Impulerit primos, cæli propiore beatos
Numine, tam blandi Genitoris fpernere jussa
Ingratos, unum ob Vetitum, cum cætera latè
Terrarum vaftâ foli ditione tenerent;
Tam fædum miseris crimen quis fuaferit auctor.
Infernus Serpens : Ille improbus arte malignâ
Matrem hominum lusit, furiis ultricibus actus,
Ipfe exul jam tum cæli, faftumque nefandum
Efferaque ausa luens cum Tartareo comitatu;
Quorum ope, præcelsum divini munus honoris
Ante Pares longè affectans, æquâffe Supremum
Sperabat, fi contra obfisteret; impiaque amens
Bella De 1 Solio & pugnam intentabat atrocem.
Hunc adeò, effræni molitum vana tumultu,
Æthereis projectum oris per inane profundum
Flagrantem torsit Deus, horrificâque ruinâ
Præcipitem dedit; æternæque voragine noctis
Inclusit demersum, ibi longum adamantina vincla
Mov'd our Grand Parents, in that happy State,
Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress his Will
For one Restraint, Lords of the World besides :
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt.
Th'infernal Serpent : He it was, whose Guile,
Stirr’d up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Hoft
Of Rebel Angels; by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the Most High,
If He oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious war in Heav'n and battel proud
With vain Attempt. Him the Almighty. Power
Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skię
With hideous ruin and combustion down
Et meritos flammæ passurum vindicis ignes,
Qui malesana palam Omnipotentem in bella vocârat.
Jam novies noctis fpatium noviesque diei
Fluxerat, ut terris numerantur tempora ; ponto
Hic super ignivomo dirâ comitante caterva
Attonitus jacet, atque Animæ stupet obruta Virtus
Æthereæ. Cælo visum est gravioribus iris
Hunc ultrà fuperesse ; amiffa hinc gaudia luget,
Illinc immensos horret fine fine dolores :
Lumina continuò feralia circumvolvit,
Lumina mærorem immanem, formidine mixtâ,
Invictumque odium & faftum testata ferocem.
Tum celerem torquens aciem, quantùm usque tuendo
Cælicolùm penetrant oculi, loca lurida, vasto
Deformem tractu regionem afpectat: ubique
Horror erat; barathrumque ingens, ceu maxima fornax,
Undique jactabat Alammas, fine lumine Aammas :
Obscurâ tantùm fub lucis imagine tristes
To bottomless perdition; there to dwell
Torments him : round he throws his baleful eyes, In adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Who durft defie th' Omnipotent to arms.
Mix'd with obdurate pride and stedfast hate.
Nine times the space that measures day and night At once, as far as Angels ken, he views
To mortal men, He with his horrid crew
The dismal situation waste and wild.
Lay vanquish'd, rowling in the fiery Gulf, A Dungeon horrible on all fides round,
Confounded, though immortal. But his Doom As one great Furnace, flam'd; yet from those flames
Reserv'd him to more wrath ; for now the thought No light, but rather darkness visible
Both of loft happiness and lafting pain
Serv'd only to discover fights of woe,
Lustrabat Caligo plagas, folasque dolorum
Pandebat facies, umbras vallesque inamænas;
Pax fugit inde, Quiesque; fugit, quæ sublevat omnes
Ultrò Spes placida; at torto Vindicta flagello
Instat, Diluviumque perenni agit agmine flammas
Sulphuris indomitas. Iftos hâc sede Rebelles,
Hoc claudi Omnipotens æquus decreverat antro,
Heu
quam
dissimili Patriæ sedisque relictæ !
Ter tantùm ore fuo æthereâque à luce remotos,
Quantùm vel Medio distat mundi ultimus Axis.
Cladis ibi comites flammarum in gurgite volvi
Dux cernit miser attonitos, multoque rotatos
Turbine; & adjunctum lateri, qui proximus Ipsi
Criminibus sceptrisque, insano agitarier æstu:
Ille Palæstiná longo post tempore notus,
Nomine Balzebus : quem cæli acerrimus Hoftis
(Coelicolæ hinc Satanam memorant) audacibus ultro
Compellans dictis horrenda silentia rupit :
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where Peace
And Reft can never dwell, Hope never comes
That comes to all ; but Torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Delage, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd.
Such Place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those Rebellious, here their prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n,
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole;
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelm'd
With Floods and Whirl-winds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and welt'ring by his fide
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-enemy,
And thence in Heav'n callid Satan, with bold words
Si sis Ille Idem! verùm ô quàm eversus, ab Illo
Quantùm ô mutatus, lætis qui lucis in oris
Tot rutilorum unus superabas millia longè
Cælicolûm, eximio radiorum indutus amictu !
Si fis Ille, mihi focium quem fædus idemque
Consilium, quem fpes eadem & commune periclum
Ausi participem ingentis junxere; ruinâ
Nunc Sors una pari junxit: de culmine quanto
Corruimus, sentis, quantâque voragine mersi.
Scilicet Hunc tantùm evexere Tonitrua, nulli
Nota priùs fera tela. At me, fi tota ruat vis
Telorum, & quodcunque aliud violentior Ira
Victoris quondam inveniet, non franget, atroxve
Mutabit mihi cor, species licèt extera formæ
Mutetur ; neque enim, quæ spretæ injuria movit
Virtutis, generosa animo fastidia cedent.
Ergo ipsi haud veritus bellum intentare Tonanti
Cælicolùm immensas ducebam in prælia turmas,
Breaking the horrid filence thus began :
From what Height fall'n: so much the stronger If thou beest He! but O how fall'n; how chang'd prov'd From Him, who in the happy realms of light He with his Thunder: and 'till then who knew Cloath'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine The force of those dire Arms? Yet not for those, Myriads tho’bright! If He, whom mutual league, Nor what the potent Victor in his rage United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
Can else inflict, do I repent or change, And hazard in the glorious Enterprize,
Though chang'd in outward lustre, that fix'd mind Join'd with me once, now misery hath join'd And high disdain, from sense of injur'd merit, In equal ruin : Into what Pit thou scest
That with the Mightiest rais'd me to contend,
Quot juga detrectare ausi, dominumque volentes
Me potiùs, vires quas Iste coegerat omnes
Per latos cæli dubio certamine campos
Viribus aggressi adversis, foliumque fupremum
Concussere. Esto; palmam infelicibus Alter
Præripuit; sed Mens fupereft immota, nec ullis
Debellanda malis, sed fle&ti nescia Virtus,
Immortale Odium, Vindictæ arrecta cupido,
Et Quodcunque usquam vinci frangive recusat.
Hos mihi nunquam adimet, nunquam extorquebit honores,
Non rabie indomitâ, non vi. Victumne superbos
Me volvi ante pedes, & inertia flectere genua ?
Orabo veniam supplex, & habebitur ultrò
Iste mihi Deus, Iste hujus terrore lacerti
Pallidus haudpridem, ac regno nutante tremiscens?
Tunc essem fanè abjectus, tunc clade vel ipsâ
Fædius opprobrium paterer. Quoniam auspice fato
Igneus ille Deûm vigor & cælestis origo
And to the fierce Contention brought along And what is else not to be overcome.
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That Glory never fall his wrach or might
That durft dislike His Reign; and me preferring Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
His utmost power with adverse power oppos’d With suppliant knee, and deife his Power,
In dubious battel on the plains of Heav'n,
Who from the terror of this Arm so late And shook his Throne. What tho’the field be loft: Doubted his Empire: That were low indeed; All. is not loft; th’unconquerable Will,
That were an Ignominy and Shame beneath And study of Revenge, immortal Hate,
This Downfal. Since by fate the strength of Gods And Courage never to submit or yield,
And this empyreal substance cannot fail,
Morte
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