Much less that durst upon his own head draw The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set. 221 And now without redemption all mankind Father, thy word is past; Man shall find grace; And shall grace not find means, that finds her way, The speediest of thy winged messengers, 230 To visit all thy creatures, and to all Account me Man: I for his sake will leave Freely put off, and for him lastly die 240 Well pleas'd: on me let Death wreck all his rage: For ever with corruption there to dwell; 250 My Vanquisher, spoil'd of his vaunted spoil; 254 260 Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarm'd. Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will Of his great Father. Admiration seiz'd 270 All Heav'n, what this might mean, and whither tend, Wond'ring; but soon th' Almighty thus reply'd: O thou in Heav'n and Earth the only peace Found out for mankind under wrath! O thou 275 My sole complacence! well thou know'st how dear To me are all my works, nor Man the least, And be thyself Man among men on earth, So easily destroy'd, and still destroys 295 300 In those who, when they may, accept not grace. Nor shalt thou, by descending to assume Man's nature, lessen or degrade thine own. Because thou hast, though thron'd in highest bliss Equal to God, and equally enjoying 306 God-like fruition, quitted all to save A world from utter loss, and hast been found, By merit more than birthright, Son of God, Found worthiest to be so by being good, 310 Far more than great or high; because in thee Love hath abounded more than glory 'bounds, Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt With thee thy manhood also to this throne: I give thee; reign for ever, and assume duce: 320 All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide In Heav'n, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell. When thou attended gloriously from Heav'n Shalt in the sky appear, and from thee send The summoning Arch-Angels to proclaim 325 Thy dread tribunal, forthwith from all winds The living, and forthwith the cited dead Of all past ages to the gen'ral doom Shall hasten; such a peal shall rouse their sleep. Then all thy saints assembl'd, thou shalt judge Bad men and Angels; they arraign'd shall sink Beneath thy sentence: Hell, her numbers full, Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring New Heav'n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell, 335 And after all their tribulations long See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds, With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth. Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by, For regal sceptre then no more shall need, 340 No sooner had th' Almighty ceas'd, but all The multitude of Angels, with a shout 345 Loud as from numbers without number, sweet As from blest voices, utt'ring joy, Heav'n rung With jubilee, and loud Hosannas fill'd Th'eternal regions: lowly reverent Tow'rds either throne they bow, and to the ground With solemn adoration down they cast 350 Their crowns, inwove with amaranth and gold; Immortal amaranth; a flow'r which once In Paradise, fast by the tree of life, Began to bloom; but soon, for man's offence, 355 To Heav'n remov'd, where first it grew, there grows, And flow'rs aloft, shading the fount of life, And where the riv'r of bliss thro' midst of Heav'n Rolls o'er Elysian flow'rs her amber stream; With these, that never fade, the Sp'rits elect 360 Bind their resplendent locks inwreath'd with beams, Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright |