:

230 And such appeared in hue,] as when the force

Of subterranean wind transports a hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the shattered side
Of thundering Ætna, | whose combustible

And fuelled entrails thence conceiving fire 235 Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds, |

And leave a singëd bottom all involved
With stench and smoke :] such resting found the sole
Of unblest feet. Him followed his next mate ;

Both glorying to have 'scaped the Stygian flood 240 As gods, and by their own recovered strength,

Not by the sufferance of supernal Power. |

Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,] [Said then the lost Archangel, this the seat]

That we must change for Heaven : | this mournful gloom] 24.5 For that celestial light ?] Be it so ! since he)

Who now is Sovran, I can dispose,) and bid]
What shall be right : | farthest from Him is best, |
Whom reason hath equalled, | force hath made supreme

Above his equals.] Farewell, happy fields,
250 Where joy for ever dwells ! | Hail, horrours !| hail,

Infernal world! And thou, profoundest Hell,
Receive thy new possessour !-one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time : 1

The mind is its own place, and in itself
255 Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.]

What matter] where,] if I be still the same, I
And) what I should be]—all but less) than He]
Whom thunder hath made greater ? | Here at least
We shall be free ;| the Almighty hath not built

260 Here for his envy, / will not drive us hence :]

Here we may reign secure, and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell :/
Better to reign in Hell,] than serve in Heaven !]

But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, 265 The associates and copartners of our loss,

Lie thus astonished on the oblivious pool, |
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion ; or once more,

With rallied arms, to try] what may be yet 270 Regained in Heaven, | or what more lost in Hell ?]

So Satan spake, and him Beëlzebub Thus answered. [Leader of those armies bright,] ]

] Which, but the Omnipotent, none could have foiled ! |

If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge 275 Of hope fears and dangers, heard so oft

In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battle) when it raged, in all assaults
Their surest signal,) they will soon resume

New courage and revive ;] though now they lie 280 Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire,

As we erewhile, astounded and amazed ;]
No wonder, fallen such a pernicious highth.

He scarce had ceased, when the superior Fiend

Was moving toward the shore : his ponderous shield, 285 Ethereal temper, massy, large and round,

Behind him cast; | the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optick glass the Tuscan artist views

At evening from the top of Fesolé, 290 Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands,

Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe. |
His spear,) to equal which the tallest pine,
Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast

Of some great ammiral, were but a wand, | 295 He walked with, to support uneasy steps

Over the burning marle, not like those steps
On Heaven's azure ;) and the torrid clime
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire : |

Nathless he so endured, till on the beach 300 Of that inflamëd sea he stood, and called

His legions, Angel forms,] who lay intranced
Thick | as autumnal leaves) that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades,

High over-arched, imbower ; | or scattered sedge 305 Afloat,] when with fierce winds Orion armed

Hath vexed the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o’erthrew
Busiris and his Memphian chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they pursued

The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld 310 From the safe shore their floating carcasses

And broken chariot wheels : | so thick bestrown,
Abject and lost lay these, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change. I

He called so loud, | that all the hollow deep 315 Of Hell resounded ! | -[Princes, potentates,

Warriours, the flower of Heaven ! once yours, now lost,]
If such astonishment) as this] can seize
Eternal Spirits !) or have ye chosen this place

After the toil of battle to repose
320 Your wearied virtue, for the ease) you find]

To slumber here as in the vales of Heaven ?)
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
To adore the Conquerour ?| who now beholds

Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood,
325 With scattered arms and ensigns ; | till anon

His swift pursuers from Heaven-gates discern
The advantage, and, descending, tread us down
Thus drooping,] or with linkëd thunderbolts

Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf ?] 330 Awake,] arise,] or be for ever fallen !)

They heard, and were abashed,] and up they sprung
Upon the wing ;| as when men, wont to watch
On duty, sleeping found) by whom they dread,

Rouse and bestir themselves) ere well awake.] 335 Nor did they not perceive the evil plight |

In which they were, | or the fierce pains not feel ;]
Yet to their General's voice they soon obeyed,
Innumerable. As when the potent rod

Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,
340 Waved round the coast, | up called a pitchy cloud

Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,]
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile :]

So numberless were those bad Angels seen 345 Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell,

'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires ; |
Till, at a signal given, the up-lifted spear

316. Lost and if must be connected.

333. By whom they dread-A Graecisin for by one whom they dread.

337. The Dative with obey is not a Latinism; it occurs in Chaucer and Spenser.

;

338. The double negative for the afirma. tive is a Latinism.

341. IVarping.–Working themselves forward-a nautical term.

347. Spear in Apposition with signal.

Of their great Sultan waving to direct

Their course, in even balance down they light 350 On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain ;

A multitude,] like which the populous North
Poured never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, / when her barbarous sons

Came like a deluge on the south, | and spread 355 Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands.]

Forthwith from every squadron and each band,
The heads and leaders thither haste,) where stood
Their great Commander ; | Godlike shapes and forms

Excelling human ; princely Dignities 360 And Powers) that erst in Heaven sat on thrones ; |

Though of their names in heavenly records now
Be no memorial ; blotted out and rased
By their rebellion from the books of life. |

Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve 365 Got them new names ;| till wandering o'er the earth,

Through God's high sufferance, for the trial of man,
By falsities and lies, the greatest part
Of mankind they corrupted to forsake

God their Creator, and the invincible
370 Glory of him) that made them to transform

Oft to the image of a brute, adorned
With gay religions, full of pomp and gold,
And Devils to adore for Deities :)

Then were they known to men by various names, 375 And various idols through the Heathen world. |