Victorious with his Saints, th' omnipotent
Eternal Father from his throne beheld
Their multitude, and to his Son thus spake :
At least our envious foe hath fail'd, who thought. All like himself rebellious, by whose aid This inaccessible high strength, the seat Of Deity supreme, us dispossess'd,
He trusted to have seiz'd, and into fraud
Drew many, whom their place knows here no more; Yet far the greater part have kept, I see, Their station, Heav'n yet populous retains Number sufficient to possess her realms Though wide, and this high temple to frequent With ministeries due and solemn rites: But lest his heart exalt him in the harm Already done, to have dispeopled Heav'n, My damage fondly deem'd, I can repair That detriment, if such it be to lose Self-lost, and in a moment will create Another world, out of one man a race Of men innumerable, there to dwell, Not here, till by degrees of menit rais'd They open to themselves at length the way Up hither, under long obedience try'd,
And Earth be chang'd to Heav'n, and Heav'n to Earth,
One kingdom, joy and union without end. Meanwhile inhabit lax, ye Pow'rs of Heav'n, And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee
This I perform, speak thou, and be it done: My overshadowing spirit and might with thee
I send along; ride forth, and bid the deep
Within appointed bounds be Heav'n and Earth, Boundless the deep, because I Am who fill Infinitude, nor vacuous the space. Though I uncircumscrib'd myself retire, And put not forth my goodness which is free To act or not, necessity and chance Approach not me, and what I will is fate. So spake th' Almighty, and to what he spake His Word, the filial Godhead, gave effect. Immediate are the acts of God, more swift Than time or motion, but to human ears Cannot without process of speech be told, So told as earthly notion can receive, Great triumph and rejoicing was in Heav'n, When such was heard declar'd the Almighty's will;
Glory they sung to the Most High, good-will To future men, and in their dwellings peace: Glory to him, whose just avenging ire Had driven out th' ungodly from his sight And th' habitations of the just; to him Glory and praise, whose wisdom hath ordain'd Good out of evil to create, instead
Of Spirits malign a better race to bring
Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse
His good to worlds and ages infinite.
So sang the Hierarchies: Meanwhile the Son On his great expedition now appear'd, Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crown'd
Of majesty divine; sapience and love
Immense, and all his Father in him shone. About his chariot numberless were pour'd Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones, And Virtues, winged Spi'rits, and chariots wing'd From th' armoury of God, where stand of old Myriads between two brazen mountains lodg'd Against a solemn day, harness'd at hand, Celestial equipage; and now came forth Spontaneous, for within them spirit liv'd, Attendant on their Lord: Heav'n open'd wide Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound On golden hinges moving, to let forth The King of Glory in his powerful Word
And Spirit coming to create new worlds.
On heav'nly ground they stood, and from the shore 210 They view'd the vast immeasurable abyss Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, Up from the bottom turn'd by furious winds And surging waves, as mountains, to assault Heav'n's height, and with the centre mix the pole. Silence, ve troubled waves, and thou deep, peace, Said then th' omnific Word, your discord end: Nor stay'd, 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 stay'd 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, Thus be thy just circumference, O World. Thus God the Heav'n created, thus the Earth, Matter unform'd and void: Darkness profound Cover'd th' abyss: but on the wat'ry calm His brooding wings the Spi'rit of God outspread, And vital virtue' infus'd, and vital warmth Throughout the fluid mass, but downward purg'd The black tartareous cold infernal dregs Adverse to life: then founded, then conglob'd Like things to like, the rest to several place Disparted, and between spun out the air, And Earth, self-balanc'd, on her centre hung. 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 airy 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 ev'n and morn:
Nor pass'd uncelebrated, nor unsung
By the celestial quires, when orient light
Exhaling first from darkness they beheld;
Birth-day of Heav'n 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. Again, God said, Let there be firmament
Amid the waters, and let it divide
The waters from the waters: and God made The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure, Transparent, elemental air, diffus'd In circuit to the uttermost convex
Of this great round: partition firm and sure, The waters underneath from those above Dividing for as Earth, so he the world Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide Crystalline occan, and the loud misrule Of Chaos far remov'd, lest fierce extremes Contiguous might distemper the whole frame: And Heav'n he nam'd the firmament: So even And morning chorus sung the second day.
The earth was form'd, but in the womb as yet Of waters, embryon immature involv'd,. Appear'd not: over all the face of earth Main ocean flow'd, not idle, but with warm Prolific humour soft'ning all her globe, Fermented the great mother to conceive, Satiate with genial moisture, when God said De gather'd now, ye waters, under Heav'n Into one place, and let dry land appear. Immediately the mountains huge appear
« PreviousContinue » |