged
Our foil in Heaven: here thou shalt monarch reign,
There didst not; there let Him still victor sway,
As battle hath adjudged, from this new world
Retiring, by his own doom alienated;
And henceforth monarchy with thee divide
Of all things parted by the empyreal bounds,
His quadrature, from thy orbicular world;
Or try thee now more dangerous to his throne."
Whom thus the Prince of Darkness answer'd, glad.
"Fair daughter, and thou son and grandchild both,
High proof ye now have given to be the race
Of Satan, for I glory in the name,
Antagonist of Heaven's almighty King,
Amply have merited of me, of all
The infernal empire, that so near Heaven's door,
Triumphal with triumphal act have met,
Mine with this glorious work, and made one realm,
Hell and this world, one realm, one continent
Of easy thoroughfare. Therefore, while I
Descend through darkness, on your road with ease,
To my associate powers, them to acquaint
With these successes, and with them rejoice,
You two this way, among these numerous orbs,
All yours, right down to Paradise descend;
There dwell and reign in bliss, thence on the earth
Dominion exercise, and in the air,
Chiefly on Man, sole lord of all declared,
Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly, kill.
My substitutes I send ye, and create
Plenipotent on earth, of matchless might,
Issuing from me; on your joint vigour now
My hold of this new kingdom all depends,
Through Sin to Death exposed by my exploit.
If your joint power prevails, the affairs of Hell
No detriment need fear; go, and be strong."
So saying, he dismiss'd them: they, with speed,
Their course through thickest constellations held,
Spreading their bane: the blasted stars looked wan;
And planets, planet-struck, real eclipse
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