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PARADISE LOST.

A POEM

IN TWELVE BOOKS.

A

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F Mans First Difobedience, and the
Fruit

Of that Forbidden Tree, whofe
mortal taft

Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With lofs of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,

Sing Heav'nly Mufe, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didft infpire

That Shepherd, who first taught the chofen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rofe out of Chaos: or if Sion Hill

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Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Faft by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to foar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Profe or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that doft prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,

21

Inftruct me, for Thou know'ft; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like fatft brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may affert Eternal Providence,

And justifie the wayes of God to men.

30

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State, Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off From their Creator, and transgress his Will For one restraint, Lords of the World befides? Who first feduc'd them to that fowl revolt? Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride Had caft him out from Heav'n, with all his Host Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in Glory above his Peers, He trusted to have equal'd the most High, If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim Against the Throne and Monarchy of God Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie With hideous ruine and combustion down To bottomlefs perdition, there to dwell In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire, Who durft defie th' Omnipotent to Arms. Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night

40

49

To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom
Referv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of loft happiness and lasting pain
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay
Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate :
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde,

A Dungeon horrible, on all fides round

60

As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible

Serv'd only to discover fights of woe,
Regions of forrow, doleful fhades, where
peace
And reft can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconfum'd:
Such place Eternal Juftice had prepar'd

70

For those rebellious, here their Prifon ordain'd
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempeftuous fire,
He foon difcerns, and weltring by his fide
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Paleftine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,

80

And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words

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