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Man's transgression known, the Guardian Angels forsake Paradise, and return up to Heaven to approve their vigilance, and are approved, God declaring that the entrance of Satan could not be by them prevented. He sends his Son to judge the transgressors, who descends and gives sentence accordingly; then in pity clothes them both, and re-ascends. Sin and Death sitting till then at the gates of Hell, by wondrous sympathy feeling the success of Satan in this new world, and the sin by man there committed, resolve to sit no longer coufined in Hell, but to follow Satan their sire up to the place of Man: to make the way easier from Hell to this new world to and fro, they pave a broad high-way or bridge over Chaos, according to the track that Satan first made; then preparing for Earth, they meet him proud of his success returning to Hell; their mutual gratulation. Satan arrives at Pandimonium, in full assembly relates with boasting his success against Man; instead of applause is entertained with a general hiss by all his andience, transformed with himself also suddenly into serpents, according to his doom given in Paradise; then deluded with a shew of the forbidden Tree springing up before them, they greedily reaching to take of the fruit, chew dust and bitter ashes. The proceedings of Sin and Death; God foretels the final victory of his Son over them, and the renewing of all things; but for the present commands his Angels to make some alterations in the Heavens and elements. Adam more and more perceiving his fallen condition, heavily bewails, rejects the condolement of Eve; she persists and at length appeases him: then to evade the curse likely to fall on their offspring, proposes to Adam vio. lent ways, which he approves not, but conceiving better hope, puts her in mind of the late promise made them, that her Seed should be revenged on tire Serpent, and exhorts her with him to seek peace with the offended Deity, by repentance and supplication.

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Complete to have discover'd and repuls'd
Whatever wiles of foe or seeming friend.
For still they knew, and ought to have still re-
member'd

The high injunction not to taste that fruit,
Whoever tempted; which they not obeying,
Incurr'd (what could they less?) the penalty,
And manifold in sin, deserv'd to fall.
Up in Heav'n from Paradise in haste
Th' angelic guard ascended, mute and sad
For man, for of his state by this they knew,
Much wond'ring how the subtle Fiend had
[news

stol'n

Entrance unseen. Soon as th' unwelcome
From Earth arriv'd at Heav'n gate, displeas'd
All were who heard; dim Sadness did not

spare

That time celestial visages, yet mix'd
With pity violated not their bliss.

About the new-arriv'd, in multitudes

Th' ethereal people ran, to hear and know

How all befel: they toward the throne su

preme

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I told ye then he should prevail and speed
On his bad erraud, man should be seduc'd
And flatter'd out of all, believing lies
Against his Maker; no decree of mine
Concurring to necessitate his fall,
Or touch with slightest moment of impulse
His free will, to her own inclining left
In even scale. But fall'n he is, and now
What rests, but that the mortal sentence pass
On his transgression, death denounc'd that
day?

Which he presumes already vain and void,
Because not yet inflicted, as he fear'd,
By some immediate stroke; but soon shall

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Easy it may be seen that I intend

Mercy colleague with justice, sending thee
Man's friend, his mediator, his design'd
Both ransome and redeemer voluntary,
And destin'd Man himself to judge men fall'n.
So spake the Father, and unfolding bright
Toward the right hand his glory, on his Son,
Blaz'd forth unclouded deity; he full
Resplendent all his Father manifest
Express'd, and thus divinely answer'd mild.
Father eternal, thine is to decree,
Mine both in heav'n and earth to do thy will
Supreme, that thou in me thy Son belov'd
May'st ever rest well pleas'd. I go to judge
On earth these thy transgressors, but thou
know'st,

Whoever judg'd, the worst on me must light,
When time shall be, for so I undertook
Before thee; and not repenting, this obtain
Of right, that I may mitigate their doom
On me deriv'd; yet shall I temper so
Justice with mercy, as may illustrate most
Them fully satisfied, and thee appease.
Attendance none shall need, nor train where

none

Are to behold the judgment, but the judg'd, Those two; the third best absent is condemn'd, Convict by flight, and rebel to all law : Conviction to the serpent none belongs.

Thus saying from his radiant seat he rose Of high collateral glory, him Thrones and Powers,

Princedoms, and Dominations ministrant
Accompanied to heaven gate, from whence
Eden and all the coast in prospect lay.
Down he descended straight: the speed of
Gods
[wing'd.
Time counts not, though with swiftest minutes
Now was the sun in western cadence low
From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour
To fan the Earth now wak'd, and usher in
The ev'ning cool, when he from wrath more
cool

Came the mild judge and intercessor both
To sentence man: the voice of God they heard,
Now walking in the garden, by soft winds
Brought to their ears, while day declined;

they heard,

And from his presence hid themselves among The thickest trees, both man and wife, till God Approaching, thus to Adam call'd aloud, Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet My coming seen far off? I miss thee here, Not pleas'd thus entertain'd with solitude, Where obvious duty ere while appear'd unsought:

Or come I less conspicuous, or what change Absents thee, or what chance detains? Come forth.

He came and with him Eve, mere loath

though first

To offend, discountenanc'd both, and discompos'd;

Love was not in their looks, either to God
Or to each other, but apparent guilt,
And shame and perturbation, and despair,
Anger and obstinacy, and hate, and guile.
Whence Adam falt'ring long, thus auswer'd
brief.

I heard thee in the gard'n, and of thy voice
Afraid, being naked, hid myself. To whom
The gracious judge without revile reply'd.
My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not
fear'd,

But still rojoic'd: how is it now become
So dreadful to thee? that thou art naked, who
Hath told thee? hast thou eaten of the Tree,
Whereof i gave thee charge thou shouldst not
eat?

To whom thus Adam sore beset reply'd;
O Heav'n! in cvil strait this day I stand
Before my Judge, either to undergo
Myself the total crime, or to accuse
My other self, the partner of my life;
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains,
I should conceal, and not expose to blame
By my complaint; but strict necessity
Subdues me, and calamitous constraint,
Lest on my head both sin, and punishment,
However insupportable, be all

Devolv'd; though should I hold my peace, yet thou

Wouldst easily detect what I conceal.
This Woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help,
And gav'st me as thy perfect gift, so good,
So fit, so acceptable, so divine,
That from her hand I could suspect no ill,
And what she did, whatever in itself,
Her doing seem'd to justify the deed;
She gave me of the Tree, and I did eat.

To whom the Sovreign Presence thus reply'd;
Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey
Before his voice, or was she made thy guide,
Superior, or but equal, that to her
Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place
Wherein God set thee above her, made of thee,
And for thee, whose perfection far excell'd
Hers in all real dignity? Adorn'd
She was indeed, and lovely to attract
Thy love and thy subjection; and her gifts
Were such as under government well seen'd,
Unseemly to bear ruie, which was thy part
Aud person, hadst thou known thyself aright.
So having said, he thus to Eve in few.
Say, Woman, what is this which thou hast
done?
[whelm'd,

To whom sad Eve with shame nigh overConfessing soon, yet not before her Judge

Bold or loquacious, thus abash'd reply'd :
The serpent me beguil'd, and I did eat.

Which when the Lord God heard, without
delay

To judgment he proceeded on th' accus'd
Serpent though brute, unable to transfer
The guilt on him who made him instrument
Of mischief, and polluted from the end
Of his creation; justly then accurs'd,
As vitiated in nature: more to know
Concerned not man (since he no further knew)
Nor alter'd his offence; yet God at last
To Satan first in sin his doom apply'd,
Though in mysterious terms, judg'd as then

best:

And on the serpent thus his curse let fall.
Because thou hast done this, thou art accurs'd
Above all cattle, each heast of the field;
Upon thy belly groveling thou shalt go,
And dust shalt cat all the days of thy life.
Between thee and the woman I will put
Enmity, and between thine and her sced;
Her seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his
heel.

So spake this Oracle, then verify'd
When Jesus son of Mary, second Eve,

Saw Satan fall like lightning down from heav'n,
Prince of the Air; then rising from his grave
Spoil'd principalities and powers, triumph'd
In open show, and with ascension bright
Captivity led captive through the air,
The realm itself of Satan long usurp'd,
Whom he shall tread at last under our feet;
Ev'n he who now foretold his fatal bruise,
And to the woman thus his sentence turn'd.
Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply
By thy conception; children thou shall bring
In sorrow forth; and to thy husband's will
Thine shall submit; he over thee shall rule.

On Adam last thus judgment he pronounc'd. Because thou hast hearken'd to th' voice of thy wife,

And eaten of the tree, concerning which

I charg'd thee, saying, thou shalt not eat thereof:

Before him naked to the air, that now
Must suffer change, disdain'd not to begin
Thenceforth the form of servant to assume,
Ao when he wash'd his servants' feet, so now
As father of his family he clad

Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or slain,
Or as the snake with youthful coat repaid;
And thought not much to clothe his enemies:
Nor he their outward only with the skius
Of beasts, but inward nakedness, much more
Opprobrious, with his robe of righteousness,
Arraying cover'd from his Father's sight.
To him with swift ascent he up return'd,
Into his blissful bosom reassum'd
In glory as of old; to him appeas'd
All, tho' all-knowing, what bad pass'd with
Man

Recounted, mixing intercession sweet.
Mean while ere thus was sinn'd and judg'd
on Earth,

Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death,
In counterview within the gates, that now
Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame
Far into Chaos, since the Fiend pass'd

through,

Sin opening, who thus now to Death began.

O Son, why sit we here each other viewing
Idly, while Satan our great author thrives
In other worlds, and happier seat provides
For us his offspring dear? It cannot be
But that success attends him; if mishap
Ere this he had return'd, with fury driven
By his avengers, since no place like this
Can fit his punishment, or their revenge.
Methinks I feel new strength within me rise,
Wings growing, and dominion giv'n me large
|| Beyond this deep; whatever draws me on,
Or sympathy, or some connatural force
Powerful at greatest distance to unite
With secret amity things of like kind
By secretest conveyance. Thou my shade
Inseparable must with me along:

For Death from Sin no power can separate,
But lest the difficulty of passing back
Stay his return perhaps over this guif

Curs'd is the ground for thy sake; thou in Impassable, impervious, let us try

sorrow

Shall eat thereof all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles it shall bring thee
forth

Unbid; and thou shalt eat th' herb of the field.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
Till thou return unto the ground; for thou
Out of the ground wast taken, know thy birth,
For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return.
So judg'd he Man, both Judge and Saviour
[that day
And th' instant stroke of death denoun 'd,
Remov'd far of; then pitying how they stood

sent

Adventrous work, yet to thy power and mine
Not unagreeable, to found a path
Over this main from Hell to that new world
Where Satan now prevails, a monument
Of merit high to all th' infernal host,
Easing their passage bence, for intercourse,
Or transmigration, as their lot shall lead.
Nor can I miss the way, so strongly drawn
By this new felt attraction and instinct.

Whom thus the meagre shadow answer'd

soon:

Go whither Fate and inclination strong
Leads thee; I shall not lag behind, nor err

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The way, thou leading, such a scent I draw
Of carnage, prey innumerable, and taste
The savor of death from all things there that
live :

Nor shall I to the work thon enterprisest
Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid.

So saying, with delight he snuff'd the smell
Of mortal change on earth. As when a flock
Of ravenous fowl, though many a league re-
mote,

Against a day of battle, to a field,

Where armies lie encamp'd, come flying, lur'd
With scent of living carcases design'd

For death, the following day, in bloody fight;
So scented the grim feature, and upturn'd
His nostril wide into the murky air,
Sagacions of his quarry from so far.
Then both from out Hell gates into the waste
Wide anarchy of Chaos damp and dark
Flew diverse, and with power (their power was
great)

Hovering upon the waters, what they met
Solid or slimy, as in raging sea

Tost up and down, together crowded drove
From each side shoaling towards the mouth of
Hell:

As when two polar winds, blowing adverse
Upon the Cronian sea, together drive
Mountains of ice, that stop th' imagin'd way
Beyond Petsora eastward, to the rich
Cathaian coast. The aggregated soil
Death with his mace petrific, cold and dry,
As with a trident smote, and fix'd as firm
As Delos floating once; the rest his look
Bound with Gorgonian rigour not to move;
And with Asphaltic slime, broad as the gate,
Deep to the roots of Hell the gather'd beach
They fasten'd, and the mole immense wrought

on

Over the foaming deep high arch'd, a bridge,
Of length prodigious, joining to the wall
Immoveable of this now fenceless world
Forfeit to Death; from hence a passage broad
Smooth, easy, inoffensive down to Hell.

So, if great things to small may be compar'd,
Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke,
From Susa his Memuonian palace high
Came to the sea, and over Hellespont
Bridging his way, Europe with Asia join'd,
And scourg`d with many a stroke th' indignant

waves.

Now had they brought the work by wond'rous

art

Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock,

Over the vex'd abyss, following the track
Of Satan to the self-same place where he
First lighted from his wing, and landed safe
From out of Chaos, to the outside bare
Of this round world: with pins of adamant

And chains they made all fast, too fast they
made

And durable; and now in little space
The confines of empyréan Heaven

And of this world, and on the left hand Hell
With long reach interpos'd; three several
ways

In sight, to each of these three places led.
And now their way to Earth they had de
scry'd,

To Paradise first tending, when behold
Satan in likeness of an Angel bright
Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering
His zenith, while the sun in Aries rose:
Disguis'd he came, but those his children dear
Their parent soon discern'd, though in dis
guise.

He after Eve seduc'd, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by, and changing shape
To observe the sequel, saw his guileful act
By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded
Upon her husband, saw their shame that
sought

Vain covertures; but when he saw descend
The Son of God to judge them, terrify'd
He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun
The present, fearing guilty what his wrath
Might suddenly inflict; that past, return'd
By night, and list'uing where the hapless pair
Sat in their sad discourse, and various plaint,
Thence gather'd his own doom, which under-

stood

Vet instant, but of u tre time, with joy
And tidings fraught, to Hell he now return'd,
And at the brink of Chaos, near the foot
Of this new wond'rous pontifice, unhop'd
Met who to meet him came, his offspring dear.
Great joy was at their meeting, and at sight
Of that stupendous bridge his joy increas'd.
Long he admiring stood, till Sin, his fair
Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke :
O Parent, these are thy magnific deeds,
Thy trophies, which thou view'st as not thine
own;

Thou art their author and prime architect;
For I no sooner in my heart divin'd,

My heart, which by a secret harmony
Still moves with thine, join'd in connexion

[looks

sweet,
That thou on earth hadst prosper'd, which thy
Now also evidence, but straight I felt
Though distant, from thee worlds between, yet

felt

That I inust after thee with this thy son,
Such fatal consequences unites us three:
Hell could no longer hold us in her bounds,
Nor this unvoyageable gulf obscure
Detain from following thy illustrious track
Thou hast achiev'd our liberty, confin'd

Within Hell-gates till now, thou us impower'd | That scorn'd his indignation; through the gate To fortify thus far, and overlay

won

With this portentous bridge the dark abyss.
Thine now is all this world; thy virtue hath
[gain'd
What thy hands builded not, thy wisdom
With odds what war bath lost, and fully aveng'd
Our foil in Heav'n; here thou shalt monarch
reigu,
[sway,
There did'st not; there let him still victor
As battle hath adjudg'd, from this new world
Retiring, by his own doom alienated,
And henceforth monarchy with thee divide
Of all things parted by th' empyreal bounds,
His quadrature, from thy orbicular world,
Or try thee now more dang'rous to his throne.
Whom thus the Prince of darkness answer'd
glad.

[both,
Fair daughter, and thou Son and Grandchild
High proof ye now have giv'n to be the race
Of Satan, (for I glory in the name,
Antagonist of Heav'n's Almighty King)
Amply have merited of me, of all

Th' infernal empire, that so near Heav'n's door Triumphal with triumphal act have met, Mine with this glorious work, and made one realm

Hell and this world, one realm, one continent Of easy thoroughfare. Therefore while I Descend through darkness, on your road with

ease,

To my associate Pow'rs, them to acquaint With these successes, and with them rejoice, You two this way, among these numerous orbs All yours, right down to Paradise descend; There dwell aud reign in bliss, thence on the earth

Dominion exercise and in the air,

Chiefly on Man, sole lord of all declar'd,
Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly
kill.

My substitutes I send ye, and create
Plenipotent on earth, of matchless might
Issuing from me: on your joint vigour now
My hold of this new kingdom all depends,
Through Sin to Death expos'd by my exploit.
If your joint pow'r prevail, th' affairs of Hell
No detriment need fear; go and he strong.
So saying he dismiss'd them; they with
speed
[held,
Their course through thickest constellations
Spreading their baue; the blasted stars look'd
wan,

And planet-struck, real eclipse
Then suffer'd.

down

Th' other way Satan went

The causey to Hell-gate; on either side
Disparted Chaos over-built exclaim'd,
And with rebounding surge the bars assail'd,

Wide open and unguarded, Satan pass'd,
And all about found desolate; for those
Appointed to sit there, had left their charge,
Flown to the upper world; the rest were all
Far to th' inland retir'd, about the walls
Of Pandemonium, city and proud seat
Of Lucifer, so by allusion call'd,
Of that bright star to Satan paragon'd.
There kept their watch the legions, while the

Grand

In council sat, solicitous what chance
Might intercept their emp'ror sent; so he
Departing gave command, and they observ'd.
As when the Tartar from bis Russian foe
By Astrican over the snowy plains
Retires, or Bactrian Sophi from the horns
Of Turkish crescent, leaves all waste beyond
The realm of Aladule, in his retreat

To Tauris or Casbeen: So these the late
Heav'n banish'd host, left desert utmost Hell
Many a dark league, reduc'd in careful watch
Round their metropolis, and now expecting
Each hour their great adventurer from the
search
[mask'd,

Of foreign worlds: he thought the midst un-
In show plebeian Angel militaut

Of lowest order, pass'd; and from the door
Of that Plutonian hall, invisible
Ascended his high throne, which under state
Of richest texture spread, at th' upper end
Was plac'd in regal lustre. Down a while
He sat, and round about him saw unseen:
At last as from a cloud his fulgent head
Aud shape star-bright appeard, or brighter

clad

With what permissive glory since his fall
Was left him, or false glitter: All amaz'd
At that so sudden blaze the Stygian throng
Bent their aspect, and whom they wish'd be-
held,
[claim:
Their mighty chief return'd: loud was th' ac-
Forth rush din haste the great consulting

peers,

Rais'd from their dark Divan, and with like joy Congratulant approach'd him, who with hand Silence, and with these words attention won: Thrones, Dominatious, Princedoms, Virtues,

Powers,

For in possession such, not only of right,
I call ye and declare ye now, return'd
Successful beyond hope, to lead ye forth
Triumphant out of this infernal pit
Abom nable accurs'd, the house of woe,
And dungeon of our tyrant: now possess,
As Lords, a spacious world, to our native
Heaven

Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great achiev'd. Long were to teil

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