Whom thunder had made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign fecure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than ferve in Heav'n.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' affociates and copartners of our lofs,
Lie thus astonish'd on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more loft in Hell? 270
So Satan fpake, and him Beelzebub
Thus anfwer'd. Leader of thofe armies bright,
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd,
If once they hear that voice, their livelieft pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard fo oft
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battel when it rag'd, in all affaults
Their fureft fignal, they will foon resume
New courage and revive, though now they lie
Grovelling and proftrate on yon lake of fire,
As we ere while, astounded and amaz'd,
No wonder, fall'n fuch a pernicious highth.
He scarce had ceas'd when the superior Fiend
Was moving tow'ard the shore; his pond'rous fhield, Ethereal temper, massy, large and round,
Behind him caft; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan arti views
At evening from the top of Fefolé,
Or in Valdarno, to defery new lands,
Rivers or mountains in her fpotty globe.
His fpear, to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of fome great ammiral, were but a wand,
He walk'd with to fupport uneasy steps.
Over the burning marle, not like those steps
On Heaven's azure, and the torrid clime
Smote on him fore befides, vaulted with fire:
Nathless he fo indur'd, till on the beach
Of that inflamed fea he ftood, and call'd
His legions, angel forms, who lay intranc'd
Thick as autumnal leaves that ftrow the brooks
In Vallombrofa, where th' Etrurian fhades
High over-arch'd imbow'r; or scatter'd fedge
Aflote, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd
Hath vex'd the Red-fea coaft, whofe waves o'erthrew
Bufiris and his Memphian chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they pursued
The fojourners of Goshen, who beheld
From the safe shore their floting carcases
And broken chariot wheels, fo thick beftrown
Abject and loft lay thefe, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He call'd fo loud, that all the hollow deep
Of Hell refounded. Princes, Potentates,
Warriors, the flow'r of Heav'n, once yours, now loft,
If such astonishment as this can seise
Eternal spi'rits; or have you chosʼn this place
After the toil of battel to repofe
Your wearied virtue, for the eafe you find
To flumber here, as in the vales of Heav'n?
Or in this abject pofture have ye fworn
To' adore the Conqueror? who now beholds
Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood
With scatter'd arms and enfigns, till anon
His swift pursuers from Heav'n gates discern
Th' advantage, and defcending tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf.
Awake, arife, or be for ever fall'n.
They heard, and were abash'd, and up they sprung Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread, Rouse and beftir themfelves ere well awake.
Nor did they not perceive the evil plight
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to their General's voice they foon obey'd
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,
Wav'd round the coaft, up call'd a pitchy cloud 340 Of locufts, warping on the castern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile:
So numberless were those bad angels feen
Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires;
Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' uplifted spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their course, in even balance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain;
A multitude, like which the populous North
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barb'rous fons
Came like a deluge on the South, and spread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian fands.
Forthwith from every squadron and each band
The heads and leaders thither hafte where stood
Their great Commander; godlike shapes and forms
Exceiling human, princely dignities,
And pow'rs that erft in Heaven fat on thrones; 360
Though of their names in heav'nly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd
By their rebellion from the books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the fons of Eve
Got them new names, tiil wand'ring o'er the earth,
Through God's high fuff'rance for the tri`al of man,
By fallities and lies the greatest part
Of mankind they corrupted to forfake
God their Creator, and th' invisible
Glory of him that made them to transform
Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,
And devils to adore for deities:
Then were they known to men by various names,
And various idols through the Heathen world. 375
Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who last,
Rous'd from the flumber, on that fiery couch,
At their great Emp'ror's call, as next in worth
Came fingly where he stood on the bare ftrand,
While the promifcuous croud stood yet aloof.
The chief were those who from the pit of Hell
Roaming to feek their prey on earth, durst fix
Their seats long after next the seat of God,
Their altars by his altar, gods ador'd
Among the nations round, and durst abide
Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd
Between the cherubim; yea, often plac'd
Within his fanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations; and with cursed things
His holy rites and folemn feasts profan'd,
And with their darkness durft affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid king, besmear'd with blood
Of human facrifice, and parents' tears,
Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud
Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite
Worshipt in Rabba and her watry plain,
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