Hath emptied Heav'n, shall fail to re-ascend
Self-rais'd, and re-poffefs their native Seat!
For me be witnefs all the Hoft of Heav'n,
If counfels different, or danger fhun'd
By me, have loft our hopes. But he who reigns
Monarch in Heav'n, 'till then as one fecure
Sate on his Throne, upheld by old repute,
Confent or custom, and his Regal State
Put forth at full, but ftill his ftrength conceal'd,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own,
So as not either to provoke, or dread
New war, provok❜t; our better part remains
To work in close design, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not: that he no leís
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
There went a fame in Heav'n that he e'er long
Intended to create; and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the Sons of Heaven:
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
Our firft Eruption; thither or elsewhere:
For this Infernal Pit fhall never hold
Celestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th' Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full Counsel must mature: Peace is despair'd,
For who can think fubmiffion? Warthen, War
Open or understood must be refolv'd.
He fpake: and to confirm his words out-flew
Millions of flaming fwords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim; the fudden blaze
Far round illumin'd Hell: highly they rag'd
Against the Higheft, and fierce with grafped arms
Clash'd on their founding fhields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the Vault of Heav'n.
There stood a Hill not far, whofe grisly Top
Belch'd fire and rowling fmoak; the reft entire
Shone with a gloffy fcurf, undoubted fign
That in his Womb was hid metallick Ore,
The Work of fulphur. Thither wing'd with speed
A numerous Brigad haften'd; as when Bands
Of Pioneers with spade and pickax arm'd
Fore-run the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
Or caft a Rampart. Mammon led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From Heav'n, for ev'n in Heav'n his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav'ns pavement, trodden Gold,
Than aught divine or holy else enjoy'd
In vifion beatifick: by him first
Men alfo, and by his suggestion taught,
Ranfack'd the Center, and with impious hands
Rifled the Bowels of their mother Earth
For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Open'd into the Hill a fpacious wound,
And dig'd out ribs of Gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that foyle may best
Deferve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boaft in mortal things, and wond'ring tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian Kings,
Learn how their greatest Monuments of Fame,
And Strength and Art are easily out-done
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an Age they with inceffant toyle
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
Nigh on the Plain in many Cells prepar'd,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluc'd from the Lake, a fecond multitude
With wondrous Art found out the massy Ore,
Severing each kind, and fcum'd the Bullion drofs:
A third as foon had form'd within the ground
A various mould, and from the boiling Cells
By ftrange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
As in an Organ from one blast of wind
To many a row of Pipes the found-board breath's.
Anon out of the earth a Fabrick huge
Rofe like an Exhalation, with the found
Of dulcet fymphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a Temple, where Pilafters round
Were fet, and Doric Pillars overlaid
With golden Architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or Freeze, with boffy Sculptures grav'n;
The Roof was fretted Gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo fuch magnificence
Equal'd in all their glories, to infhrine
Belus or Serapis their Gods, or feat
Their Kings, when Ægypt with Affyria ftrove
In wealth and luxury. Th' afcending pile
Stood fixt her ftately height, and ftrait the doors
Op'ning their brazen folds discover wide
Within her ample spaces o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof,
Pendent by fubtle Magic, many a row
Of starry Lamps and blazing Creffets, fed
With Naphtha and Afphaltus, yielded light
As from a Sky. The hafty multitude
Admiring enter'd, and the work some praise,
And fome the Architect: his hand was known
In Heav'n by many a Towred ftructure high,
Where Sceptred Angels held their residence,
And fate as Princes, whom the fupreme King
Exalted to fuch power, and gave to rule,
Each in his Hierarchy, the Orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or unador'd
In ancient Greece; and in Aufonian Land
Men call'd him Mulciber; and how he fell
From Heav'n, they fabl'd, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the Chrystal Battlements; from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summer's day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star,
On Lemnos th' Agean Ille: Thus they relate,
Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now
T' have built in Heav'n high Tow'rs; nor did he scape
By all his Engins, but was headlong sent
With his induftrious crew to build in Hell.
Mean while the winged Heralds by command
Of Sov'reign pow'r, with awful ceremony
And Trumpets found, throughout the hoft proclaim
A folemn Council forthwith to be held
At Pandamonium, the high Capital
Of Satan and his Peers: Their fummons call'd
From every Band and squared Regiment
By place or choice the worthieft; they anon
With hundreds and with thousands trooping came
Attended: all accefs was throng'd: the gates
And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall
(Though like a cover'd field, where Champions bold
Wont ride in arm'd, and at the Soldan's Chair
Defi'd the beft of Paynim Chivalry
To mortal Combat, or carriere with Lance)
Thick fwarm'd, both on the ground and in the air,
Brush'd with the hifs of rufling wings. As Bees
In fpring time, when the Sun with Taurus rides,
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clusters; they among fresh Dews and Flow'rs
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
The Suburb of their Straw-built Cittadel,
New rubb'd with Baum, expatiate and confer
Their State affairs. So thick the aery crowd
Swarm'd and were straiten'd; till the signal giv'n,
Behold a Wonder! they but now who seem'd
In Bigness to surpass Earth's Giant Sons,
Now less than smallest Dwarfs, in narrow room
Throng numberless, like that Pygmean Race
Beyond the Indian Mount, or Faery Elves,
Whofe midnight Revels by a Foreft fide
Or Fountain fome belated Peafant fees,
Or dreams he fees, while over-head the Moon
Sits Arbitrefs, and nearer to the Earth
Wheels her pale courfe; they on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund Mufic charm his Ear:
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
Reduc'd their Shapes immense, and were at large, 790 Though without number, still amidst the Hall
Of that infernal Court. But far within,
And in their own dimensions like themselves,
The great Seraphick Lords and Cherubim
In close recefs and fecret conclave fate
A thousand Demi-Gods on golden feats,
Frequent and full. After fhort filence then
And fummons read, the great Confult began.
! The End of the First Book.
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