第 17 页

The battle hung; till Satan, who that day

Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms

No equal, ranging through the dire attack

Of fighting Seraphim confused, at length

Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and felled

Squadrons at once; with huge two-handed sway

Brandished aloft, the horrid edge came down

Wide-wasting; such destruction to withstand

He hasted, and opposed the rocky orb

Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield,

A vast circumference. At his approach

The great Arch-Angel from his warlike toil

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Surceased, and glad, as hoping here to end

Intestine war in Heaven, the arch-foe subdued

Or captive dragged in chains, with hostile frown

And visage all inflamed first thus began.

Author of evil, unknown till thy revolt,

Unnamed in Heaven, now plenteous as thou seest

These acts of hateful strife, hateful to all,

Though heaviest by just measure on thyself,

And thy adherents: How hast thou disturbed

Heaven’s blessed peace, and into nature brought

Misery, uncreated till the crime

Of thy rebellion! how hast thou instilled

Thy malice into thousands, once upright

And faithful, now proved false! But think not here

To trouble holy rest; Heaven casts thee out

From all her confines. Heaven, the seat of bliss,

Brooks not the works of violence and war.

Hence then, and evil go with thee along,

Thy offspring, to the place of evil, Hell;

Thou and thy wicked crew! there mingle broils,

Ere this avenging sword begin thy doom,

Or some more sudden vengeance, winged from God,

Precipitate thee with augmented pain.

So spake the Prince of Angels; to whom thus

The Adversary. Nor think thou with wind

Of aery threats to awe whom yet with deeds

Thou canst not. Hast thou turned the least of these

To flight, or if to fall, but that they rise

Unvanquished, easier to transact with me

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That thou shouldst hope, imperious, and with threats

To chase me hence? err not, that so shall end

The strife which thou callest evil, but we style

The strife of glory; which we mean to win,

Or turn this Heaven itself into the Hell

Thou fablest; here however to dwell free,

If not to reign: Mean while thy utmost force,

And join him named Almighty to thy aid,

I fly not, but have sought thee far and nigh.

They ended parle, and both addressed for fight

Unspeakable; for who, though with the tongue

Of Angels, can relate, or to what things

Liken on earth conspicuous, that may lift

Human imagination to such highth

Of Godlike power? for likest Gods they seemed,

Stood they or moved, in stature, motion, arms,

Fit to decide the empire of great Heaven.

Now waved their fiery swords, and in the air

Made horrid circles; two broad suns their shields

Blazed opposite, while Expectation stood

In horrour: From each hand with speed retired,

Where erst was thickest fight, the angelick throng,

And left large field, unsafe within the wind

Of such commotion; such as, to set forth

Great things by small, if, nature’s concord broke,

Among the constellations war were sprung,

Two planets, rushing from aspect malign

Of fiercest opposition, in mid sky

Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.

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Together both with next to almighty arm

Up-lifted imminent, one stroke they aimed

That might determine, and not need repeat,

As not of power at once; nor odds appeared

In might or swift prevention: But the sword

Of Michael from the armoury of God

Was given him tempered so, that neither keen

Nor solid might resist that edge: it met

The sword of Satan, with steep force to smite

Descending, and in half cut sheer; nor staid,

But with swift wheel reverse, deep entering, shared

All his right side: Then Satan first knew pain,

And writhed him to and fro convolved; so sore

The griding sword with discontinuous wound

Passed through him: But the ethereal substance closed,

Not long divisible; and from the gash

A stream of necturous humour issuing flowed

Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed,

And all his armour stained, ere while so bright.

Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run

By Angels many and strong, who interposed

Defence, while others bore him on their shields

Back to his chariot, where it stood retired

From off the files of war: There they him laid

Gnashing for anguish, and despite, and shame,

To find himself not matchless, and his pride

Humbled by such rebuke, so far beneath

His confidence to equal God in power.

Yet soon he healed; for Spirits that live throughout

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Vital in every part, not as frail man

In entrails, heart of head, liver or reins,

Cannot but by annihilating die;

Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound

Receive, no more than can the fluid air:

All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,

All intellect, all sense; and, as they please,

They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size

Assume, as?kikes them best, condense or rare.

Mean while in other parts like deeds deserved

Memorial, where the might of Gabriel fought,

And with fierce ensigns pierced the deep array

Of Moloch, furious king; who him defied,

And at his chariot-wheels to drag him bound

Threatened, nor from the Holy One of Heaven

Refrained his tongue blasphemous; but anon

Down cloven to the waist, with shattered arms

And uncouth pain fled bellowing. On each wing

Uriel, and Raphael, his vaunting foe,

Though huge, and in a rock of diamond armed,

Vanquished Adramelech, and Asmadai,

Two potent Thrones, that to be less than Gods

Disdained, but meaner thoughts learned in their flight,

Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.

Nor stood unmindful Abdiel to annoy

The atheist crew, but with redoubled blow

Ariel, and Arioch, and the violence

Of Ramiel scorched and blasted, overthrew.

I might relate of thousands, and their names

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Eternize here on earth; but those elect

Angels, contented with their fame in Heaven,

Seek not the praise of men: The other sort,

In might though wonderous and in acts of war,

Nor of renown less eager, yet by doom

Cancelled from Heaven and sacred memory,

Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell.

For strength from truth divided, and from just,

Illaudable, nought merits but dispraise

And ignominy; yet to glory aspires

Vain-glorious, and through infamy seeks fame:

Therefore eternal silence be their doom.

And now, their mightiest quelled, the battle swerved,

With many an inroad gored; deformed rout

Entered, and foul disorder; all the ground

With shivered armour strown, and on a heap

Chariot and charioteer lay overturned,

And fiery-foaming steeds; what stood, recoiled

O’er-wearied, through the faint Satanick host

Defensive scarce, or with pale fear surprised,

Then first with fear surprised, and sense of pain,

Fled ignominious, to such evil brought

By sin of disobedience; till that hour

Not liable to fear, or flight, or pain.

Far otherwise the inviolable Saints,

In cubick phalanx firm, advanced entire,

Invulnerable, impenetrably armed;

Such high advantages their innocence

Gave them above their foes; not to have sinned,

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Not to have disobeyed; in fight they stood

Unwearied, unobnoxious to be pained

By wound, though from their place by violence moved,

Now Night her course began, and, over Heaven

Inducing darkness, grateful truce imposed,

And silence on the odious din of war:

Under her cloudy covert both retired,

Victor and vanquished: On the foughten field

Michael and his Angels prevalent

Encamping, placed in guard their watches round,

Cherubick waving fires: On the other part,

Satan with his rebellious disappeared,

Far in the dark dislodged; and, void of rest,

His potentates to council called by night;

And in the midst thus undismayed began.

O now in danger tried, now known in arms

Not to be overpowered, Companions dear,

Found worthy not of liberty alone,

Too mean pretence! but what we more affect,

Honour, dominion, glory, and renown;

Who have sustained one day in doubtful fight,

(And if one day, why not eternal days?)

What Heaven’s Lord had powerfullest to send

Against us from about his throne, and judged

Sufficient to subdue us to his will,

But proves not so: Then fallible, it seems,

Of future we may deem him, though till now

Omniscient thought. True is, less firmly armed,

Some disadvantage we endured and pain,

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Till now not known, but, known, as soon contemned;

Since now we find this our empyreal form

Incapable of mortal injury,

Imperishable, and, though pierced with wound,

Soon closing, and by native vigour healed.

Of evil then so small as easy think

The remedy; perhaps more valid arms,

Weapons more violent, when next we meet,

May serve to better us, and worse our foes,

Or equal what between us made the odds,

In nature none: If other hidden cause

Left them superiour, while we can preserve

Unhurt our minds, and understanding sound,

Due search and consultation will disclose.

He sat; and in the assembly next upstood

Nisroch, of Principalities the prime;

As one he stood escaped from cruel fight,

Sore toiled, his riven arms to havock hewn,

And cloudy in aspect thus answering spake.

Deliverer from new Lords, leader to free

Enjoyment of our right as Gods; yet hard

For Gods, and too unequal work we find,

Against unequal arms to fight in pain,

Against unpained, impassive; from which evil

Ruin must needs ensue; for what avails

Valour or strength, though matchless, quelled with pain

Which all subdues, and makes remiss the hands

Of mightiest? Sense of pleasure we may well

Spare out of life perhaps, and not repine,

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But live content, which is the calmest life:

But pain is perfect misery, the worst

Of evils, and, excessive, overturns

All patience. He, who therefore can invent

With what more forcible we may offend

Our yet unwounded enemies, or arm

Ourselves with like defence, to me deserves

No less than for deliverance what we owe.

Whereto with look composed Satan replied.

Not uninvented that, which thou aright

Believest so main to our success, I bring.

Which of us who beholds the bright surface

Of this ethereous mould whereon we stand,

This continent of spacious Heaven, adorned

With plant, fruit, flower ambrosial, gems, and gold;

Whose eye so superficially surveys

These things, as not to mind from whence they grow

Deep under ground, materials dark and crude,

Of spiritous and fiery spume, till touched

With Heaven’s ray, and tempered, they shoot forth

So beauteous, opening to the ambient light?

These in their dark nativity the deep

Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame;

Which, into hollow engines, long and round,

Thick rammed, at the other bore with touch of fire

Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth

From far, with thundering noise, among our foes

Such implements of mischief, as shall dash

To pieces, and o’erwhelm whatever stands

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Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarmed

The Thunderer of his only dreaded bolt.

Nor long shall be our labour; yet ere dawn,

Effect shall end our wish. Mean while revive;

Abandon fear; to strength and counsel joined

Think nothing hard, much less to be despaired.

He ended, and his words their drooping cheer

Enlightened, and their languished hope revived.

The invention all admired, and each, how he

To be the inventer missed; so easy it seemed

Once found, which yet unfound most would have

thought

Impossible: Yet, haply, of thy race

In future days, if malice should abound,

Some one intent on mischief, or inspired

With devilish machination, might devise

Like instrument to plague the sons of men

For sin, on war and mutual slaughter bent.

Forthwith from council to the work they flew;

None arguing stood; innumerable hands

Were ready; in a moment up they turned

Wide the celestial soil, and saw beneath

The originals of nature in their crude

Conception; sulphurous and nitrous foam

They found, they mingled, and, with subtle art,

Concocted and adusted they reduced

To blackest grain, and into store conveyed:

Part hidden veins digged up (nor hath this earth

Entrails unlike) of mineral and stone,

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Whereof to found their engines and their balls

Of missive ruin; part incentive reed

Provide, pernicious with one touch to fire.

So all ere day-spring, under conscious night,

Secret they finished, and in order set,

With silent circumspection, unespied.

Now when fair morn orient in Heaven appeared,

Up rose the victor-Angels, and to arms

The matin trumpet sung: In arms they stood

Of golden panoply, refulgent host,

Soon banded; others from the dawning hills

Look round, and scouts each coast light-armed scour,

Each quarter to descry the distant foe,

Where lodged, or whither fled, or if for fight,

In motion or in halt: Him soon they met

Under spread ensigns moving nigh, in slow

But firm battalion; back with speediest sail

Zophiel, of Cherubim the swiftest wing,

Came flying, and in mid air aloud thus cried.

Arm, Warriours, arm for fight; the foe at hand,

Whom fled we thought, will save us long pursuit

This day; fear not his flight;so thick a cloud

He comes, and settled in his face I see

Sad resolution, and secure: Let each

His adamantine coat gird well, and each

Fit well his helm, gripe fast his orbed shield,

Borne even or high; for this day will pour down,