The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

  Collected stood within our thoughts amused,

  Not long, for sudden all at once their reeds

  Put forth, and to a narrow vent applied

  With nicest touch. Immediate in a flame,

  585 But soon obscured with smoke, all Heav’n appeared,

  From those deep-throated engines belched, whose roar

  Embowelled with outrageous noise the air,

  And all her entrails tore, disgorging foul

  Their devilish glut, chained thunderbolts and hail

  590 Of iron globes, which on the victor host

  Levelled, with such impetuous fury smote,

  That whom they hit, none on their feet might stand,

  Though standing else as rocks, but down they fell

  By thousands, Angel on Archangel rolled,

  595 The sooner for their arms; unarmed they might

  Have easily as Spirits evaded swift

  By quick contraction or remove; but now

  Foul dissipation followed and forced rout;

  Nor served it to relax their serried files.

  600 What should they do? if on they rushed, repulse

  Repeated, and indecent overthrow

  Doubled, would render them yet more despised,

  And to their foes a laughter; for in view

  Stood ranked of Seraphim another row

  605 In posture to displode their second tire

  Of thunder: back defeated to return

  They worse abhorred. Satan beheld their plight,

  And to his mates thus in derision called.

  O friends, why come not on these victors proud?

  610 Erewhile they fierce were coming, and when we,

  To entertain them fair with open front

  And breast, (what could we more?) propounded terms

  Of composition, straight they changed their minds,

  Flew off, and into strange vagáries fell,

  615 As they would dance, yet for a dance they seemed

  Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps

  For joy of offered peace: but I suppose

  If our proposals once again were heard

  We should compel them to a quick result.

  620 To whom thus Belial in like gamesome mood

  Leader, the terms we sent were terms of weight,

  Of hard conténts, and full of force urged home,

  Such as we might perceive amused them all,

  And stumbled many; who receives them right,

  625 Had need from head to foot well understand;

  Not understood, this gift they have besides,

  They show us when our foes walk not upright.

  So they among themselves in pleasant vein

  Stood scoffing, heighthened in their thoughts beyond

  630 All doubt of victory; eternal might

  To match with their inventions they presumed

  So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn,

  And all his host derided, while they stood

  Awhile in trouble; but they stood not long,

  635 Rage prompted them at length, and found them arms

  Against such Hellish mischief fit to oppose.

  Forthwith (behold the excellence, the power

  Which God hath in his mighty angels placed)

  Their arms away they threw, and to the hills

  640 (For earth hath this variety from Heav’n

  Of pleasure situate in hill and dale)

  Light as the lightning glimpse they ran, they flew,

  From their foundations loos’ning to and fro

  They plucked the seated hills with all their load,

  645 Rocks, waters, woods, and by the shaggy tops

  Uplifting bore them in their hands: amaze,

  Be sure, and terror seized the rebel host,

  When coming towards them so dread they saw

  The bottom of the mountains upward turned,

  650 Till on those cursèd engines’ triple-row

  They saw them whelmed, and all their confidence

  Under the weight of mountains buried deep,

  Themselves invaded next, and on their heads

  Main promontories flung, which in the air

  655 Came shadowing, and oppressed whole legions armed;

  Their armour helped their harm, crushed in and bruised

  Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain

  Implacable, and many a dolorous groan,

  Long struggling underneath, ere they could wind

  660 Out of such prison, though Spirits of purest light,

  Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown.

  The rest in imitation to like arms

  Betook them, and the neighbouring hills uptore;

  So hills amid the air encountered hills

  665 Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire,

  That under ground they fought in dismal shade;

  Infernal noise; war seemed a civil game

  To this uproar; horrid confusion heaped

  Upon confusion rose: and now all Heav’n

  670 Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread,

  Had not th’ Almighty Father where he sits

  Shrined in his sanctuary of Heav’n secure,

  Consulting on the sum of things, foreseen

  This tumult, and permitted all, advised:

  675 That his great purpose he might so fulfil,

  To honour his Anointed Son avenged

  Upon his enemies, and to declare

  All power on him transferred: whence to his Son

  Th’ Assessor of his throne he thus began.

  680 Effulgence of my Glory, Son beloved,

  Son in whose face invisible is beheld

  Visibly, what by Deity I am,

  And in whose hand what by decree I do,

  Second Omnipotence, two days are passed,

  685 Two days, as we compute the days of Heav’n,

  Since Michael and his powers went forth to tame

  These disobedient; sore hath been their fight,

  As likeliest was, when two such foes met armed;

  For to themselves I left them, and thou know’st,

  690 Equal in their creation they were formed,

  Save what sin hath impaired, which yet hath wrought

  Insensibly, for I suspend their doom;

  Whence in perpetual fight they needs must last

  Endless, and no solution will be found:

  695 War wearied hath performed what war can do,

  And to disordered rage let loose the reins,

  With mountains as with weapons armed, which makes

  Wild work in Heav’n, and dangerous to the main.

  Two days are therefore passed, the third is thine;

  700 For thee I have ordained it, and thus far

  Have suffered, that the glory may be thine

  Of ending this great war, since none but thou

  Can end it. Into thee such virtue and grace

  Immense I have transfused, that all may know

  705 In Heav’n and Hell thy power above compare,

  And this perverse commotion governed thus,

  To manifest thee worthiest to be heir

  Of all things, to be heir and to be King

  By sacred unction, thy deservèd right.

  710 Go then thou Mightiest in thy Father’s might,

  Ascend my chariot, guide the rapid wheels

  That shake Heav’n’s basis, bring forth all my war,

  My bow and thunder, my almighty arms

  Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant thigh;

  715 Pursue these sons of darkness, drive them out

  From all Heav’n’s bounds into the utter deep:

  There let them learn, as likes them, to despise

  God and Messiah his anointed King.

  He said, and on his Son with rays direct

  720 Shone full; he all his Father full expressed

  Ineffably into his face received,

&nbs
p; And thus the filial Godhead answering spake.

  O Father, O Supreme of Heav’nly thrones,

  First, highest, holiest, best, thou always seek’st

  725 To glorify thy Son, I always thee,

  As is most just; this I my glory account,

  My exaltation, and my whole delight,

  That thou in me well pleased, declar’st thy will

  Fulfilled, which to fulfil is all my bliss.

  730 Sceptre and power, thy giving, I assume,

  And gladlier shall resign, when in the end

  Thou shalt be All in All, and I in thee

  For ever, and in me all whom thou lov’st:

  But whom thou hat’st, I hate, and can put on

  735 Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on,

  Image of thee in all things; and shall soon,

  Armed with thy might, rid Heav’n of these rebelled,

  To their prepared ill mansion driven down

  To chains of darkness, and th’ undying worm,

  740 That from thy just obedience could revolt,

  Whom to obey is happiness entire.

  Then shall thy saints unmixed, and from th’ impure

  Far separate, circling thy holy Mount

  Unfeignèd hallelujahs to thee sing,

  745 Hymns of high praise, and I among them chief.

  So said, he o’er his sceptre bowing, rose

  From the right hand of Glory where he sat,

  And the third sacred morn began to shine

  Dawning through Heav’n: forth rushed with whirlwind sound

  750 The chariot of Paternal Deity,

  Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,

  Itself instínct with Spirit, but convóyed

  By four Cherubic shapes; four faces each

  Had wondrous; as with stars their bodies all

  755 And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels

  Of beryl, and careering fires between;

  Over their heads a crystal firmament,

  Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure

  Amber, and colours of the show’ry arch.

  760 He in celestial panoply all armed

  Of radiant urim, work divinely wrought,

  Ascended, at his right hand Victory

  Sat eagle-winged, beside him hung his bow

  And quiver with three-bolted thunder stored,

  765 And from about him fierce effusion rolled

  Of smoke and bickering flame, and sparkles dire;

  Attended with ten thousand thousand saints,

  He onward came, far off his coming shone,

  And twenty thousand (I their number heard)

  770 Chariots of God, half on each hand were seen:

  He on the wings of Cherub rode sublime

  On the crystálline sky, in sapphire throned.

  Illustrious far and wide, but by his own

  First seen; them unexpected joy surprised,

  775 When the great ensign of Messiah blazed

  Aloft by angels borne, his sign in Heav’n:

  Under whose conduct Michael soon reduced

  His army, circumfused on either wing,

  Under their Head embodied all in one.

  780 Before him Power Divine his way prepared;

  At his command the uprooted hills retired

  Each to his place, they heard his voice and went

  Obsequious; Heav’n his wonted face renewed,

  And with fresh flow’rets hill and valley smiled.

  785 This saw his hapless foes but stood obdured,

  And to rebellious fight rallied their powers

  Insensate, hope conceiving from despair.

  In Heav’nly Spirits could such perverseness dwell?

  But to convince the proud what signs avail,

  790 Or wonders move th’ obdúrate to relent?

  They hardened more by what might most reclaim,

  Grieving to see his glory, at the sight

  Took envy, and aspiring to his heighth,

  Stood re-embattled fierce, by force or fraud

  795 Weening to prosper, and at length prevail

  Against God and Messiah, or to fall

  In universal ruin last, and now

  To final battle drew, disdaining flight,

  Or faint retreat; when the great Son of God

  800 To all his host on either hand thus spake.

  Stand still in bright array ye saints, here stand

  Ye angels armed, this day from battle rest;

  Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God

  Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause,

  805 And as ye have received, so have ye done

  Invincibly; but of this cursèd crew

  The punishment to other hand belongs;

  Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints;

  Number to this day’s work is not ordained

  810 Nor multitude; stand only and behold

  God’s indignation on these Godless poured

  By me; not you but me they have despised,

  Yet envied; against me is all their rage,

  Because the Father, t’ whom in Heav’n supreme

  815 Kingdom and power and glory appertains,

  Hath honoured me according to his will.

  Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned;

  That they may have their wish, to try with me

  In battle which the stronger proves, they all,

  820 Or I alone against them, since by strength

  They measure all, of other excellence

  Not emulous, nor care who them excels;

  Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.

  So spake the Son, and into terror changed

  825 His count’nance too severe to be beheld

  And full of wrath bent on his enemies.

  At once the Four spread out their starry wings

  With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs

  Of his fierce chariot rolled, as with the sound

  830 Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.

  He on his impious foes right onward drove,

  Gloomy as Night; under his burning wheels

  The steadfast Empyrean shook throughout,

  All but the throne itself of God. Full soon

  835 Among them he arrived; in his right hand

  Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent

  Before him, such as in their souls infixed

  Plagues; they astonished all resistance lost,

  All courage; down their idle weapons dropped;

  840 O’er shields and helms, and helmèd heads he rode

  Of Thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate,

  That wished the mountains now might be again

  Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire.

  Nor less on either side tempestuous fell

  845 His arrows, from the fourfold-visaged four,

  Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels,

  Distinct alike with multitude of eyes;

  One spirit in them ruled, and every eye

  Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire

  850 Among th’ accursed, that withered all their strength,

  And of their wonted vigour left them drained,

  Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall’n.

  Yet half his strength he put not forth, but checked

  His thunder in mid volley, for he meant

  855 Not to destroy, but root them out of Heav’n:

  The overthrown he raised, and as a herd

  Of goats or timorous flock together thronged

  Drove them before him thunderstruck, pursued

  With terrors and with furies to the bounds

  860 And crystal wall of Heav’n, which op’ning wide,

  Rolled inward, and a spacious gap disclosed

  Into the wasteful deep; the monstrous sight

  Strook them with horror backward, but far worse

  Urged them behind;
headlong themselves they threw

  865 Down from the verge of Heav’n; eternal wrath

  Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.

  Hell heard th’ unsufferable noise, Hell saw

  Heav’n ruining from Heav’n and would have fled

  Affrighted; but strict Fate had cast too deep

  870 Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound.

  Nine days they fell; confounded Chaos roared,

  And felt tenfold confusion in their fall

  Through his wide anarchy, so huge a rout

  Encumbered him with ruin: Hell at last

  875 Yawning received them whole, and on them closed,

  Hell their fit habitation fraught with fire

  Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain.

  Disburdened Heav’n rejoiced, and soon repaired

  Her mural breach, returning whence it rolled.

  880 Sole Victor from th’ expulsion of his foes

  Messiah his triumphal chariot turned:

  To meet him all his saints, who silent stood

  Eye witnesses of his almighty acts,

  With jubilee advanced; and as they went,

  885 Shaded with branching palm, each order bright,

  Sung triumph, and him sung victorious King,

  Son, heir, and Lord, to him dominion giv’n,

  Worthiest to reign: he celebrated rode

  Triumphant through mid Heav’n, into the courts

  890 And temple of his mighty Father throned

  On high; who into glory him received,

  Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss.

  Thus measuring things in Heav’n by things on earth

  At thy request, and that thou may’st beware

  895 By what is past, to thee I have revealed

  What might have else to human race been hid;

  The discord which befell, and war in Heav’n

  Among th’ angelic Powers, and the deep fall

  Of those too high aspiring, who rebelled

  900 With Satan, he who envies now thy state,

  Who now is plotting how he may seduce

  Thee also from obedience, that with him

  Bereaved of happiness thou may’st partake

  His punishment, eternal misery;

  905 Which would be all his solace and revenge,

  As a despite done against the Most High,

  Thee once to gain companion of his woe.

  But listen not to his temptations, warn

  Thy weaker; let it profit thee to have heard

  910 By terrible example the reward

  Of disobedience; firm they might have stood,

  Yet fell; remember, and fear to transgress.

  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