1 876 Against God and Messiah, or to fall The overthrown he rais'd, and, as a herd In universal ruin last; and now Of goats or timorous flock together throng'd, To final battle drew, disdaining flight, Drove them before him thunder-struck, pursu'd, Or faint retreat ; when the great Son of God With terrors and with furies, to the bounds To all his hosts on either hand thus spake: 800 And crystal wall of heaven; which opening wide Roll'd inward, and a spacious gap disclos'd 861 « Stand still in bright array, ye saints! here Into the wasteful deep; the monstrous sight Ye angels arm'd, this day from battle rest ; [stand, Struck them with horror backward, but far worse Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God Urg'd them behind; headlong themselves they Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause; threw And as ye have receiv'd, so have ye done 805 Down from the verge of heaven; eternal wrath 865 Invincibly; but of this cursed crew Burn'd after them to the bottomless pit. “Hell heard th'unsufferable noise, hell saw Number to this day's work is not ordain'd, Heaven ruining from heaven, and would have fled Nor multitude; stand only and behold 810 Affrighted; but strict Fate had cast too deep God's indignation on these godless pour'd Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound. 870 By me; not you, but me, they have despıs'd, Nine days they fell ; confounded Chaos roar'd, Yet envied ; against me is all their rage, And felt tenfold confusion in their fall Because the Father, to whom in heaven supreme Through his wild anarchy, so huge a rout Kingdom, and power, and glory appertains, 815 Encumber'd him with ruin : hell at last Hath honour'd me according to his will. Yawning receiv'd them whole, and on them clos'd; Therefore to me their doom he hath assign'd; Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire That they may have their wish, to try with me Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain. In battle which the stronger proves; they all, Disburden'd heaven rejoic'd, and soon repair'd Or I alone against them, since by strength 820 Her mural breach, returning whence it rollid. They measure all, of other excellence Not emulous, nor care who them excels; “Sole victor, from th' expulsion of his foes, 886 Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.' Messiah his triumphal chariot turn'd: To meet him all his saints, who silent stood “ So spake the Son, and into terror chang'd Eye-witnesses of his almighty acts, His count nance, too severe to be beheld, 825 With jubilee advanc'd; and as they went, 884 And full of wrath bent on his enemies. Shaded with branching palm, each order bright, At once the Four spread out their starry wings, Sung triumph, and him sung victorious King, With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs Son, Heir, and Lord! to him dominion given, Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound Worthiest to reign : he celebrated rode Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host. 830 Triumphant through mid heaven, into the courts He on his impious foes right onward drove, And temple of his mighty Father thron'd 890 Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss. “ Thus, measuring things in heaven by things on Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent earth, Before him, such as in their souls infix'd At thy request, and that thou may'st beware Plagues; they, astonish'd, all resistance lost, By what is past, to thee I have reveal'd 895 All courage; down their idle weapons dropp'd ; What might have else to human race been hid; O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rode The discord which befel, and war in heaven Of thrones, and mighty seraphim prostrate, 841 That wish'd the mountains now might be again Among th' angelic powers, and the deep fall Of those too high aspiring, who rebellid Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire. With Satan; he who en vies now thy state, 900 Nor less on either side tempestuous fell Who now is plotting how he may seduce His arrows, from the fourfold- visag'd Four 845 Thee also from obedience, that with him, Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels Bereav'd of happiness, thou may'st partake Distinct alike with multitude of eyes; His punishment, eternal misery; One spirit in them rul'd, and every eye. Which would be all his solace and revenge, 905 Glar'd lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire As a despite done against the Most High, Among th' accurs'd, that wither'd all their strength, Thee once to gain companion of his wo. And of their wonted vigour left them drain'd, 851 But listen not to his temptations: warn Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall'n. Thy weaker; let it profit thee to have heard, Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd By terrible example, the reward 910 His thunder in mid volley: for he meant Of disobedience; firm they might have stood, Not to destroy, but root them out of heaven: 855 Yet fell. Remember, and fear to transgress.*** END OF BOOK SIXTH. PARADISE LOST. BOOK VII. THE ARGUMENT, Raphael, at the request of Adam, relates how and wherefore this world was first created, that God, after the expelling of Satan and his angels out of heaven, declared his pleasure to create another world, and other creatures to dwell therein ; sends his Son with glory and attendance of angels to perform the work of creation in six days: the angels celebrate with hymns the performance thereof, and his reascension into heaven. DESCEND from heaven, Urania ! by that name With blessedness. Whence Adam soon repeal'd If rightly thou art call'd, whose voice divine The doubts that in his heart arose : and now 60 Following, above th' Olympian hill I soar, Led on, yet sinless, with desire to know Above the flight of Pagasean wing: What nearer might concern him ; how this world The meaning, not the name, I call: for thou 5 Of heaven and earth conspicuous first began, Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top When, and whereof created, for what cause, Of old Olympus dwell'st; but, heavenly born, What within Eden, or without was done 65 Before the hills appear'd, or fountain flow'd, Before his memory'; as one whose dronght, Thou with eternal Wisdom didst converse, Yet scarce allay'd, still eyes the current stream, Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play 10 Whose liquid murmur heard new thirst excites, In presence of th' almighty Father, pleas'd Proceeded thus to ask his heavenly guest : “Great things, and full of wonder in our ears, 70 Down from the empyrean to forewarn Lest from this flying steed unrein'd, (as once Us timely' of what might else have been our loss, 74 Bellerophon, though from a lower clime) Unknown, which human knowledge could not Dismounted, on th' Aleian field I fall, For which to th' infinitely Good we owe (reach: Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn. 20 Immortal thanks, and his admonishment Half yet remains unsung, but narrow bound Receive, with solemn purpose to observe Within the visible diurnal sphere; Immutably his sov'reign will, the end 79 Standing on earth, not wrapp'd above the pole, Of what we are. But since thou hast vonchsaf'd More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchang'd Gently for our instruction to impart To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days, 25 Things above earthly thought, which yet concern'd On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues ; Our knowing, as to highest wisdom seem'd, In darkness, and with dangers compass'd round, Deign to descend now lower, and relate And solitude; yet not alone, while thou What may no less perhaps avail us known; 85 Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn How first began this heaven, which we behold Purples the east. Still govern thou my song, 30 Distant so high, with moving fires adorn'd Urania ! and fit audience find though few. Innumerable, and this which yields or fills But drive far off the barbarous dissonance All space, the ambient air wide interfus'd Of Bacchus and his revellers, the race Embracing round this florid earth; what cause 90 Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard Mov'd the Creator, in his holy rest In Rhodope, where woods and rocks had ears 35 Through all eternity, so late to build To rapture, till the savage clamour drown'd In Chaos, and, the work begun, how soon Both harp and voice; nor could the Muse defend Absolv'd, if unforbid thou may'st unfold Her son. So fail not thou, who thee implores; What we, not to explore the secrets, ask 95 For thou art heavenly, she an empty dream. Of his eternal empire, but the more To magnify his works, the more we know. Say, goddess, what ensued when Raphael, 40 And the great light of day yet wants to run The affable archangel, had forewarn'd Much of his race tho' steep; suspense in heaven, Adam by dire example to beware Heid by thy voice, thy potent voice, he hears, 100 Apostasy, by what befell in heaven And longer will delay to hear thee tell To those apostates, lest the like befall His generation, and the rising birth In Paradise to Adam or his race, 45 Of Nature from the unapparent deep: Charg'd not to touch the interdicted tree, Or if the star of evening and the moon 104 If they transgress, and slight that sole command, Haste to thy audience, night with her will bring So easily obey'd, amid the choice Silence, and sleep, list'ning to thee, will watch; Of all tastes else to please their appetite, Or we can bid his absence, till thy song Though wand'ring. He with his consorted Eve 50 End, and dismiss thee ere the morning shine." The story heard attentive, and was fillid With admiration and deep muse, to hear Thus Adam his illustrious guest besought; Of things so high and strange, things to their And thus the godlike angel answer'd milä: 110 thought So unimaginable the hate in heaven, “ This also thy request, with caution ask'd, And war so near on peace of God in bliss 55 Obtain: though to recount almighty works With such confusi: hut the evil soon, What words or tongue of seraph can suffice, Driven back, redounded as a flood on them Or heart of man suffice to comprehend? From whom it sprung, impossible to mix Yet what thou canst attain, which best may serve D To glorify the Maker, and infer 116 | Celestial equipage! and now came forth Thee also happier, shall not be withheld Spontaneous, for within them spirit liv'd, Thy hearing; such commission from above Attendant on their Lord : heaven open'd wide 205 I have receiv'd, to answer thy desire Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound! The King of glory, in his powerful Word King, And Spirit coming to create new worlds. 209 Only omniscient, hath suppress'd in night, On heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore To none communicable in earth or heuven: They view'd the vast immeasurable abyss Enough is left besides to search and know. 125 Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, But knowledge is as food, and needs no less Up from the bottom tum'd by furious winds. Her temp'rance over appetite, to know And surging waves, as mountains, to assaalt 214 In measure what the mind may well contain ; Heaven's height, and with the centre mix the pole. Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns Wisdom to folly', as nourishment to wind. 130 “ 'Silence, ye troubled waves, and thou deep, peace! “ Know then, that after Lucifer from heaven Said then th' omnific Word, your discord end :' (So call him, brighter once amidst the host Nor staid, but, on the wings of cherubim Of angels than that star the stars among) Uplifted, in paternal glory rode Fell with his flaming legions through the deep Far into Chaos, and the world unborn; 220 Into his place, and the great Son return'd 135 For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his train Victorious with his saints, th' omnipotent Followd in bright procession to behold Creation, and the wonders of his might. He took the golden compasses, prepar'd 225 “'At least our envious foe hath fail'd, who In God's eternal store, to circumscribe thought This universe, and all created things: Round through the vast profundity obscure, And said, thus far extend, thus far thy bounds, He trusted to have seiz'd, and into fraud This be thy just circumference, O world! 231 Drew inany, whom their place knows here no more; Yet far the greater part have kept, I see, 145 Thus God the heaven created, thus the earth, Their station; heaven yet populous retains Matter unform'd and void: darkness profound Number sufficient to possess her realms Cover'd th' abyss; but on the wat'ry calm Though wide, and this high temple to frequent His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread, With ministeries due and solemn rites: And vital virtue' infus'd, and vital warmth 236 But lest l's heart exalt him in the harm 150 Throughout the fluid mass; but downward purg'd Already done, to have dispeopled heaven, The black, tartareous, cold, infernal dregs, My damage fondly deem'd, I can repair Adverse to life; then founded, then conglob'd That detriment, if such it be to lose Like things to like, the rest to several place 240 Self-lost, and in a moment will create Disparted, and between spun out the air: Another world, out of one man a race 155 And earth self-balanc'd on her centre hung. Of men innumerable, there to dwell, Not here, till by degrees of merit rais'd "Let there be light" said God, and forth with They open to themselves at length the way light Up hither, under long obedience tried, Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, And earth be chang'd to heaven,and heaven to earth, Sprung from the deep, and from her native east One kingdom, joy and union without end. 161 To journey through the airy gloom began, 246 Meanwhile inhabit lax, ye powers of heaven, Spher'd in a radiant cloud, for yet the sun And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle This I perform ; speak thou, and be it done : Sojourn'd the while. God saw the light was good; My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee 165 And light from darkness by the hemisphere 250 I send along; ride forth, and bid the deep Divided : light the day, and darkness night Within appointed bounds be heaven and earth, He nam'd. Thus was the first day even and morn: Boundless the deep, because I am who fill Nor pass'd uncelebrated, nor unsung. Infinitude, nor vacuous the space. By the celestial choirs, when orient light Though I uncircumscrib'd myself retire, 170 Exhaling first from darkness they beheld; 255 And put not forth my goodness, which is free Birth-day of heaven and earth! with joy and shout To act or not, necessity and chance The hollow universal orb they fill'd, Approach not me, and what I will is fate.' And touch'd their golden harps, and hymning prais'd God and his works, Creator him they sung, “ So spake th' Almighty, and to what he spake Both when first evening was, and when first morn. His Word, the filial Godhead, gave effect. 175 Immediate are the acts of God, more swift “ Again, God said, 'Let there be firmament 261 Than time or motion; but to human ears Amid the waters, and let it divide Cannot without process of speech be told, The waters from the waters!' And God made So told as earthly notion can receive. The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure, Great triumph and rejoicing was in heaven, 180 Transparent, elemental air, diffusd 265 When such was heard declar'd th' Almighty's will; In circuit to the uttermost convex Glory they sung to the Most High, good-will Of this great round; partition firm and sure, To future men, and in their dwellings peace : The waters underneath from those above Glory to him, whose just avenging ire Had driven out th' ungodly from his sight, Dividing; for as earth, so he the world 185 Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide 270 And th' habitations of the just; to him Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule Glory and praise, whose wisdom had ordain'd Of Chaos far remov'd, lest fierce extremes Good out of evil to create, instead Contiguous might distemper the whole frame. Of spirits malign, a better race to bring. And heaven he nam'd the firmament: so even Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse 190 And morning chorus sung the second day. His good to worlds and ages infinite, “ The earth was form'd; but in the womb as yet “ So sang the hierarchies : meanwhile the Son Of waters, embryon immature, involv'd, On his great expedition now appear'd, Appear'd not: over all the face of earth 280 Immense, and all his father in him shone. Fermented the great mother to conceive, About his chariot numberless were pour'd Satiate with genial moisture : when God said, Cherub and seraph, potentates and thrones, * Be gather'd now ye waters under heaven And virtues, winged spirits, and chariots wing'd Into one place, and let dry land appear!' From th' armoury of God, where stand of old 200 Immediately the mountains huge appear 285 Myriads between two brazen mountains lodg'd, Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave Against a solemn day, harness'd at hand, Into the clouds, their tops ascend the sky 275 So high as heard the tumid hils, so low His mirror, with full face borrowing her light Down sunk a hollow bottom broad and deep, From him, for other light she needed none Capacious bed of waters: thither they 290 In that aspect, and still that distance keeps Hasted with glad precipitanæ, uprolid Till night, then in the east her turn she shines, 350 As drops on dust conglobing from the dry; Revolvd on heaven's great arle, and her reign Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direc:, With thousand lesser lights dividual holds, For haste; such flight the great command impressid With thousand thousand stars, that then appeard On the swift floods As armies at the call 295 Spangling the hemisphere. Then, first adorn'd Ot trumpet (for of armies thou hast heard) With her bright luminaries that set and rose, 335 Troop to their standard, so the watry throng, Glad evening and glad mom crown'd the fourth day. Wave rolling after wave, where way they found; If steep, with torrent rapture; if through plain, « And God said, Let the waters generate Soft-ebbing ; nor withstood them rock or hill; 300 Reptile with spawn abundant, living soul : But they, or under ground, or circuit wide And let fowl fly above the earth, with wings With serpent-error wand'ring, fourd their way, Display'd on the open firmament of heaven 390 And on the washy ooze deep channels wore; And God created the great whales, and each Easy, ere God had bid the ground be dry, Soul living, each that crept, which plenteously All but within those banks, where rivers now 305 The waters generated by their kinds; Stream, and perpetual draw their humid train. And every bird of wing after his kind : The dry land, earth, and the great receptacle And saw that it was good, and bless'd them, saying, Of congregated waters, he call'd seas: Be fruitful, multiply, and in the seas, 536 And saw that it was good, and said, “Let the earth And lakes, and running streams, the waters fill; Put forth the verdant grass, herb yielding seed, 310 And let the fowl be multiplied on th' earth!" And fruit-tree yielding fruit after her kind, Forth with the sounds and seas, each creek and bay, Whose seed is in herself upon the earth! With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals 400 He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then Of fish, that with their fins and shining scales Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorn'd, Glide under the green ware, in sculls that oft Brought forth the tender grass, whose verdure clad Bank the mid-sea: part single, or with mate, Her universal face with pleasant green; 316 Graze the sea-weed, their pasture, and thro' groves Then herbs of every leaf, that sudden flower'd Of coral stray, or, sporting, with quick glance, 405 Opening their various colours, and made gay Show to the sun their war'd coats dropp'd with Her bosom smelling sweet; and these scarce blown, Or, in their pearly shells at ease, attend [gold; Forth flourish'd thick the clust'ring vine, forth Moist nutriment, or under rocks their food crept 320 In jointed armour watch: on smooth the seal, The smelling gourd, up stood the corny reed And bended dolphins, play; part huge of bulk 410 Embattled in her field, and th' humble shrub, Wallowing unwieldy', enormous in their gait, And bush with frizzled hair implicit : last Tempest the ocean. There leviathan, Rose as in dance the stately trees, and spread 324 Hugest of living creatures, on the deep, Their branches hung with copious fruit, or gemm'd Stretch'd like a promontory, sleeps or swims, Their blossoms; with high woods the hills were And seems a moving land, and at his gills 415 crown'd, Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea. With tufts the valleys, and each fountain side, Meanwhile the tepid caves, and fens, and shores, With borders long the rivers; that earth now (dwell, Their brood as numerous hatch, from th' egg that Seem'd like to heaven, a seat where gods might soon, Or wander with delight, and love to haunt 330 Bursting with kindly rupture, forth disclos'd 419 Her sacred shades: though God had yet not rain'd Their callow young, but feather'd soon and fledge, Upon the earth, and man to till the ground They summ'd their pens, and soaring th' air sube None was; but from the earth a dewy mist lime, Went up, and water'd all the ground, and each With clang despis'd the ground, under a cloud Plant of the field, which ere it was in th' earth 335 In prospect; there the eagle and the stork God made, and every berb, before it grew On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build : On the green stem. God saw that it was good : Part loosely wing the region, part more wise 425 So even and morn recorded the third day. In common, rang'd in figure, wedge their way, Intelligent of seasons, and set forth “ Again the Almighty spake : 'Let there be lights Their airy caravan, high over seas High in th' expanse of heaven, to divide 340 Flying, and over lands with mutual wing The day from night; and let them be for signs, Easing their flight: so steers the prudent crane 430 For seasons, and for days, and circling years; Her annual voyage, borne on winds; the air And let them be for lights, as I ordain Floats, as they pass, fann'd with unnumber'd Their office in the firmament of heaven, plumes. To give light on the earth!' and it was so. 345 From branch to branch the smaller birds with song And God made two great lights, great for their use Solac'd the woods, and spread their painted wings To man, the greater to have rule by day, Till even; nor then the solemn nightingale 435 The less by night altern; and made the stars, Ceas'd warbling, but all night tun'd her soft lays: And set them in the firmament of heaven Others on silver lakes and rivers bath'd T'illuminate the earth, and rule the day 350 Their downy breast; the swan, with arched neck In their vicissitude, and rule the night, Between her white wings mantling proudly, rows And light from darkness to divide. God saw, Her state with oary feet; yet oft they quit 440 Surveying his great work, that it was good : The dank, and, rising on stiff pennons, tower Por of celestial bodies first the sun, The mid aerial sky. Others on ground (sounds A mighty sphere! he fram'd; unlightsome first, 355 Walk'd firm; the crested cock, whose clarion Though of ethereal mould ; then form'd the moon The silent hours, and th' other whose gay train Globose, and every magnitude of stars, Adorns him, coloured with the florid hue 445 And sow'd with stars the heaven thick as a field. Of rainbows and starry' eyes. The waters thus Of light by far the greater part he took, With fish replenish'd, and the air with fowl, “ The sixth, and of creation last, arose Her gather'd beams, great palace now of light. With evening harps and matin; when God said, 450 Hither, as to their foun in, other star Let th' earth bring forth soul living in her kind, Repairing, in their golden urns draw light, 365 Cattle, and creeping things, and beast of th' earth, And hence the morning planet gilds her horns; Each in their kind! The earth obey'd, and straight, By tincture or reflection they augment Opening her fertile womb, teem'd at a birth Their small peculiar, though, from human sight Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms, 455 So far remote, with diminution seen. Limbid and full grown: out of the ground up-rose, First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, 370 As from his lair, the wild beast, where he wons Regent of day, and all the horizon round In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den; Invested with bright rays, jocund to run Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walk'd. His longitude through heaven's high road; the grey The cattle in the fields and meadows green: 460 Dawn and the Pleiades before him danc'd Those rare and solitary, these in flocks Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the moon, Pasturing at once, and in broad herds apsprung. But opposite in levellid west was set 376 The grassy clods now calv'd, now half appear'd. 560 So sung 500 The tawny lion, pawing to get free 464 ( Yet not till the Creator from his work His hinder parts, then springs as broke from bonds, Desisting, though unwearied, up return'd, And rampant shakes his brinded mane; the ounce, Up to the heaven of heavens, his high abode, The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole Thence to behold this new-created world, Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw T'h' addition of his empire, how it show'd 555 In hillocks; the swift stag from under ground 469 In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair, Bore up his branching head; scarce from his mould Answering his great idea. Up he rode, Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheav'd Follow'd with acclamation, and the sound His vastness; fleec'd the flocks and bleating rose, Symphonious of ten thousand harps that tun'd As plants; ambiguous between sea and land Angelic harmonies: the earth, the air The river horse and scaly crocodile. Resounded, (thou remember'st, for thou heard'st) At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, 475 The heavens, and all the constellations rung, Insect or worm: those wav'd their limber fans The planets in their station list'ning stood, For wings, and smallest lineaments exact, While the bright pomp ascended jubilant. In all the liveries deck'd of summer's pride, Open, ye everlasting gates ! they sung, 365 With spots of gold and purple', azure and green; Open, ye heavens! your living doors; let in These as a line their long dimension drew, 480 The great Creator from his work return'd Streaking the ground with sinuous trace; not all Magnificent, his six days' work, a world; Minims of nature ; some of serpent kind, Open, and henceforth oft; for God will deign Wondrous in length and corpulence, involv'd To visit oft the dwellings of just men 570 Their snaky folds, and added wings. First crept Delighted, and with frequent intercourse The parsimonious emmet, provident 485 Thither will send his winged messengers The glorious train ascending: He through heaven, Hereafter, join'd in her popular tribes That open'd wide her blazing portals, led 575 Of commonalty; swarming next appear'd' To“God's eternal house direct the way, The female bee, that feeds her husband drone 490 A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold, Deliciously, and builds her waxen cells And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear, With honey stor'd. The rest are numberless, Seen in the galaxy, that milky way, And thou their natures know'st, and gav'st them Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest 580 Needless to thee repeated; nor unknown (names, Powder'd with stars. And now on earth the seventh The serpent, subtlest beast of all the field, 495 Evening arose in Eden, for the sun Of huge extent sometimes, with brazen eyes Was set, and twilight from the east came on, And hairy mane terrific, though to thee Forerunning night'; when at the holy mount Not noxious, but obedient at thy call. Of heaven's high-seated top, th' imperial throne Of Godhead, fix'd for ever firm and sure, 586 “Now heaven in all her glory shone, and rollid The Filial Power arriv'd, and sat him down Her motions, as the great first Mover's hand With his great Father, for he also went First wheel'd their course; earth in her rich attire Invisible, yet stay'd, (such privilege Now resting, bless'd and hallow'd the seventh day, Had work and rested not, the solemn pipe, 595 And brute as other creatures, but endued And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop, With sanctity of reason, might erect All sounds on fret by string or golden wire, His stature, and upright, with front serene, Temper'd soft tunings intermix'd with voice Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence 510 Choral or unison : of incense clouds Magnanimous to correspond with heaven; Fuming from golden censers hid the mount. 600 But grateful to acknowledge whence his good Creation and the six days' acts they sung: Descends, thither with heart, and voice, and eyes, Great are thy works, Jehovah ! infinite (tongue Directed in devotion, to adore Thy power; what thought can measure thee, or And worship God supreme, who made him chief Relate thee? greater now in thy return Of all his works: therefore th' Omnipotent 516 Than from the giant angels; thee that day 605 Eternal Father (for where is not he Thy thunders magnified; but to create Present?) thus to his Son audibly spake: Is greater than, created, to destroy. Who can impair thee, mighty King, or bound « • Let us make now Man in our image, Man Thy empire ? easily the proud attempt In our similitude, and let them rule 520 Of spirits apostate and their counsels vain 610 Over the fish and fowl of sea and air, Thou hast repellid, while impiously they thought Beast of the field, and over all the earth, Thee to diminish, and from thee withdraw And every creeping thing that creeps the ground ! The number of thy worshippers. Who seeks This said, he form thee, Adam, thee, O Man! To lessen thee, against his purpose serves Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breath'd To manifest the more thy might: his evil 615 The breath of life; in his own image he 526 Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good. Created thee, in the image of God Witness this new-made world, another heaven Express, and thou becam'st a living soul. From heaven-gate not far, founded in view Male he created thee, but thy consort On the clear hyaline, the glassy sea; Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, 531 Numerous, and every star perhaps a world Of destin'd habitation; but thou know'st Their seasons: among these the seat of men, And every living thing that moves on th’ earth. Earth with her nether ocean circumfus'd, 624 Wherever thus created, for no place 535 Their pleasant dwelling-place. Thrice happy men, Is yet distinct by name. Thence, as thou know'st, And sons of men, whom God hath thus advancid, He brought thee into this delicious grove, Created in his image, there to dwell Over his works, on earth, in sea, or air, 630 Gave thee; all sorts are here that all th' earth yields, Hoty and just: thrice harpy, if they know Variety without end; but of the tree, Their happiness, and persevere upright! 545 With hallelujahs: thus was sabbath kept. And govern well thy appetite, lest Sin And thy request think now fulfill'd, that ask'd 635 Surprise thee, and her black attendant Death. How first this world and face of things began, And what before thy memory was done “ Here finish'd he, and all that he had made From the beginning, that posterity View'd, and behold, all was entirely good; Inform'd by thee might know; if else thou seek'st So even and morn accomplish'd the sixth day: 550 Ought, not surpassing human measure, say." 640 END OF BOOK SEVENTH, |