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Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, Bright effluence of bright essence incre

ate.

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

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 a bolder wing, Escaped the Stygian pool, though long detain'd

In that obscure sojourn, while, in my flight,

Through utter and through middle darkness borne,

With other notes than to the Orphéan lyre,

I sung of Chaos and eternal Night; Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down

The dark descent, and up to re-ascend, Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe,

And feel thy sovran vital lamp: but thou Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;

So thick a drop serene hath quench'd their orbs,

Or dim suffusion veil'd. 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

Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks beneath,

That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow,

Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget Those other two, equall'd with me in fate

So were I equall'd with them in renown, Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides,

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Then, crown'd again, their golden harps I 'sdained subjection, and thought one

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step higher

Would set me highest, and in a moment quit

The debt immense of endless gratitude, So burthensome still paying, still to owe; Forgetful what from him I still received, And understood not that a grateful mind By owing owes not, but still pays, at once Indebted and discharged; what burden then?

O, had his powerful destiny ordain'd Me some inferior angel, I had stood Then happy; no unbounded hope had raised

Ambition! Yet why not? some other power

As great might have aspired, and me, though mean,

Drawn to his part; but other powers as great

Fell not, but stand unshaken, from within Or from without, to all temptations arm'd. Hadst thou the same free will and power

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To me alike, it deals eternal woe. Nay, cursed be thou; since against his thy will

Chose freely what it now so justly rues. Me miserable! which way shall I fly Infinite wrath and infinite despair? Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell; And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep, Still threatening to devour me, opens wide,

To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heaven.

O, then, at last relent: is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left?

None left but by submission; and that word

Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame

Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced

With other promises and other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue The Omnipotent. Ay me! they little know

How dearly I abide that boast so vain.
Under what torments inwardly I groan,
While they adore me on the throne of
Hell.

With diadem and sceptre high advanced,
The lower still I fall, only supreme
In misery: such joy ambition finds.
But say I could repent, and could obtain,
By act of grace, my former state; how

soon

Would height recall high thoughts, how

soon unsay

What feign'd submission swore? Ease would recant

Vows made in pain, as violent and void. For never can true reconcilement grow, Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep;

Which would but lead me to a worse relapse

And heavier fall: so should I purchase dear

Short intermission bought with double

smart.

This knows my Punisher; therefore as far From granting he, as I from begging

peace:

All hope excluded thus, behold, instead Of us outcast, exiled, his new delight, Mankind, created, and for him this world. So farewell hope; and with hope, farewell fear;

Farewell remorse! all good to me is lost; Evil, be thou my good; by thee at least Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold,

By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign;

As man ere long, and this new world, shall know.

PARADISE.

So on he fares, and to the border comes,
Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure
green.

As with a rural mound, the champain head

Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,

Access denied; and overhead upgrew
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching
palm,

A sylvan scene; and, as the ranks ascend
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view. Yet higher than
their tops

The verdurous wall of Paradise up sprung:

Which to our general sire gave prospect large

Into his nether empire neighboring round.

And higher than that wall a circling row Of goodliest trees, loaden with fairest fruit,

Blossoms and fruits at once, of golden

hue,

Appear'd, with gay enamell'd colors mix'd:

On which the Sun more glad impress'd

his beams

Than in fair evening cloud, or humid bow,

When God hath shower'd the earth; so lovely seem'd

That landscape: and of pure, now purer air

Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires

Vernal delight and joy, able to drive All sadness but despair: now gentle gales,

Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense

Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole

Those balmy spoils. As when, to them who sail

Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past

Mozambic, off at sea north-east winds blow

Sabean odors from the spicy shore
Of Araby the blest; with such delay
Well pleased, they slack their course,
and many a league,

Cheer'd with the grateful smell, old
Ocean smiles.

EVE'S RECOLLECTIONS.

THAT day I oft remember, when from sleep

I first awaked, and found myself reposed

Under a shade on flowers, much wondering where

And what I was, whence thither brought,

and how.

Not distant far from thence, a murmuring sound

Of waters issued from a cave, and spread

Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved, Pure as the expanse of Heaven; I thither went

With unexperienced thought, and laid me down

On the green bank, to look into the clear

Smooth lake, that to me seem'd another sky.

As I bent down to look, just opposite,

A shape within the watery gleam appear'd,

Bending to look on me: I started back, It started back; but pleased I soon return'd,

Pleased it return'd as soon with answering looks

Of sympathy and love.

EVENING IN PARADISE.

Now came still Evening on, and Twilight gray

Had in her sober livery all things clad; Silence accompanied; for beast and bird,

They to their grassy couch, these to their nests,

Were slunk, all but the wakeful night

ingale;

She all night long her amorous descant sung;

Silence was pleased: now glow'd the firmament

With living sapphires: Hesperus, that led

The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,

Rising in clouded majesty, at length Apparent queen, unveil'd her peerless light,

And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.

EVE'S CONJUGAL LOVE.

My author and disposer, what thou bid'st,

Unargued I obey: so God ordains;
God is thy law, thou mine: to know no

more

Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.

With thee conversing I forget all time; All seasons and their change, all please alike.

Sweet in the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,

With charms of earliest birds: pleasant

the Sun,

When first on this delightful land he spreads

His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,

Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile Earth

After soft showers; and sweet the coming on

Of grateful Evening mild; then silent Night,

With this her solemn bird, and this fair Moon,

And these the gems of Heaven, her starry train:

But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends

With charm of earliest birds; nor rising Sun

On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,

Glistering with dew; nor fragrance after showers;

Nor grateful Evening mild; nor silent Night,

With this her solemn bird; nor walk by moon,

Or glittering star-light, without thee, is sweet.

ADAM AND EVE'S MORNING HYMN.

THESE are thy glorious works, Parent of good,

Almighty! Thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then!

Unspeakable, who sit'st above these heavens

To us invisible, or dimly seen

In these thy lowest works; yet these declare

Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine.

Speak, ye who best can tell, ye sons of light,

Angels; for ye behold him, and with

songs

And choral symphonies, day without night,

Circle his throne rejoicing; ye, in Heaven:

On Earth join all ye creatures to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end.

Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, If better thou belong not to the dawn, Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn

With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere,

While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.

Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,

Acknowledge him thy greater; sound his praise

In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st,

And when high noon hast gain'd, and when thou fall'st.

Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fly'st,

With the fix'd stars, fix'd in their orb that flies;

And ye five other wandering fires, that

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