The undaunted fiend what this might be admired, Admired not fear'd; God and his Son except, Created thing naught valued he, nor shunn'd; And with disdainful look, thus first began:
"Whence, and what art thou, execrable shape, That darest, though grim and terrible, advance Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates ? through them I mean to pass, That be assured, without leave ask'd of thee: Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of heaven." To whom the goblin, full of wrath, replied:
“Art thou that traitor-angel, art thou he,
Who first broke peace in heaven, and faith till then 90 Unbroken; and in proud, rebellious arms,
Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons, Conjured against the Highest; for which both thou And they, outcast from God, are here condemn'd To waste eternal days in woe and pain? And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heaven, Hell-doom'd, and breath'st defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings, Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue
Thy lingering, or, with one stroke of this dart, Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before." So spake the grisly terror, and in shape,
So speaking and so threatening, grew tenfold More dreadful and deform. On the other side, Incensed with indignation, Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet burn'd, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In the artic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head Levell❜d his deadly aim; their fatal hands. No second stroke intend; and such a frown Each cast at the other, as when two black clouds, With heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on Over the Caspian, then stand front to front, Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow To join their dark encounter in mid-air; So frown'd the mighty combatants, that hell Grew darker at their frown; so match'd they stood; For never but once more was either like
To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds Had been achieved, whereof all hell had rung, Had not the snaky sorceress, that sat Fast by hell-gate, and kept the fatal key, Risen, and, with hideous outcry, rush'd between. "O father, what intends thy hands," she cried, "Against thy only son? What fury, O son, Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart Against thy father's head? and know'st for whom? For him who sits above and laughs the while At thee, ordain'd his drudge, to execute Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids; His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both." She spake, and at her words the hellish pest Forbore: then these to her Satan return'd: "So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange Thou interposest, that my sudden hand, Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds.
What it intends, till first I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd; and why, In this infernal vale first met, thou call'st Me father, and that phantasm call'st my son:
I know thee not, nor ever saw, till now, Sight more detestable than him and thee."
To whom thus the portress of hell-gate replied: "Hast thou forgot me, then, and do I seem Now in thine eye so foul? once deem'd so fair In heaven, when at the assembly, and in sight Of all the seraphim with thee combined In bold conspiracy against heaven's King, All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth; till on the left side opening wide, Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright, Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess arm'd, Out of thy head I sprung; amazement seized All the host of heaven; back they recoil'd, afraid At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a sign Portentous held me; but, familiar grown, I pleased, and with attractive graces won The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing, Becamest enamour'd, and such joy thou took'st With me in secret, that my womb conceived A growing burden. Meanwhile, war arose,
And fields were fought in heaven: wherein remain'd (For what could else?) to our Almighty Foe Clear victory; to our part loss and rout Through all the empyréan: down they fell, Driven headlong from the pitch of heaven, down Into this deep; and in the general fall I also; at which time this powerful key
Into my hands was given, with charge to keep These gates for ever shut, which none can pass Without my opening. Pensive here I sat
Alone; but long I sat not, till my womb, Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown, Prodigious motion felt, and rueful throes. At last this odious offspring whom thou seest, Thine own begotten, breaking violent way, Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew Transform'd: but he my inbred enemy Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart, Made to destroy. ( I fled, and cried out, Death! Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd From all her caves, and back resounded, Death! I fled; but he pursued (though more, it seems, Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far, Me overtook, his mother, all dismay'd, And in embraces, forcible and foul, Engendering with me, of that rape begot These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceived And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
To me; for, when they list, into the womb That bred them they return, and howl, and gnaw My bowels, their repast; then bursting forth. Afresh, with conscious terrors vex me round, That rest or intermission none I find.
Before mine eyes in opposition sits
Grim Death, my son and foe; who sets them on, And me, his parent, would full soon devour For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involved; and knows that I Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be; so fate pronounced. But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in those bright arms, Though temper'd heavenly; for that mortal dint, Save he who reigns above, none can resist.” She finish'd; and the subtle fiend his lore
Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth: "Dear daughter, since thou claim'st me for thy sire, And my fair son here shew'st me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in heaven, and joys Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change Befallen us, unforseen, unthought of; know, I come no enemy, but to set free
From out this dark and dismal house of pain Both him and thee, and all the heavenly host Of spirits, that, in our just pretences arm'd, Fell with us from on high: from them I go This uncouth errand sole; and, one for all, Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
The unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search, with wandering quest, a place foretold 830 Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now
Created, vast and round, a place of bliss
In the purlieus of heaven, and therein placed A race of upstart creatures, to supply,
Perhaps, our vacant room; though more removed, Lest heaven, surcharged with potent multitude, Might hap to move new broils. Be this, or aught Than this more secret, now design'd, I haste To know; and, this once known, shall soon return, And bring ye to the place where thou and Death 840 Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen
Wing silently the buxom air, embalm'd With odours; there ye shall be fed and fill'd Immeasurably; all things shall be your prey."
He ceased, for both seem'd highly pleased, and Death
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