Surround me, as thou saw'st; hourly conceiv'd,
And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
To me! For, when they list, into the womb
That bred them they return; and howl, and gnaw
My bowels, their repast: then bursting forth,
Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round,
That rest or intermission none I find.
Before mine eyes in opposition sits
Grim Death, my son and foe: who sets them on,
And me his parent would full soon devour
For want of other prey, but that he knows
His end with mine involv'd: and knows that I
Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane
Whenever that shall be; so Fate pronounc'd.
But thou, O father! I forewarn thee, shun
His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in those bright arms,
Though temper'd heavenly; for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can resist!"
She finish'd, and the subtle fiend his lore Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth:
"Dear daughter! since thou claim'st me for thy sire,
And my fair son here show'st me (the dear pledge
Of dalliance had with thee in heaven, and joys
Then sweet, now sad to mention, thro' dire change
Befallen us, unforeseen, unthought of!) know
I come no enemy, but to set free
From out this dark and dismal house of pain,
Both him and thee, and all the heavenly host
Of spirits that (in our just pretences arni'd,)
Fell with us from on high: from them I go
This uncouth errand sole; and one for all
Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
Th' unsounded deep, and through the void immense
To search with wand'ring quest a place foretold 830
Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere-now
Created, vast and round; a place of bliss
In the purlieus of heaven, and herein plac'd
A race of upstart creatures, to supply
Perhaps our vacant room; though more remov❜d,
Lest heaven surcharg'd with potent multitude
Might hap to move new broils Be this, or ought
Than this more secret, now design'd, I haste
To know; and this once known, shall soon return,
And bring ye to the place where thou, and Death,
Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen
Wing silently the buxom air, embalm'd
With odours: there ye shall be fed, and fill'd
Linmeasurably, all things shall be your prey."
He ceas'd, for both seem'd highly pleas'd, and Death
Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear
His famine should be fill'd; and bless'd his maw
Destin'd to that good hour: no less rejoic'd
His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire :
"The key of this infernal pit by due,
And by command of heaven's all-powerful King,
I keep; by him forbidden to unlock
These adamantine gates; against all force
Death ready stands to interpose his dart,
Fearless to be o'ermatch'd by living might.
But what I owe to his commands above
Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down
Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
To sit in hateful office here confin'd,
Inhabitant of heaven, and heavenly-born,
Here in perpetual agony and pain,
With terrors, and with clamours compass'd round, Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed? Thou art my father, thou my author, thou
My being gav'st me; whom should I obey
But thee? whom follow? thou wilt bring me soon
To that new world of light and bliss, among
The gods who live at ease, where I shall reign
At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems
Thy daughter, and thy darling, without end."
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad instrument of all our wo! she took; And towards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge porticullis high up-drew; Which but herself, not all the Stygian powers Could once have mov'd; then in the key-hole turns Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar Of massy iron, or solid rock, with ease Unfastens on a sudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil, and jarring sound
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
Of Erebus. She open'd, but to shut
Excell'd her power; the gates wide open stood,
That with extended wings a banner'd host
Under spread ensigns marching, might pass through
With horse, and chariots, rank'd in loose array,
So wide they stood! and like a furnace mouth,
ast forth redounding smoke, and ruddy flame.
Before their eyes in sudden view appear
The secrets of the hoary deep; a dark
Illimitable ocean, without hound,
Without dimension; where length, breadth, and
And time, and place are lost; where eldest Night And Chaos, ancestor's of Nature, hold
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand:
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce,
Strive here for mast'ry, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms; they around the flag
Of each his faction, in their several clans,
Light arm'd, or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow, Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the sands
Of Barca, or Cyrene's torrid soil,
Levied to side with warring winds and poise
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment: Chaos umpire sits,
And by decision more embroils the fray,
By which he reigns: next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. Into this wild abyss,
(The womb of nature, and perhaps her grave,)
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
(Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds,)
Into this wild abyss the wary fiend
Stood on the brink of hell, and look'd awhile,
Pond'ring his voyage; (for no narrow frith
He had to cross:) nor was his ear less peal'd
With noises loud, and ruinous, (to compare
Great things with small,) than when Bellona storms,
With all her batt'ring engines bent to raze
Some capital city; or less than if this frame
f heaven were falling, and these elements m. had from her axle torn
seadmes Arch. At last his sail-broad vans
Pane, Sight and in the surging smoke
Up teu spus the ground; thence many a league,
As . a loty chant, ascending rides
Audacious, but that seat soon failing, meets
A vast vacuity: all unawares,
Flutt'ring his pennors vain, plump down he drops
Ten thousand fathom deep and to this hour
Down had been failing, had not by ill chance
The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud,
Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him
As many miles aloft: that fury stay'd,
Quench'd in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea,
Nor good dry land, nigh founder'd on he fares, 940
Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
Half flying; behooves him now both oar and sail.
As when a griffon, through the wilderness
With winged course o'er hill, or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd
The guarded gold: so eagerly the fiend
O'er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way;
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. 950)
A length a universal hubbub wild
Of stunning sounds, and voices all confus'd,
Borne through the hollow dark assaults his ear
With loudest vehemence: thither he plies,
Undaunted to meet there whatever power,
Or spirit, of the nethermost abyss,
Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask
Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies,
Bordering on light: when strait behold the throne Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread
Wide on the wasteful deep: with him enthron'd
Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things,
The consort of his reign: and by them stood
Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
Of Demogorgon: Rumour next, and Chance,
And Tumul, and Confusion all embroil'd,
And Discord with a thousand various mouths.
T'whom Satan turning boldly, thus: "Ye powers,
And spirits of this nethermost abyss,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy
With purpose to explore, or to disturb
The secrets of your realm; but by constraint
Wand'ring this darksome desart, as my way
Lies through your spacious empire up to light.
Alone, and without guide, half lost, I seek
What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds
Confine with heaven: or if some other place
From your dominion won, th' etherial king
Possesses lately, thither to arrive
I travel this profound: direct my course;
Directed, no mean recompense it brings
To your behoof: if I that region lost,
All usurpation thence expell'd, reduce
To her original darkness, and your sway,
(Which is my present journey,) and once more 955 Erect the standard there of ancient Night;
Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge!"
Thus Satan; and him thus the anarch old,
With fault'ring speech, and visage incompos'd,
Answer'd: "I know thee stranger, who thou art, 990
That mighty leading angel, who of late
Made head against heaven's King, tho' overthrown.
I saw, and heard; for such a num'rous host
Fled not in silence through the frighted deep,
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confusion worse confounded: and heaven-gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
Pursuing. upon my frontiers here
Keep residence; if all I can will serve,
That little which is left so to defend,
Encroach'd on still through our intestine broils,
Weak'ning the sceptre of old Night: first hell,
Your dungeon, stretching far and wide beneath :
Now lately heaven and earth, another world
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain, 1005
To that side heaven from whence your legions fel!:
If that way be your walk, you have not far;
So much the nearer danger; go, and speed.
Havoc, and spoil, and ruin are my gain."
He ceas'd, and Satan staid not to reply,
But glid hat now the sea should find a shore,
With fresh alacrity, and force renew'd,
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