IGH on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit rais'd
To that bad eminence; and from despair Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue
Vain war with Heav'n, and by success untaught His proud imaginations thus display'd:
Pow'rs and Dominions, Deities of Heav'n, For since no deep within her gulf can hold Immortal vigour, though oppress'd and fall'n, I give not Heav'n for lost. From this descent Celestial virtues rising, will appear More glorious and more dread than from no fall, And trust themselves to fear no second fate. Me, tho' just right, and the fix'd laws of Heav'n
Did first create your leader, next free choice, With what besides, in counsel or in fight, Hath been atchiev'd of merit, yet this loss Thus far at least recover'd, hath much more Establish'd in a safe unenvy'd throne,
Yielded with full consent. The happier state In Heav'n, which follows dignity, might draw 25 Envy from each inferior; but who here Will envy whom the highest place exposes Foremost to stand against the Thund'rer's aim Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share Of endless pain? Where there is then no good 30 For which to strive, no strife can grow up there From faction; for none sure will claim in Hell Precedence; none, whose portion is so small Of present pain, that with ambitious mind Will covet more. With this advantage then 35 To union, and firm faith, and firm accord, More than can be in Heav'n, we now return To claim our just inheritance of old, Surer to prosper than prosperity
Could have assur'd us; and by what best way, 40 Whether of open war or covert guile,
We now debate: who can advise, may speak. He ceas'd; and next him Moloch, scepter'd king, Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest Sp'rit That fought in Heav'n, now fiercer by despair. His trust was with th' Eternal to be deem'd Equal in strength; and rather than be less, Car'd not to be at all. With that care lost
Went all his fear of God, or Hell, or worse, He reck'd not; and these words thereafter spake: My sentence is for open war: of wiles More unexpert I boast not: them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, not now. For while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait 55 The signal to ascend, sit ling'ring here Heav'n's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame, The prison of his tyranny who reigns By our delay? No, let us rather choose, Arm'd with Hell-flames and fury, all at once O'er Heav'n's high tow'rs to force resistless way, Turning our tortures into horrid arms
Against the Torturer; when to meet the noise Of his almighty engine he shall hear
Infernal thunder, and for lightning see Black fire and horror shot with equal rage Among his Angels, and his throne itself Mix'd with Tartarean sulphur, and strange fire, His own invented torments. But perhaps 70 The way seems difficult and steep, to scale With upright wing against a Higher Foe. Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench Of that forgetful lake benumb not still, That in our proper motion we ascend Up to our native seat: descent and fall To us is adverse. Who but felt of late, When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear
Insulting, and pursu'd as through the deep, With what compulsion and laborious flight 80 We sunk thus low? Th' ascent is easy then ; Th' event is fear'd. Should we again provoke Our stronger, some worse way his wrath may find To our destruction, if there be in Hell
Fear to be worse destroy'd. What can be worse Than to dwell here, driv'n out from bliss, con
In this abhorred deep to utter woe, Where pain of unextinguishable fire Must exercise us without hope or end
The vassals of his anger, when the scourge Inexorably, and the tort'ring hour
Calls us to penance? More destroy'd than thus, We should be quite abolish'd, and expire. What fear we then? what doubt we to incense His utmost ire? which to the height enrag'd, 95 Will either quite consume us, and reduce To nothing this essential, happier far Than mis'rable t' have eternal being. Or if our substance be indeed divine, And cannot cease to be, we are at worst On this side nothing; and by proof we feel Our pow'r sufficient to disturb his Heav'n, And with perpetual inroads to alarm, Though inaccessible, his fatal throne: Which, if not victory, is yet revenge.
He ended frowning, and his look denounc'd
Desp'rate revenge, and battle dangerous
To less than Gods. On th' other side
Belial, in act more graceful and humane: A fairer person lost not Heav'n; he seem'd 110 For dignity compos'd and high exploit: But all was false and hollow, though his tongue Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels: for his thoughts were low; To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds 116 Tim'rous and slothful: yet he pleas'd the ear, And with persuasive accent thus began:
I should be much for open war, O Peers! As not behind in hate, if what was urg'd Main reason to persuade immediate war, Did not dissuade me most, and seem to cast Ominous conjecture on th' whole success: When he who most excels in fact of arms, In what he counsels and in what excels Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair And utter dissolution, as the scope
Of all his aim, after some dire revenge.
First, what revenge? The tow'rs of Heav'n are fill'd
With armed watch, that render all access 130 Impregnable; oft on the bord'ring deep Encamp their legions, or with obscure wing Scout far and wide into the realm of night, Scorning surprise. Or could we break our way. By force, and at our heels all Hell should rise With blackest insurrection, to confound
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