The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

  1050 Of living sapphire, once his native seat;

  And fast by hanging in a golden chain

  This pendent world, in bigness as a star

  Of smallest magnitude close by the moon.

  Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge,

  1055 Accursed, and in a cursèd hour he hies.

  BOOK III

  The Argument

  1 God sitting on his throne sees Satan flying towards this world,

  then newly created; shows him to the Son who sat at his right

  hand; foretells the success of Satan in perverting mankind;

  clears his own justice and wisdom from all imputation, having

  5 created man free and able enough to have withstood his

  tempter; yet declares his purpose of grace towards him, in

  regard he fell not of his own malice, as did Satan, but by him

  seduced. The Son of God renders praises to his Father for

  the manifestation of his gracious purpose towards man; but

  10 God again declares, that grace cannot be extended towards

  man without the satisfaction of divine justice; man hath

  offended the majesty of God by aspiring to Godhead, and

  therefore with all his progeny devoted to death must die,

  unless someone can be found sufficient to answer for his

  15 offence, and undergo his punishment. The Son of God freely

  offers himself a ransom for man: the Father accepts him,

  ordains his Incarnation, pronounces his Exaltation above all

  names in Heaven and earth; commands all the angels to adore

  him; they obey, and hymning to their harps in full choir,

  20 celebrate the Father and the Son. Meanwhile Satan alights

  upon the bare convex of this world’s outermost orb; where

  wandering he first finds a place since called the Limbo of

  Vanity; what persons and things fly up thither; thence comes

  to the gate of Heaven, described ascending by stairs, and the

  25 waters above the firmament that flow about it: his passage

  thence to the orb of the sun; he finds there Uriel the regent

  of that orb, but first changes himself into the shape of a meaner

  angel; and pretending a zealous desire to behold the new

  Creation and man whom God had placed here, inquires of

  30 him the place of his habitation, and is directed; alights first

  on Mount Niphates.

  Hail holy Light, offspring of Heav’n first-born,

  Or of th’ Eternal co-eternal beam

  May I express thee unblamed? Since God is light,

  And never but in unapproachèd light

  5 Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee,

  Bright effluence of bright essence increate.

  Or hear’st thou rather pure ethereal stream,

  Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the sun,

  Before the heavens thou wert, and at the voice

  10 Of God, as with a mantle didst invest

  The rising world of waters dark and deep,

  Won from the void and formless infinite.

  Thee I revisit now with bolder wing,

  Escaped the Stygian pool, though long detained

  15 In that obscure sojóurn, while in my flight

  Through utter and through middle darkness borne

  With other notes than to th’ Orphéan lyre

  I sung of Chaos and eternal Night,

  Taught by the Heav’nly Muse to venture down

  20 The dark descent, and up to reascend,

  Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,

  And feel thy sov’reign vital lamp; but thou

  Revisit’st not these eyes, that roll in vain

  To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;

  25 So thick a drop serene hath quenched their orbs,

  Or dim suffusion veiled. Yet not the more

  Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt

  Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill,

  Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief

  30 Thee Sion and the flow’ry brooks beneath

  That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow,

  Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget

  Those other two equalled with me in fate,

  So were I equalled with them in renown,

  35 Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides,

  And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old.

  Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move

  Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird

  Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid

  40 Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year

  Seasons return, but not to me returns

  Day, or the sweet approach of ev’n or morn,

  Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer’s rose,

  Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;

  45 But cloud instead, and ever-during dark

  Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men

  Cut off, and for the Book of Knowledge fair

  Presented with a universal blank

  Of Nature’s works to me expunged and razed,

  50 And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.

  So much the rather thou celestial Light

  Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers

  Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence

  Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell

  55 Of things invisible to mortal sight.

  Now had th’ Almighty Father from above,

  From the pure Empyrean where he sits

  High throned above all heighth, bent down his eye,

  His own works and their works at once to view:

  60 About him all the sanctities of Heaven

  Stood thick as stars, and from his sight received

  Beatitude past utterance; on his right

  The radiant image of his glory sat,

  His only Son; on earth he first beheld

  65 Our two first parents, yet the only two

  Of mankind, in the happy garden placed,

  Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,

  Uninterrupted joy, unrivalled love

  In blissful solitude; he then surveyed

  70 Hell and the gulf between, and Satan there

  Coasting the wall of Heav’n on this side Night

  In the dun air sublime, and ready now

  To stoop with wearied wings, and willing feet

  On the bare outside of this world, that seemed

  75 Firm land imbosomed without firmament,

  Uncertain which, in ocean or in air.

  Him God beholding from his prospect high,

  Wherein past, present, future he beholds,

  Thus to his only Son foreseeing spake.

  80 Only begotten Son, seest thou what rage

  Transports our Adversary, whom no bounds

  Prescribed, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains

  Heaped on him there, nor yet the main abyss

  Wide interrupt can hold; so bent he seems

  85 On desperate revenge, that shall redound

  Upon his own rebellious head. And now

  Through all restraint broke loose he wings his way

  Not far off Heav’n, in the precincts of light,

  Directly towards the new created world,

  90 And man there placed, with purpose to assay

  If him by force he can destroy, or worse,

  By some false guile pervert; and shall pervert;

  For man will hearken to his glozing lies,

  And easily transgress the sole command,

  95 Sole pledge of his obedience: so will fall

  He and his faithless progeny: whose fault?

  Whose but his own? Ingrate, he had of me

  All he could have; I made him just and right,

  Sufficient to have stood, thoug
h free to fall.

  100 Such I created all th’ ethereal Powers

  And Spirits, both them who stood and them who failed;

  Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.

  Not free, what proof could they have giv’n sincere

  Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,

  105 Where only what they needs must do, appeared,

  Not what they would? What praise could they receive?

  What pleasure I from such obedience paid,

  When will and reason (reason also is choice)

  Useless and vain, of freedom both despoiled,

  110 Made passive both, had served necessity,

  Not me. They therefore as to right belonged,

  So were created, nor can justly accuse

  Their Maker, or their making, or their fate,

  As if predestination overruled

  115 Their will, disposed by absolute decree

  Or high foreknowledge; they themselves decreed

  Their own revolt, not I: if I foreknew,

  Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,

  Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.

  120 So without least impúlse or shadow of Fate,

  Or aught by me immutably foreseen,

  They trespass, authors to themselves in all

  Both what they judge and what they choose; for so

  I formed them free, and free they must remain,

  125 Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change

  Their nature, and revoke the high decree

  Unchangeable, eternal, which ordained

  Their freedom; they themselves ordained their Fall.

  The first sort by their own suggestion fell,

  130 Self-tempted, self-depraved: man falls deceived

  By the other first: man therefore shall find grace;

  The other none: in mercy and justice both,

  Through Heav’n and earth, so shall my glory excel,

  But mercy first and last shall brightest shine.

  135 Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance filled

  All Heav’n, and in the blessèd Spirits elect

  Sense of new joy ineffable diffused:

  Beyond compare the Son of God was seen

  Most glorious, in him all his Father shone

  140 Substantially expressed, and in his face

  Divine compassion visibly appeared,

  Love without end, and without measure grace,

  Which uttering thus he to his Father spake.

  O Father, gracious was that word which closed

  145 Thy sov’reign sentence, that man should find grace;

  For which both Heav’n and earth shall high extol

  Thy praises, with th’ innumerable sound

  Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne

  Encompassed shall resound thee ever blest.

  150 For should man finally be lost, should man

  Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son

  Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joined

  With his own folly? That be from thee far,

  That far be from thee, Father, who art judge

  155 Of all things made, and judgest only right.

  Or shall the Adversary thus obtain

  His end, and frustrate thine, shall he fulfil

  His malice, and thy goodness bring to naught,

  Or proud return though to his heavier doom,

  160 Yet with revenge accomplished and to Hell

  Draw after him the whole race of mankind,

  By him corrupted? Or wilt thou thyself

  Abolish thy creation, and unmake,

  For him, what for thy glory thou hast made?

  165 So should thy goodness and thy greatness both

  Be questioned and blasphemed without defence.

  To whom the great Creator thus replied.

  O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight,

  Son of my bosom, Son who art alone

  170 My Word, my wisdom, and effectual might,

  All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are, all

  As my eternal purpose hath decreed:

  Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will,

  Yet not of will in him, but grace in me

  175 Freely vouchsafed; once more I will renew

  His lapsèd powers, though forfeit and enthralled

  By sin to foul exorbitant desires;

  Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand

  On even ground against his mortal foe,

  180 By me upheld, that he may know how frail

  His fall’n condition is, and to me owe

  All his deliverance, and to none but me.

  Some I have chosen of peculiar grace

  Elect above the rest; so is my will:

  185 The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warned

  Their sinful state, and to appease betimes

  Th’ incensèd Deity, while offered grace

  Invites; for I will clear their senses dark,

  What may suffice, and soften stony hearts

  190 To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.

  To prayer, repentance, and obedience due,

  Though but endeavoured with sincere intent,

  Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.

  And I will place within them as a guide

  195 My umpire conscience, whom if they will hear,

  Light after light well-used they shall attain,

  And to the end persisting, safe arrive.

  This my long sufferance and my day of grace

  They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;

  200 But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,

  That they may stumble on, and deeper fall;

  And none but such from mercy I exclude.

  But yet all is not done; man disobeying,

  Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins

  205 Against the high supremacy of Heav’n,

  Affecting Godhead, and so losing all,

  To expiate his treason hath naught left,

  But to destruction sacred and devote,

  He with his whole posterity must die,

  210 Die he or Justice must; unless for him

  Some other able, and as willing, pay

  The rigid satisfaction, death for death.

  Say Heav’nly Powers, where shall we find such love,

  Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

  215 Man’s mortal crime, and just th’ unjust to save,

  Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear?

  He asked, but all the Heav’nly choir stood mute,

  And silence was in Heav’n: on man’s behalf

  Patron or intercessor none appeared,

  220 Much less that durst upon his own head draw

  The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.

  And now without redemption all mankind

  Must have been lost, adjudged to death and Hell

  By doom severe, had not the Son of God,

  225 In whom the fulness dwells of love divine,

  His dearest mediation thus renewed.

  Father, thy word is past, man shall find grace;

  And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,

  The speediest of thy wingèd messengers,

  230 To visit all thy creatures, and to all

  Comes unprevented, unimplored, unsought,

  Happy for man, so coming; he her aid

  Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost;

  Atonement for himself or offering meet,

  235 Indebted and undone, hath none to bring:

  Behold me then, me for him, life for life

  I offer, on me let thine anger fall;

  Account me man; I for his sake will leave

  Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee

  240 Freely put off, and for him lastly die

  Well pleased, on me let Death wreck all his rage;

  Under his gloomy powe
r I shall not long

  Lie vanquished; thou hast given me to possess

  Life in myself for ever, by thee I live,

  245 Though now to Death I yield, and am his due

  All that of me can die, yet that debt paid,

  Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave

  His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul

  For ever with corruption there to dwell;

  250 But I shall rise victorious, and subdue

  My vanquisher, spoiled of his vaunted spoil;

  Death his death’s wound shall then receive, and stoop

  Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarmed.

  I through the ample air in triumph high

  255 Shall lead Hell captive maugre Hell, and show

  The powers of darkness bound. Thou at the sight

  Pleased, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,

  While by thee raised I ruin all my foes,

  Death last, and with his carcass glut the grave:

  260 Then with the multitude of my redeemed

  Shall enter Heaven long absent, and return,

  Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud

  Of anger shall remain, but peace assured,

  And reconcilement; wrath shall be no more

  265 Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire.

  His words here ended, but his meek aspéct

  Silent yet spake, and breathed immortal love

  To mortal men, above which only shone

  Filial obedience: as a sacrifice

  270 Glad to be offered, he attends the will

  Of his great Father. Admiration seized

  All Heav’n, what this might mean, and whither tend

  Wond’ring; but soon th’ Almighty thus replied:

  O thou in Heav’n and earth the only peace

  275 Found out for mankind under wrath, O thou

  My sole complacence! Well thou know’st how dear

  To me are all my works, nor man the least

  Though last created, that for him I spare

  Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,

  280 By losing thee a while, the whole race lost.

  Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeem,

  Their nature also to thy nature join;

  And be thyself man among men on earth,

  Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed,

  285 By wondrous birth: be thou in Adam’s room

  The head of all mankind, though Adam’s son.

  As in him perish all men, so in thee

  As from a second root shall be restored,

  As many as are restored, without thee none.

  290 His crime makes guilty all his sons; thy merit

  Imputed shall absolve them who renounce

  Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,

  And live in thee transplanted, and from thee