THE FALLEN ANGELS IN THE Eternal spirits; or have ye chosen this BURNING LAKE. THE superior fiend Was moving toward the shore: his ponderous shield, Ethereal temper, massy, large and round, Behind him cast; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulder, like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening from the top of Fesolé, On Heaven's azure; and the torrid clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire: Nathless he so endured till on the beach Of that inflamed sea he stood, and call'd His legions, angel forms, who lay intranced, Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa, where the Etruitan shades, High over-arch'd, imbower; or scatter'd sedge Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd Hath vex'd the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew Busiris and his Memphian chivalry, While with perfidious hatred they pursued The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld From the safe shore their floating carcases And broken chariot wheels: so thick bestrewn, Abject and lost lay these, covering the flood, Under amazement of their hideous change. He call'd so loud, that all the hollow deep Of Hell resounded. "Princes, potentates, Warriors, the flower of Heaven, once yours, now lost, If such astonishment as this can seize place, After the toil of battle to repose Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven? Or in this abject posture have ye sworn T' adore the Conqueror? who now beholds Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood With scatter'd arms and ensigns, till anon His swift pursuers, from Heaven-gates, discern Th' advantage, and, descending, tread us down Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf. Did first create your leader; next, free choice, With what besides in counsel or in fight Hath been achieved 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, Whether of open war, or covert guile, ADDRESS TO LIGHT. HAIL, holy Light, offspring of Heaven, first-born, Or of the Eternal coeternal beam, May I express thee unblamed? since God is light, And never but in unapproached light Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, Bright effluence of bright essence increate. Or hear'st thou rather, pure ethereal stream, Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the Sun, Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest The rising world of waters dark and deep, Won from the void and formless infinite. Thee I revisit now with a bolder wing, Escaped the Stygian pool, though long detain'd In that obscure sojourn, while, in my flight, Through utter and through middle darkness borne, With other notes than to the Orphéan lyre, I sung of Chaos and eternal Night; Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down The dark descent, and up to re-ascend, Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe, And feel thy sovran vital lamp: but thou Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn; So thick a drop serene hath quench'd their orbs, Or dim suffusion veil'd. Yet not the more Cease I to wander, where the Muses haunt Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill, Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief Thee, Sion, and the flowery brooks be neath, That wash thy hallowed feet, and warbling flow, Nightly I visit: nor sometimes forget Those other two, equall'd with me in fate So were I equall'd with them in renown, Blind Thamyris, and blind Mæonides, And Tiresias, and Phineus, prophets old: Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary So burthensome still paying, still to owe; O, had his powerful destiny ordain'd Ambition! Yet why not? some other power As great might have aspired, and me, though mean, Drawn to his part; but other powers as great Fell not, but stand unshaken, from within Or from without, to all temptations arm'd. Hadst thou the same free will and power to stand? Thou hadst whom hast thou then or what to accuse, But Heaven's free love dealt equally to all? Be then his love accursed, since, love or hate, To me alike, it deals eternal woe. Chose freely what it now so justly rues. a O, then, at last relent: is there no place Left for repentance, none for pardon left? None left but by submission; and that word Disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame Among the spirits beneath, whom I seduced With other promises and other vaunts Than to submit, boasting I could subdue The Omnipotent. Ay me! they little know How dearly I abide that boast so vain. Under what torments inwardly I groan, While they adore me on the throne of Hell. With diadem and sceptre high advanced, |