Descried, divinely warn'd, and witness bore As to his worthier, and would have resign'd To him his heavenly office; nor was long His witness unconfirm'd: on him baptiz'd Heaven open'd, and in likeness of a dove The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice From heaven pronounc'd him his beloved Son, That heard the adversary, who roving still About the world, at that assembly fam'd Would not be last, and with the voice divine Nigh thunder-struck, th' exalted Man, to whom Such high attest was given, awhile survey'd With wonder; then, with envy fraught and rage, Flies to his place, nor rests, but in mid-air To council summons all his mighty peers, Within thick clouds and dark ten-fold involv'd, A gloomy consistory; and them amidst With looks aghast 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, than remember hell, Our hated habitation; well ye know How many ages, as the years of men, This universe we have possess'd, and rul'd In manner at our will th' affairs of earth, Since Adam and his facile consort Eve Lost Paradise, deceiv'd 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 heaven Delay, for longest time to him is short: And now too soon for us the circling hours This dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we Must bide the stroke of that long threaten'd wound, At least if so we can, and by the head Broken be not intended all our power To be infring'd, our freedom and our being In this fair empire won of earth and air; For this ill news I bring, the woman's Seed
Destin'd to this, is late of woman born: His birth to our just fear gave no small cause, But his growth now to youth's full flower, displaying All virtue, grace, and wisdom, to achieve. 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 baptiz'd; Not thence to be more pure, but to receive The testimony of heaven, that who he ist Thenceforth the nations may not doubt. I saw The prophet do him reverence, on him rising Out of the water, heaven above the clouds Unfold her chrystal doors, thence on his head A perfect dove descend, whate'er it meant, And out of heaven the Sov'reign voice I heard, This is my Son belov'd, in him am pleas'd. His mother then is mortal, but his sire He who obtains the monarchy of heaven, And what will he not do t' 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 Father's glory shine. Ye see our danger on the utmost edge Of hazard, which admits no long debate, But must with something sudden be oppos'd,
Not force, but well couch'd fraud, well woven snares
Ere in the head of nations he
Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth,
I, when no other durst, sole undertook
The dismal expedition to find out
And ruin Adam, and th' exploit perform'd
Successfully; a calmer voyage now
Will waft me: and the way found prosp'rous once, Induces best to hope of like success.
He ended, and his words impression left Of much amazement to the infernal crew, Distracted and surpris'd 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 enterprise To him their great dictator, whose attempt At first against mankind so well had thriv'd In Adam's overthrow, and led their march From hell's 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 easy steps, girded with snaky wiles, Where he might likeliest find this new declar'd, This Man of men, attested Son of God, Temptation, and all guile, on him to try; So to subvert whom he suspected rais'd To end his reign on earth, so long enjoy'd ; But contrary, unweeting he fulfill'd
The purpos'd counsel, pre-ordain'd and fix'd 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 men's affairs, how I begin To verify 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 call'd the Son of God;
Then told'st 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 O'er-shadow her; this Man born, and now upgrown, To show 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 apostacy; he might have learnt Less overweening since he fail'd in Job, Whose constant perseverance overcame What'er his cruel malice could invent. He now shall know I can produce a Man Of female seed, far abler to resist All his solicitations, and at length
All his vast force, and drive him back to hell, Winning by conquest what the first man lost, By fallacy surpris'd. But first I mean To exercise him in the wilderness;
There shall he 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 o'ercome Satanic strength, And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh; That all the angels and ethereal powers, They now, and men hereafter, may discern From what consummate virtue I have chose This perfect Man, by merit call'd my Son, To earn salvation for the sons of men.
So spake th' eternal Father, and all heaven Admiring stood a space, then into hymns Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd, Circling the throne and singing, while the hand Sung with the voice, and this the argument: Vict'ry and triumph to the Son of God, Now ent'ring his great duel, not of arms, But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles. The Father knows the Son; therefore secure Ventures his filial virtue, though untried, Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce, Allure, or terrify, or undermine.
Be frustrate all ye stratagems of hell, And devilish machinations come to nought.
So they in heaven their odes and vigils tun'd; Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet some days Lodg'd in Bethabara, where John baptiz'd, Musing and much revolving in his breast, How best the mighty work he might begin Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first Publish his godlike office now mature, One day forth walk'd 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 enter'd now the bord'ring desert wild, And with dark shades and rocks environ'd round, His holy meditations thus pursu'd:
O what a multitude of thoughts at once Awaken'd in me swarm, while I consider What from within I feel myself, and hear What from without comes often to my ears, Ill sorting with my present state compar'd! 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 public good: myself 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 measur'd 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 admir'd by all: yet this not all To which my spirit aspir'd: victorious deeds Flam'd in my heart, heroic acts, one while To rescue Israel from the Roman yoke, Then to subdue and quell o'er all the earth Brute violence and proud tyrannic power, Till truth were freed, and equity restor❜d:
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