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Silence, ye troubled Waves, and thou Deep, peace, Said then the Omnifick Word; your discord end! Nor staid; but, on the wings of Cherubim

Uplifted, in paternal glory rode

Far into Chaos, and the world unborn;

For Chaos heard his voice: Him all his train
Follow'd in bright procession, to behold

Creation, and the wonders of his might.
Then staid the fervid wheels, and in his hand
He took the golden compasses, prepar'd
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe and all created things:
One foot he center'd, and the other turn'd
Round through the vast profundity obscure;
And said, Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds.
This be thy just circumference, O World!
Thus God the Heaven created, thus the Earth,
Matter unform'd and void: Darkness profound
Cover'd the abyss: but on the watery calm
His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread,
And Earth self-balanc'd on her center hung.

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Let there be light, said God; and forthwith Light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure,

Sprung from the deep; and from her native east

To journey through the aery gloom began,

Spher'd in a radiant cloud, for yet the sun
Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle

Sojourn'd the while. God saw the light was good;
And light from darkness by the hemisphere

Divided light the Day and darkness Night,

He nam'd. Thus was the first day even and morn: Nor pass'd uncelebrated, nor unsung

By the celestial choirs, when orient light

Exhaling first from darkness they beheld;

Birth-day of Heaven and Earth; with joy and shout The hollow universal orb they fill'd,

And touch'd their golden harps, and hymning prais'd God and his works; Creator him they sung,

Both when first evening was, and when first morn.

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The sixth, and of creation, last, arose

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With evening harps and matin; when God said,
Let the earth bring forth soul living in her kind,
Cattle, and creeping things, and beast of the Earth,
Each in their kind. The Earth obey'd and straight
Opening her fertile womb teem'd at a birth
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms;
Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walk'd,
The cattle in the fields and meadows green,
Those rare and solitary, these in flocks

Pasturing at once, and in broad herds upsprung.

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Now heaven in all her glory shone, and roll'd
Her motions as the great first Mover's hand
First wheel'd their course. Earth in her rich attire
Consummate, lovely smil'd; air, water, earth,

By fowl, fish, beast, was flown, was swum, was walk'd
Frequent; and of the sixth day yet remain'd:
There wanted yet the master-work, the end

Of all yet done; a creature who, not prone
And brute as other creatures, but endu'd
With sanctity of reason, might erect

His stature, and upright with front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing; and from thence
Magnanimous to correspond with Heaven,
But grateful to acknowledge whence his good
Descends, thither with heart and voice, and eyes,
Directed in devotion, to adore

And worship God Supreme, who made him chief
Of all his works: therefore the Omnipotent
Eternal Father (for where is not He

Present?) thus to his Son audibly spake.

Let us now make man in our image, Man

In our similitude, and let them rule
Over the fish and fowl of sea and air,

Beast of the field, and over all the Earth,
And every creeping thing that creeps the ground.
This said, He form'd thee, Adam, thee, O man,
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breath'd
The breath of life; in his own image he
Created thee in the image of God

Express; and thou becam'st a living soul.

Male he created thee; but thy consort

Female, for race; then bless'd mankind, and said,
Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the Earth;
Subdue it, and throughout dominion hold
Over fish of the sea, and fowl of the air,

And every living thing that moves on the Earth ;
Wherever thus created, for no place

Is yet distinct by name; thence, as thou know'st
He brought thee into this delicious grove,
This garden planted with the trees of God,
Delectable both to behold and taste;

And freely all their pleasant fruit for food

Gave thee; all sorts are here that all the Earth yields,
Variety without end; but of the tree

Which, tasted, works knowledge of good and evil,
Thou may'st not; in the day thou eat'st, thou diest,
Death is the penalty impos'd; beware,

And govern well thy appetite; lest Sin
Surprise thee, and her black attendant Death.
Here finish'd he, and all that he had made
View'd, and behold all was entirely good;
So even and morn accomplish'd the sixth day :
Yet not till the Creator, from his work
Desisting, though unwearied, up return'd,
Up to the Heaven of Heavens, his high abode;
Thence to behold this new-created world
The addition of his empire, how it show'd
In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,
Answering his great idea. Up he rode
Follow'd with acclamation, and the sound
Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tun'd
Angelick harmonies: The earth, the air
Resounded, (thou remember'st, for thou heard'st,)
The heavens and all the constellations rung,
The planets in their station listening stood,
While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.
Open, ye everlasting gates! they sung,

Open, ye Heavens! your living doors; let in
The great Creator from his work return'd
Magnificent, his six days' work, a World;
Open, and henceforth oft; for God will deign,
To visit oft the dwellings of just men,
Delighted; and with frequent intercourse
Thither will send his winged messengers
On errands of supernal grace. So sung

The glorious train ascending: He through Heaven,
That open'd wide her blazing portals,
To God's eternal house direct the way.

From MILTON'S PARADISE LOST.

A MOTHER'S LOVE.

HAST thou sounded the depths of yonder sea,
And counted the sands that under it be?

Hast thou measured the heights of the heavens above?
Then mayest thou mete out a mother's love.

Hast thou talked with the blessed of leading on
To the throne of God some wandering son?
Hast thou witnessed the angels' bright employ?
Then mayest thou speak of a mother's joy.

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