That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring, His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd, In dubious battle on the plains of heaven,
And shook his throne! What though the field be lost? All is not lost! the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge; immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield; And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me! To bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee, and deify his power, Who, from the terror of this arm so late Doubted his empire! that were low indeed! That were an ignominy, and shame beneath This downfall! since, by fate, the strength of gods And this empyreal substance cannot fail : Since, through experience of this great event, In arms not worse, in foresight much advanc'd, We may with more successful hope resolve To wage by force or guile eternal war, Irreconcilable to our grand foe,
Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy, Sole reigning, holds the tyranny of heaven !"
RETIRE; the world shut out;-thy thoughts call Imagination's airy wing repress;
Lock up thy senses ;-let no passion stir ;- Wake all to Reason ;-let her reign alone:- Then, in thy soul's deep silence, and the depth Of Nature's silence, midnight, thus inquire, As I have done; and shall inquire no more. In Nature's channel, thus the questions run.
What am I? and from whence?-I nothing know, But that I am; and, since I am, conclude Something eternal; had there e'er been nought, Nought still had been: eternal there must be.
But what eternal ?-Why not human race, And Adam's ancestors without an end?- That's hard to be conceiv'd; since every link Of that long-chain'd succession is so frail; Can every part depend, and not the whole? Yet grant it true, new difficulties rise; I'm still quite out at sea, nor see the shore. Whence earth, and these bright orbs ?-eternal too? Grant matter was eternal; still these orbs Would want some other father; much design Is seen in all their motions, all their makes; Design implies intelligence, and art:
That can't be from themselves-or man; that art Man scarce can comprehend could man bestow? And nothing greater, yet allow'd, than man?. Who, motion, foreign to the smallest grain, Shot through vast masses of enormous weight? Who bade brute matter's restive lump assume Such various forms, and gave it wings to fly? Has matter innate motion? then each atom, Asserting its indisputable right
To dance, would form a universe of dust:
Has matter none? Then whence these glorious forms, And boundless flights, from shapeless, and repos'd? Has matter more than motion? Has it thought, Judgment, and genius? Is it deeply learned In mathematics? Has it fram'd such laws, Which, but to guess, a Newton made immortal ?— If art, to form, and counsel, to conduct— And that with greater far than human skill, Resides not in each block;-a GODHEAD reigns.--- And, if a God there is, that God how great!
Satan described, with his Speech to the Infernal Spirits.
THUS far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observ'd Their dread commander; he, above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tow'r; his form had not yet lost All her original brightness, nor appear'd Less than Archangel ruin'd, and the excess Of glory obscur'd: as when the sun new risen, Looks through the horizontal misty air, Shorn of his beams; or from behind the moon In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs. Darken'd so, yet shone Above them all th' Archangel; but his face Deep scars of thunder had entrench'd, and care Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows Of dauntless courage and considerate pride, Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast Signs of remorse and passion, to behold The fellows of his crime, the followers rather, (Far other once beheld in bliss) condemn'd For ever now to have their lot in pain; Millions of Spirits for his fault amerc'd Of Heav'n, and from eternal splendours flung, For his revolt, yet faithful how they stood, Their glory wither'd: as when Heaven's fire Hath scath'd the forest oaks, or mountain pines, With singed top their stately growth, though bare, Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepar'd To speak: whereat their doubled ranks they bend From wing to wing, and half enclose him round With all his peers: attention held them mute, Thrice he assay'd; and thrice, in spite of scorn, Tears, such as Angels weep, burst forth; at last Words, interwove with sighs, found out their way.
"O Myriads of immortal Spirits! O Powers Matchless! but with the Almighty; and that strife Was not inglorious, though the event was dire, As this place testifies, and this dire change, Hateful to utter; but what pow'r of mind, Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth Of knowledge past or present, could have fear'd How such united strength of Gods, how such As stood like these, could ever know repulse? For who can yet believe, though after loss, That all these puissant legions, whose exile
Hath emptied Heav'n, shall fail to re-ascend, Self-rais'd, and re-possess their native seat? For me be witness all the host of Heav'n, If counsels different or danger shunn'd By me have lost our hopes. But he who reigns Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, Consent or custom, and his regal state
Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd, Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall. Henceforth his might we know, and know our own, So as not either to provoke, or dread
New war provok'd; our better part remains To work in close design, by fraud or guile, What force effected not; that he no less At length from us may find, who overcomes By force hath overcome but half his foe. Space may produce new worlds; whereof so rife There went a fame in Heav'n, that he ere long Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard Should favour equal to the sons of Heav'n; Thither if but to pry, shall be perhaps Our first irruption, thither or elsewhere; For this infernal pit shall never hold Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' abyss Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts Full counsel must mature. Peace is despair'd, For who can think submission? War, then, war, Open or understood, must be resolved!"
Our young friends will please turn their attention to the description which Milton has here given of Satan, which is considered grand. The obscurity, in which the Archangel is involved, notwithstanding the similes which Milton has employed for giving us some idea of his greatness, is particularly worthy of notice.
HIGH on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers, 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 heaven; and, by success untaught, His proud imaginations thus display'd:
"Powers and dominions, deities of heaven- For, since no deep within her gulph can hold Immortal vigour, though oppress'd and fallen, I give not heaven 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, though just right, and the fix'd laws of heaven, Did first create your leader; next, free choice, With what besides, in council or in fight, Hath been achiev'd of merit; yet this loss, Thus far at least recover'd, hath much more Establish'd in a safe unenvied throne,
Yielded with full consent. The happier state In heaven, which follows dignity, might draw Envy from each inferior; but who here Will envy whom the highest place exposes Foremost to stand against the Thunderer's aim, Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share Of endless pain? Where there is then no good 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. To union, and firm faith, and firm accord, More than can be in heaven, we now return To claim our just inheritance of old, Surer to prosper than prosperity
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