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کتاب 5
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BOOK V
THE ARGUMENT
Morning approached, Eve relates to Adam her troublesome dream; he likes it not, yet comforts her. They come forth to their day labors. Their morning hymn at the door of their bower. God to render man inexcusable sends Raphael to admonish him of his obedience, of his free estate, of his enemy near at hand; who he is, and why his enemy, and whatever else may avail Adam to know. Raphael comes down to Paradise, his appearance described, his coming discerned by Adam afar off sitting at the door of his bower. He goes out to meet him, brings him to his lodge, entertains him with the choicest fruits of Paradise got together by Eve; their discourse at table. Raphael performs his message, minds Adam of his state and of his enemy; relates at Adam’s request who that enemy is, and how he came to be so, beginning from his first revolt in Heaven, and the occasion thereof; how he drew his legions after him to the parts of the north, and there incited them to rebel with him, persuading all but only Abdiel, a Seraph, who in argument dissuades and opposes him, then forsakes him.
Now Morn her rosy steps in th’ eastern clime
Advancing, sowed the earth with orient pearl, When Adam waked, so customed, for his sleep
Was airy light, from pure digestion bred,
And temperate vapors bland, which th’ only sound Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora’s fan,
Lightly dispersed, and the shrill matin song
Of birds on every bough; so much the more
His wonder was to find unwakened Eve
With tresses discomposed, and glowing cheek,
As through unquiet rest: he on his side
Leaning half-raised, with looks of cordial love Hung over her enamored, and beheld
Beauty, which whether waking or asleep,
Shot forth peculiar graces; then with voice
Mild, as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,
Her hand soft touching, whispered thus. “Awake My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,
Heav’n’s last best gift, my ever new delight, Awake, the morning shines, and the fresh field Calls us; we lose the prime, to mark how spring Our tended plants, how blows the citron grove, What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed, How nature paints her colors, how the bee
Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet.”
Such whispering waked her, but with startled eye On Adam, whom embracing, thus she spoke.
“O sole in whom my thoughts find all repose,
My glory, my perfection, glad I see
Thy face, and morn returned, for I this night, Such night till this I never passed, have dreamed, If dreamed, not as I oft am wont, of thee,
Works of day past, or morrow’s next design,
But of offense and trouble, which my mind
Knew never till this irksome night; methought Close at mine ear one called me forth to walk With gentle voice, I thought it thine; it said, ‘Why sleep’st thou Eve? Now is the pleasant time, The cool, the silent, save where silence yields To the night-warbling bird, that now awake
Tunes sweetest his love-labored song; now reigns Full orbed the moon, and with more pleasing light Shadowy sets off the face of things; in vain, If none regard; heav’n wakes with all his eyes, Whom to behold but thee, nature’s desire,
In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.’
I rose as at thy call, but found thee not;
To find thee I directed then my walk;
And on, methought, alone I passed through ways That brought me on a sudden to the tree
Of interdicted knowledge: fair it seemed,
Much fairer to my fancy than by day:
And as I wond’ring looked, beside it stood
One shaped and winged like one of those from Heav’n By us oft seen; his dewy locks distilled
Ambrosia; on that tree he also gazed;
And ‘O fair plant,’ said he, ‘with fruit surcharged, Deigns none to ease thy load and taste thy sweet, Nor god, nor man; is knowledge so despised?
Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste?
Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold
Longer thy offered good, why else set here?’
This said he paused not, but with vent’rous arm He plucked, he tasted; me damp horror chilled At such bold words vouched with a deed so bold: But he thus overjoyed, ‘O fruit divine,
Sweet of thyself, but much more sweet thus cropped, Forbidden here, it seems, as only fit
For gods, yet able to make gods of men:
And why not gods of men, since good, the more Communicated, more abundant grows,
The author not impaired, but honored more?
Here, happy creature, fair angelic Eve,
Partake thou also; happy though thou art,
Happier thou may’st be, worthier canst not be: Taste this, and be henceforth among the gods
Thyself a goddess, not to Earth confined,
But sometimes in the air, as we, sometimes
Ascend to Heav’n, by merit thine, and see
What life the gods live there, and such live thou.’ So saying, he drew nigh, and to me held,
Even to my mouth of that same fruit held part Which he had plucked; the pleasant savory smell So quickened appetite, that I, methought,
Could not but taste. Forthwith up to the clouds With him I flew, and underneath beheld
The Earth outstretched immense, a prospect wide And various: wond’ring at my flight and change To this high exaltation; suddenly
My guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down, And fell asleep; but O how glad I waked
To find this but a dream!” Thus Eve her night Related, and thus Adam answered sad.
“Best image of myself and dearer half,
The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep Affects me equally; nor can I like
This uncouth dream, of evil sprung I fear;
Yet evil whence? In thee can harbor none,
Created pure. But know that in the soul
Are many lesser faculties that serve
Reason as chief; among these Fancy next
Her office holds; of all external things,
Which the five watchful senses represent,
She forms imaginations, airy shapes,
Which reason joining or disjoining, frames
All what we affirm or what deny, and call
Our knowledge or opinion; then retires
Into her private cell when nature rests,
Oft in her absence mimic Fancy wakes
To imitate her; but misjoining shapes,
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams,
Ill matching words and deeds long past or late.
Some such resemblances methinks I find
Of our last evening’s talk, in this thy dream, But with addition strange; yet be not sad.
Evil into the mind of god or man
May come or go, so unapproved, and leave
No spot or blame behind: Which gives me hope
That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream, Waking thou never wilt consent to do.
Be not disheartened then, nor cloud those looks That wont to be more cheerful and serene
Than when fair morning first smiles on the world, And let us to our fresh employments rise
Among the groves, the fountains, and the flow’rs That open now their choicest bosomed smells
Reserved from night, and kept for thee in store.” So cheered he his fair spouse, and she was cheered, But silently a gentle tear let fall
From either eye, and wiped them with her hair; Two other precious drops that ready stood,
Each in their crystal sluice, he ere they fell Kissed as the gracious signs of sweet remorse And pious awe, that feared to have offended.
So all was cleared, and to the field they haste.
But first from under shady arborous roof,
Soon as they forth were come to open sight
Of day-spring, and the sun, who scarce up risen With wheels yet hov’ring o’er the ocean brim, Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray,
Discovering in wide landscape all the east
Of Paradise and Eden’s happy plains,
Lowly they bowed adoring, and began
Their orisons, each morning duly paid
In various style, for neither various style
Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise
Their Maker, in fit strains pronounced or sung Unmeditated, such prompt eloquence
Flowed from their lips, in prose or numerous verse, More tuneable than needed lute or harp
To add more sweetness, and they thus began.
“These are thy glorious works, parent of good, Almighty, thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair; thyself how wondrous then!
Unspeakable, who sit’st above these heavens
To us invisible or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works, yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine: Speak ye who best can tell, ye sons of light, Angels, for ye behold him, and with songs
And choral symphonies, day without night,
Circle his throne rejoicing, ye in Heav’n,
On Earth join all ye creatures to extol
Him first, him last, him midst, and without end.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, If better thou belong not to the dawn,
Sure pledge of day, that crown’st the smiling morn With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere While day arises, that sweet hour of prime.
Thou sun, of this great world both eye and soul, Acknowledge him thy greater, sound his praise In thy eternal course, both when thou climb’st, And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall’st.
Moon, that now meet’st the orient sun, now fli’st With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies, And ye five other wand’ring fires that move
In mystic dance not without song, resound
His praise, who out of darkness called up light.
Air, and ye elements the eldest birth
Of nature’s womb, that in quaternion run
Perpetual circle, multiform, and mix
And nourish all things, let your ceaseless change Vary to our great Maker still new praise.
Ye mists and exhalations that now rise
From hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray,
Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold, In honor to the world’s great author rise;
Whether to deck with clouds the uncolored sky, Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers, Rising or falling still advance his praise.
His praise ye winds, that from four quarters blow, Breathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye pines, With every plant, in sign of worship wave.
Fountains and ye that warble as ye flow
Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise.
Join voices all ye living souls, ye birds,
That singing up to heaven gate ascend,
Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise; Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk
The earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep; Witness if I be silent, morn or even,
To hill, or valley, fountain, or fresh shade
Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise.
Hail universal Lord, be bounteous still
To give us only good; and if the night
Have gathered aught of evil or concealed,
Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark.”
So prayed they innocent, and to their thoughts Firm peace recovered soon and wonted calm.
On to their morning’s rural work they haste
Among sweet dews and flow’rs; where any row
Of fruit trees over-woody reached too far
Their pampered boughs, and needed hands to check Fruitless embraces: or they led the vine
To wed her elm; she spoused about him twines
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings
Her dow’r th’ adopted clusters, to adorn
His barren leaves. Them thus employed beheld
With pity Heav’n’s high King, and to him called Raphael, the sociable spirit, that deigned
To travel with Tobias, and secured
His marriage with the seven-times-wedded maid.
“Raphael,” said he, “thou hear’st what stir on Earth Satan from Hell scaped through the darksome gulf Hath raised in Paradise, and how disturbed
This night the human pair, how he designs
In them at once to ruin all mankind.
Go therefore, half this day as friend with friend Converse with Adam, in what bow’r or shade
Thou find’st him from the heat of noon retired, To respite his day-labor with repast,
Or with repose; and such discourse bring on,
As may advise him of his happy state,
Happiness in his power left free to will,
Left to his own free will, his will though free, Yet mutable; whence warn him to beware
He swerve not too secure: tell him withal
His danger, and from whom, what enemy
Late fall’n himself from Heav’n is plotting now The fall of others from like state of bliss;
By violence, no, for that shall be withstood, But by deceit and lies; this let him know,
Lest willfully transgressing he pretend
Surprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned.”
So spake th’ eternal Father, and fulfilled
All justice: nor delayed the wingèd saint
After his charge received, but from among
Thousand celestial ardors, where he stood
Veiled with his gorgeous wings, up springing light Flew through the midst of Heav’n; th’ angelic choirs On each hand parting, to his speed gave way
Through all th’ empyreal road; till at the gate Of Heav’n arrived, the gate self-opened wide
On golden hinges turning, as by work
Divine the sov’reign architect had framed.
From hence, no cloud, or, to obstruct his sight, Star interposed, however small he sees,
Not unconform to other shining globes,
Earth and the gard’n of God, with cedars crowned Above all hills. As when by night the glass
Of Galileo, less assured, observes
Imagined lands and regions in the moon:
Or pilot from amidst the Cyclades
Delos or Samos first appearing kens
A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight
He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan
Winnows the buxom air; till within soar
Of tow’ring eagles, to all the fowls he seems A phoenix, gazed by all, as that sole bird
When to enshrine his relics in the sun’s
Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies.
At once on th’ eastern cliff of Paradise
He lights, and to his proper shape returns
A Seraph winged; six wings he wore, to shade
His lineaments divine; the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o’er his breast With regal ornament; the middle pair
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
And colors dipped in Heav’n; the third his feet Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia’s son he stood, And shook his plumes, that Heav’nly fragrance filled The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands Of Angels under watch; and to his state,
And to his message high in honor rise;
For on some message high they guessed him bound.
Their glittering tents he passed, and now is come Into the blissful field, through groves of myrrh, And flow’ring odors, cassia, nard, and balm;
A wilderness of sweets; for nature here
Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will
Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet, Wild above rule or art; enormous bliss.
Him through the spicy forest onward come
Adam discerned, as in the door he sat
Of his cool bow’r, while now the mounted sun
Shot down direct his fervid rays to warm
Earth’s inmost womb, more warmth than Adam needs; And Eve within, due at her hour prepared
For dinner savory fruits, of taste to please
True appetite, and not disrelish thirst
Of nectarous draughts between, from milky stream, Berry or grape: to whom thus Adam called.
“Haste hither Eve, and worth thy sight behold Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape Comes this way moving; seems another morn
Ris’n on mid-noon; some great behest from Heav’n To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe
This day to be our guest. But go with speed,
And what thy stores contain, bring forth and pour Abundance, fit to honor and receive
Our Heav’nly stranger; well we may afford
Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow
From large bestowed, where nature multiplies
Her fertile growth, and by disburd’ning grows More fruitful, which instructs us not to spare.” To whom thus Eve. “Adam, earth’s hallowed mold Of God inspired, small store will serve, where store, All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk; Save what by frugal storing firmness gains
To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes:
But I will haste and from each bough and brake, Each plant and juiciest gourd will pluck such choice To entertain our angel guest, as he
Beholding shall confess that here on Earth
God hath dispensed his bounties as in Heav’n.” So saying, with dispatchful looks in haste
She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent
What choice to choose for delicacy best,
What order, so contrived as not to mix
Tastes, not well joined, inelegant, but bring Taste after taste upheld with kindliest change, “Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape / Comes this way moving” (.–). (illustration credit .) Bestirs her then, and from each tender stalk
Whatever Earth all-bearing mother yields
In India east or west, or middle shore
In Pontus or the Punic Coast, or where
Alcinous reigned, fruit of all kinds, in coat, Rough, or smooth rined, or bearded husk, or shell She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand; for drink the grape She crushes, inoffensive must, and meathes
From many a berry, and from sweet kernels pressed She tempers dulcet creams, nor these to hold
Wants her fit vessels pure, then strews the ground With rose and odors from the shrub unfumed.
Meanwhile our primitive great sire, to meet
His godlike guest, walks forth, without more train Accompanied than with his own complete
Perfections, in himself was all his state,
More solemn than the tedious pomp that waits
On princes, when their rich retinue long
Of horses led, and grooms besmeared with gold Dazzles the crowd, and sets them all agape.
Nearer his presence Adam though not awed,
Yet with submiss approach and reverence meek, As to a superior nature, bowing low,
Thus said. “Native of Heav’n, for other place None can than Heav’n such glorious shape contain; Since by descending from the thrones above,
Those happy places thou hast deigned a while
To want, and honor these, vouchsafe with us
Two only, who yet by sov’reign gift possess
This spacious ground, in yonder shady bow’r
To rest, and what the garden choicest bears
To sit and taste, till this meridian heat
Be over, and the sun more cool decline.”
Whom thus the angelic Virtue answered mild.
“Adam, I therefore came, nor art thou such
Created, or such place hast here to dwell,
As may not oft invite, though spirits of Heav’n To visit thee; lead on then where thy bow’r
O’ershades; for these mid-hours, till evening rise I have at will.” So to the sylvan lodge
They came, that like Pomona’s arbor smiled
With flow’rets decked and fragrant smells; but Eve Undecked, save with herself more lovely fair
Than wood-nymph, or the fairest goddess feigned Of three that in Mount Ida naked strove,
Stood to entertain her guest from Heav’n; no veil She needed, virtue-proof, no thought infirm
Altered her cheek. On whom the angel “Hail”
Bestowed, the holy salutation used
Long after to blest Mary, second Eve.
“Hail mother of mankind, whose fruitful womb
Shall fill the world more numerous with thy sons Than with these various fruits the trees of God Have heaped this table.” Raised of grassy turf Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
And on her ample square from side to side
All autumn piled, though spring and autumn here Danced hand in hand. A while discourse they hold; No fear lest dinner cool; when thus began
Our author. “Heav’nly stranger, please to taste These bounties which our Nourisher, from whom All perfect good unmeasured out descends,
To us for food and for delight hath caused
The earth to yield; unsavory food perhaps
To spiritual natures; only this I know,
That one celestial father gives to all.”
To whom the angel. “Therefore what he gives
(Whose praise be ever sung) to man in part
Spiritual, may of purest spirits be found
No ingrateful food; and food alike those pure Intelligential substances require
As doth your rational; and both contain
Within them every lower faculty
Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste, Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate,
And corporeal to incorporeal turn.
For know, whatever was created, needs
To be sustained and fed; of elements
The grosser feeds the purer, earth the sea,
Earth and the sea feed air, the air those fires Ethereal, and as lowest first the moon;
Whence in her visage round those spots, unpurged Vapors not yet into her substance turned.
Nor doth the moon no nourishment exhale
From her moist continent to higher orbs.
The Sun that light imparts to all, receives
From all his alimental recompense
In humid exhalations, and at even
Sups with the ocean: though in Heav’n the trees Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines
Yield nectar, though from off the boughs each morn We brush mellifluous dews, and find the ground Covered with pearly grain: yet God hath here
Varied his bounty so with new delights,
As may compare with Heaven; and to taste
Think not I shall be nice.” So down they sat, And to their viands fell, nor seemingly
The angel, nor in mist, the common gloss
Of theologians, but with keen dispatch
Of real hunger, and concoctive heat
To transubstantiate; what redounds, transpires Through spirits with ease; nor wonder; if by fire Of sooty coal the empiric alchemist
Can turn, or holds it possible to turn
Metals of drossiest ore to perfect gold
As from the mine. Meanwhile at table Eve
Ministered naked, and their flowing cups
With pleasant liquors crowned: O innocence
Deserving Paradise! if ever, then,
Then had the sons of God excuse to have been
Enamored at that sight; but in those hearts
Love unlibidinous reigned, nor jealousy
Was understood, the injured lover’s hell.
Thus when with meats and drinks they had sufficed, Not burdened nature, sudden mind arose
In Adam, not to let th’ occasion pass
Given him by this great conference to know
Of things above his world, and of their being Who dwell in Heav’n, whose excellence he saw
Transcend his own so far, whose radiant forms Divine effulgence, whose high power so far
Exceeded human, and his wary speech
Thus to th’ empyreal minister he framed.
“Inhabitant with God, now know I well
Thy favor, in this honor done to man,
Under whose lowly roof thou hast vouchsafed
To enter, and these earthly fruits to taste,
Food not of angels, yet accepted so,
As that more willingly thou couldst not seem
As Heav’n’s high feasts to have fed: yet what compare?” To whom the wingèd hierarch replied.
“O Adam, one Almighty is, from whom
All things proceed, and up to him return,
If not depraved from good, created all
Such to perfection, one first matter all,
Endued with various forms, various degrees
Of substance, and in things that live, of life; But more refined, more spiritous, and pure,
As nearer to him placed or nearer tending
Each in their several active spheres assigned, Till body up to spirit work, in bounds
Proportioned to each kind. So from the root
Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves More airy, last the bright consummate flow’r
Spirits odorous breathes: flow’rs and their fruit Man’s nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed
To vital spirits aspire, to animal,
To intellectual, give both life and sense,
Fancy and understanding, whence the soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being,
Discursive, or intuitive; discourse
Is oftest yours, the latter most is ours,
Differing but in degree, of kind the same.
Wonder not then, what God for you saw good
If I refuse not, but convert, as you,
To proper substance; time may come when men
With angels may participate, and find
No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare:
And from these corporal nutriments perhaps
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improved by tract of time, and winged ascend
Ethereal, as we, or may at choice
Here or in Heav’nly paradises dwell;
If ye be found obedient, and retain
Unalterably firm his love entire
Whose progeny you are. Meanwhile enjoy
Your fill what happiness this happy state
Can comprehend, incapable of more.”
To whom the patriarch of mankind replied.
“O favorable spirit, propitious guest,
Well hast thou taught the way that might direct Our knowledge, and the scale of nature set
From center to circumference, whereon
In contemplation of created things
By steps we may ascend to God. But say,
What meant that caution joined, ‘If ye be found Obedient’? Can we want obedience then
To him, or possibly his love desert
Who formed us from the dust, and placed us here Full to the utmost measure of what bliss
Human desires can seek or apprehend?”
To whom the Angel. “Son of Heav’n and Earth,
Attend: that thou are happy, owe to God;
That thou continu’st such, owe to thyself,
That is, to thy obedience; therein stand.
This was that caution giv’n thee; be advised.
God made thee perfect, not immutable;
And good he made thee, but to persevere
He left it in thy power, ordained thy will
By nature free, not overruled by fate
Inextricable, or strict necessity;
Our voluntary service he requires,
Not our necessitated, such with him
Finds no acceptance, nor can find, for how
Can hearts, not free, be tried whether they serve Willing or no, who will but what they must
By destiny, and can no other choose?
Myself and all th’ angelic host that stand
In sight of God enthroned, our happy state
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds; On other surety none; freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall:
And some are fall’n, to disobedience fall’n,
And so from Heav’n to deepest Hell; O fall
From what high state of bliss into what woe!” To whom our great progenitor. “Thy words
Attentive, and with more delighted ear,
Divine instructor, I have heard, than when
Cherubic songs by night from neighboring hills Aerial music send: nor knew I not
To be both will and deed created free;
Yet that we never shall forget to love
Our Maker, and obey him whose command
Single, is yet so just, my constant thoughts
Assured me, and still assure: though what thou tell’st Hath passed in Heav’n, some doubt within me move, But more desire to hear, if thou consent,
The full relation, which must needs be strange, Worthy of sacred silence to be heard;
And we have yet large day, for scarce the sun Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins His other half in the great zone of heav’n.”
Thus Adam made request, and Raphael
After short pause assenting, thus began.
“High matter thou enjoin’st me, O prime of men, Sad task and hard, for how shall I relate
To human sense th’ invisible exploits
Of warring spirits; how without remorse
The ruin of so many glorious once
And perfect while they stood; how last unfold The secrets of another world, perhaps
Not lawful to reveal? Yet for thy good
This is dispensed, and what surmounts the reach Of human sense, I shall delineate so,
By lik’ning spiritual to corporal forms,
As may express them best, though what if Earth Be but the shadow of Heav’n, and things therein Each to other like, more than on Earth is thought?
“As yet this world was not, and Chaos wild
Reigned where these heav’ns now roll, where Earth now rests Upon her center poised, when on a day
(For time, though in eternity, applied
To motion, measures all things durable
By present, past, and future) on such day
As Heav’n’s great year brings forth, th’ empyreal host Of angels by imperial summons called,
Innumerable before th’ Almighty’s throne
Forthwith from all the ends of Heav’n appeared Under their hierarchs in orders bright;
Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced,
Standards, and gonfalons twixt van and rear
Stream in the air, and for distinction serve
Of hierarchies, of orders, and degrees;
Or in their glittering tissues bear emblazed
Holy memorials, acts of zeal and love
Recorded eminent. Thus when in orbs
Of circuit inexpressible they stood,
Orb within orb, the Father infinite,
By whom in bliss embosomed sat the Son,
Amidst as from a flaming mount, whose top
Brightness had made invisible, thus spake.
“ ‘Hear all ye angels, progeny of light,
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, Hear my decree, which unrevoked shall stand.
This day I have begot whom I declare
My only Son, and on this holy hill
Him have anointed, whom ye now behold
At my right hand; your head I him appoint;
And by myself have sworn to him shall bow
All knees in Heav’n, and shall confess him Lord: Under his great vicegerent reign abide
United as one individual soul
Forever happy: him who disobeys
Me disobeys, breaks union, and that day
Cast out from God and blessed vision, falls
Into utter darkness, deep engulfed, his place Ordained without redemption, without end.’
“So spake th’ Omnipotent, and with his words
All seemed well pleased, all seemed, but were not all.
That day, as other solemn days, they spent
In song and dance about the sacred hill,
Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere
Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels
Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most, when most irregular they seem,
And in their motions harmony divine
So smooths her charming tones, that God’s own ear Listens delighted. Evening now approached
(For we have also our evening and our morn,
We ours for change delectable, not need)
Forthwith from dance to sweet repast they turn Desirous; all in circles as they stood,
Tables are set, and on a sudden piled
With angel’s food, and rubied nectar flows
In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold
Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of Heav’n.
On flow’rs reposed, and with fresh flow’rets crowned, They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet
Quaff immortality and joy, secure
Of surfeit where full measure only bounds
Excess, before th’ all bounteous King, who show’red With copious hand, rejoicing in their joy.
Now when ambrosial night with clouds exhaled
From that high mount of God, whence light and shade Spring both, the face of brightest Heav’n had changed To grateful twilight (for night comes not there In darker veil) and roseate dews disposed
All but the unsleeping eyes of God to rest,
Wide over all the plain, and wider far
Than all this globous earth in plain outspread, (Such are the courts of God) th’ angelic throng Dispersed in bands and files their camp extend By living streams among the trees of life,
Pavilions numberless, and sudden reared,
Celestial tabernacles, where they slept
Fanned with cool winds, save those who in their course Melodious hymns about the sov’reign throne
Alternate all night long: but not so waked
Satan, so call him now, his former name
Is heard no more in Heav’n; he of the first,
If not the first Archangel, great in power,
In favor and in pre-eminence, yet fraught
With envy against the Son of God, that day
Honored by his great Father, and proclaimed
Messiah King anointed, could not bear
Through pride that sight, and thought himself impaired.
Deep malice thence conceiving and disdain,
Soon as midnight brought on the dusky hour
Friendliest to sleep and silence, he resolved With all his legions to dislodge, and leave
Unworshipped, unobeyed the throne supreme
Contemptuous, and his next subordinate
Awak’ning, thus to him in secret spake.
“ ‘Sleep’st thou companion dear, what sleep can close Thy eyelids? And remember’st what decree
Of yesterday, so late hath passed the lips
Of Heav’n’s Almighty? Thou to me thy thoughts Wast wont, I mine to thee was wont to impart; Both waking we were one; how then can now
Thy sleep dissent? New laws thou seest imposed; New laws from him who reigns, new minds may raise In us who serve, new counsels, to debate
What doubtful may ensue, more in this place
To utter is not safe. Assemble thou
Of all those myriads which we lead the chief; Tell them that by command, ere yet dim night
Her shadowy cloud withdraws, I am to haste,
And all who under me their banners wave,
Homeward with flying march where we possess
The quarters of the north, there to prepare
Fit entertainment to receive our King
The great Messiah, and his new commands,
Who speedily through all the hierarchies
Intends to pass triumphant, and give laws.’
“So spake the false Archangel, and infused
Bad influence into th’ unwary breast
Of his associate; he together calls,
Or several one by one, the regent powers,
Under him regent, tells, as he was taught,
That the most high commanding, now ere night, Now ere dim night had disencumbered Heav’n,
The great hierarchal standard was to move;
Tells the suggested cause, and cast between
Ambiguous words and jealousies, to sound
Or taint integrity; but all obeyed
The wonted signal, and superior voice
Of their great potentate; for great indeed
His name, and high was his degree in Heav’n;
His count’nance, as the morning star that guides The starry flock, allured them, and with lies Drew after him the third part of Heav’n’s host: Meanwhile th’ eternal eye, whose sight discerns Abstrusest thoughts, from forth his holy mount And from within the golden lamps that burn
Nightly before him, saw without their light
Rebellion rising, saw in whom, how spread
Among the sons of morn, what multitudes
Were banded to oppose his high decree;
And smiling to his only Son thus said.
“ ‘Son, thou in whom my glory I behold
In full resplendence, heir of all my might,
Nearly it now concerns us to be sure
Of our omnipotence, and with what arms
We mean to hold what anciently we claim
Of deity or empire, such a foe
Is rising, who intends to erect his throne
Equal to ours, throughout the spacious north; Nor so content, hath in his thought to try
In battle, what our power is, or our right.
Let us advise, and to this hazard draw
With speed what force is left, and all employ In our defense, lest unawares we lose
This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill.’ “To whom the Son with calm aspect and clear
Lightning divine, ineffable, serene,
Made answer. ‘Mighty Father, thou thy foes
Justly hast in derision, and secure
Laugh’st at their vain designs and tumults vain, Matter to me of glory, whom their hate
Illustrates, when they see all regal power
Giv’n me to quell their pride, and in event
Know whether I be dextrous to subdue
Thy rebels, or be found the worst in Heav’n.’ “So spake the Son, but Satan with his powers
Far was advanced on wingèd speed, an host
Innumerable as the stars of night,
Or stars of morning, dewdrops, which the sun
Impearls on every leaf and every flower.
Regions they passed, the mighty regencies
Of Seraphim and Potentates and Thrones
In their triple degrees, regions to which
All thy dominion, Adam, is no more
Than what this garden is to all the earth,
And all the sea, from one entire globose
Stretched into longitude; which having passed At length into the limits of the north
They came, and Satan to his royal seat
High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount
Raised on a mount, with pyramids and tow’rs
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold, The palace of great Lucifer, (so call
That structure in the dialect of men
Interpreted) which not long after, he
Affecting all equality with God,
In imitation of that mount whereon
Messiah was declared in sight of Heav’n,
The Mountain of the Congregation called;
For thither he assembled all his train,
Pretending so commanded to consult
About the great reception of their King,
Thither to come, and with calumnious art
Of counterfeited truth thus held their ears.
“ ‘Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, If these magnific titles yet remain
Not merely titular, since by decree
Another now hath to himself engrossed
All power, and us eclipsed under the name
Of King anointed, for whom all this haste
Of midnight march, and hurried meeting here,
This only to consult how we may best
With what may be devised of honors new
Receive him coming to receive from us
Knee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile,
Too much to one, but double how endured,
To one and to his image now proclaimed?
But what if better counsels might erect
Our minds and teach us to cast off this yoke?
Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend The supple knee? Ye will not, if I trust
To know ye right, or if ye know yourselves
Natives and sons of Heav’n possessed before
By none, and if not equal all, yet free,
Equally free; for orders and degrees
Jar not with liberty, but well consist.
Who can in reason then or right assume
Monarchy over such as live by right
His equals, if in power and splendor less,
In freedom equal? Or can introduce
Law and edict on us, who without law
Err not, much less for this to be our Lord,
And look for adoration to th’ abuse
Of those imperial titles which assert
Our being ordained to govern, not to serve?’
“Thus far his bold discourse without control
Had audience, when among the Seraphim
Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored
The deity, and divine commands obeyed,
Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severe
The current of his fury thus opposed.
“ ‘O argument blasphemous, false and proud!
Words which no ear ever to hear in Heav’n
Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate,
In place thyself so high above thy peers.
Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn
The just decree of God, pronounced and sworn, That to his only Son by right endued
With regal scepter, every soul in Heav’n
Shall bend the knee, and in that honor due
Confess him rightful King? Unjust thou say’st, Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,
And equal over equals to let reign,
One over all with unsucceeded power.
Shalt thou give law to God, shalt thou dispute With him the points of liberty, who made
Thee what thou art, and formed the pow’rs of Heav’n Such as he pleased, and circumscribed their being?
Yet by experience taught we know how good,
And of our good, and of our dignity
How provident he is, how far from thought
To make us less, bent rather to exalt
Our happy state under one head more near
United. But to grant it thee unjust,
That equal over equals monarch reign:
Thyself though great and glorious dost thou count, Or all angelic nature joined in one,
Equal to him begotten Son, by whom
As by his Word the mighty Father made
All things, ev’n thee, and all the spirits of Heav’n By him created in their bright degrees,
Crowned them with glory, and to their glory named Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers, Essential powers, nor by his reign obscured,
But more illustrious made, since he the head
One of our number thus reduced becomes,
His laws our laws, all honor to him done
Returns our own. Cease then this impious rage, And tempt not these; but hasten to appease
Th’ incensèd Father, and th’ incensèd Son,
While pardon may be found in time besought.’
“So spake the fervent Angel, but his zeal
None seconded, as out of season judged,
Or singular and rash, whereat rejoiced
Th’ Apostate, and more haughty thus replied.
‘That we were formed then say’st thou? And the work Of secondary hands, by task transferred
From Father to his Son? Strange point and new!
Doctrine which we would know whence learnt: who saw When this creation was? Remember’st thou
Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being?
We know no time when we were not as now;
Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised
By our own quick’ning power, when fatal course Had circled his full orb, the birth mature
Of this our native Heav’n, ethereal sons.
Our puissance is our own, our own right hand
Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try Who is our equal: then thou shalt behold
Whether by supplication we intend
Address, and to begirt th’ Almighty throne
Beseeching or besieging. This report,
These tidings carry to th’ anointed King;
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.’
“He said, and as the sound of waters deep
Hoarse murmur echoed to his words applause
Through the infinite host, nor less for that
The flaming seraph fearless, though alone
Encompassed round with foes, thus answered bold.
“ ‘O alienate from God, O spirit accursed,
Forsaken of all good; I see thy fall
Determined, and thy hapless crew involved
In this perfidious fraud, contagion spread
Both of thy crime and punishment: henceforth
Not more be troubled how to quit the yoke
Of God’s Messiah; those indulgent laws
Will not be now vouchsafed, other decrees
Against thee are gone forth without recall;
That golden scepter which thou didst reject
Is now an iron rod to bruise and break
Thy disobedience. Well thou didst advise,
Yet not for thy advice or threats I fly
These wicked tents devoted, lest the wrath
Impendent, raging into sudden flame,
Distinguish not: for soon expect to feel
His thunder on thy head, devouring fire.
Then who created thee lamenting learn,
When who can uncreate thee thou shalt know.’
“So spake the Seraph Abdiel faithful found,
Among the faithless, faithful only he;
Among innumerable false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal;
Nor number, nor example with him wrought
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind Though single. From amidst them forth he passed, Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustained Superior, nor of violence feared aught;
And with retorted scorn his back he turned
On those proud tow’rs to swift destruction doomed.”
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