Paradise Lost

by John Milton
edited by Eric Armstrong

Notes on this edition

The pronunciations presented here are not necessarily definitive, but are a
starting place. Many are choices based on the meter of the line, showing how a
word might be pronounced in an attempt to maintain the pentameter. In some
cases these pronunciations are quite extreme: witness "ceremony - disyllabic (if
possible!) ["sE„.m´n
]". Also, I have attempted to give pronunciations to all
"unfamiliar" words, or words whose pronunciation isn't immediately obvious
from spelling. Not all proper nouns required transcription: "Taurus" seems
familiar enough.

I have also chosen, before syllables beginning with r, to leave the schwa in
diphthongs that might take "r-colouring" uncoloured, or plain : "Oreb" as ["O´ ®´b]
rather than ["O„ ®´b] or ["O ®´b]. In cases where these diphthongs preceed other
consonants, I have chosen the r-colouring version, as in "Archangel" - [A„ "keIn
dZ´l]. I feel these choices work best for the stage, but are a matter of taste.

Book I

O f Man's first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
5 Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top
Of Oreb1, or of Sinai2, didst inspire
That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning how the heavens and earth
10 Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion3 hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's4 brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
15 Above th' Aonian5 mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

1Oreb - ["O´ Æ®Eb]

2Sinai - ["saI ÆnaI]
3Sion - ["saI ÆÅn]
4Siloa's - [Æsi "loU Æ´z]
5Aonian - trisyllabic [eI "oU nI´n]
 2

And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer

Before all temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first
20 Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
Dove-like sat'st 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 height of this great argument,
25 I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justify the ways of God to men.

Say first--for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,

Nor the deep tract of Hell--say first what cause
Moved our grand parents, in that happy state,
30 Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator, and transgress his will
For one restraint, lords of the World besides.
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?

Th' infernal Serpent; he it was whose guile,

35 Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host
Of rebel Angels, by whose aid, aspiring
To set himself in glory above his peers,
40 He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If he opposed, and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God,
Raised impious6 war in Heaven and battle proud,
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
45 Hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal7 sky,
With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In adamantine8 chains and penal fire,
Who durst defy th' Omnipotent9 to arms.

50 Nine times the space that measures day and night

To mortal men, he, with his horrid crew,
Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf,
Confounded, though immortal. But his doom
Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought
55 Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
Torments him: round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witnessed huge affliction and dismay,
Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate.
At once, as far as Angels ken, he views
60 The dismal situation waste and wild.

6impious- disyllabic ["Im pi´s]

- trisyllabic [DI "Ti ®i´l]
7th'ethereal
8adamantine - [œ d´ "man taIn]
9th'Omnipotent - [DÅm "nI poU ÆtEnt]
 3

A dungeon horrible, on all sides round,

As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames
No light; but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sights of woe,
65 Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest 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 unconsumed.
70 Such place Eternal Justice has prepared
For those rebellious; here their prison ordained
In utter darkness, and their portion set,
As far removed from God and light of Heaven
As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole.
75 Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed
With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns; and, weltering by his side,
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
80 Long after known in Palestine, and named
Beelzebub10. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence, thus began:--

"If thou beest he--but O how fallen! how changed

85 From him who, in the happy realms of light
Clothed with transcendent brightness, didst outshine
Myriads11, though bright!--if he whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the glorious enterprise
90 Joined with me once, now misery hath joined
In equal ruin; into what pit thou seest
From what height fallen: so much the stronger proved
He with his thunder; and till then who knew
The force of those dire arms? Yet not for those,
95 Nor what the potent Victor in his rage
Can else inflict, do I repent, or change,
Though changed in outward lustre, that fixed mind,
And high disdain from sense of injured merit,
That with the Mightiest raised me to contend,
100 And to the fierce contentions brought along
Innumerable force of Spirits armed,
That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power opposed
In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven,
105 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?

10Beelzebub - [bi "El zI Æbøb]

11Myriads - ["mI ®i Æ´dz]
 4

110 That glory never shall his wrath or might

Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deify12 his power
Who, from the terror of this arm, so late
Doubted his empire--that were low indeed;
115 That were an ignominy and shame beneath
This downfall; since, by fate, the strength of Gods,
And this empyreal13 substance, cannot fail;
Since, through experience of this great event,
In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced,
120 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 th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven."

125 So spake th' apostate Angel, though in pain,

Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair;
And him thus answered soon his bold compeer14:--

"O Prince, O Chief of many thronèd Powers

That led th' embattled Seraphim15 to war
130 Under thy conduct, and, in dreadful deeds
Fearless, endangered Heaven's perpetual King,
And put to proof his high supremacy,
Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate,
Too well I see and rue the dire event
135 That, with sad overthrow and foul defeat,
Hath lost us Heaven, and all this mighty host
In horrible destruction laid thus low,
As far as Gods and heavenly Essences
Can perish: for the mind and spirit remains
140 Invincible, and vigour soon returns,
Though all our glory extinct, and happy state
Here swallowed up in endless misery.
But what if he our Conqueror (whom I now
Of force believe almighty, since no less
145 Than such could have o'erpowered such force as ours)
Have left us this our spirit and strength entire,
Strongly to suffer and support our pains,
That we may so suffice his vengeful ire,
Or do him mightier service as his thralls
150 By right of war, whate'er his business be,
Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy Deep?
What can it then avail though yet we feel
Strength undiminished, or eternal being
155 To undergo eternal punishment?"

12deify- ["de I ÆfaI]

13empyreal - trisyllabic [Em "pI ®I´l]
14compeer - [k´m "pE„]
15Seraphim - ["sE´ ®´ ÆfIm]
 5

Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend replied:--

"Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable,
Doing or suffering: but of this be sure--
To do aught16 good never will be our task,
160 But ever to do ill our sole delight,
As being the contrary to his high will
Whom we resist. If then his providence
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
Our labour must be to pervert that end,
165 And out of good still to find means of evil;
Which ofttimes may succeed so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
His inmost counsels from their destined aim.
But see! the angry Victor hath recalled
170 His ministers of vengeance and pursuit
Back to the gates of Heaven: the sulphurous hail,
Shot after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid
The fiery surge that from the precipice17
Of Heaven received us falling; and the thunder,
175 Winged with red lightning and impetuous18 rage,
Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now
To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep.
Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn
Or satiate19 fury yield it from our Foe.

180 Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild,

The seat of desolation, void of light,
Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
Casts pale and dreadful? Thither20 let us tend
From off the tossing of these fiery waves;
185 There rest, if any rest can harbour there;
And, re-assembling our afflicted powers,
Consult how we may henceforth most offend
Our enemy, our own loss how repair,
How overcome this dire calamity,
190 What reinforcement we may gain from hope,
If not, what resolution from despair."

Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate,

With head uplift above the wave, and eyes
That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides
195 Prone on the flood, extended long and large,
Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
As whom the fables name of monstrous size,
Titanian21 or Earth-born, that warred on Jove,

16aught - ["Ot]
17precipice - ["p®E sI ÆpIs]
18impetuous - trisyllabic [Im "pE ÆtIu´s]
19satiate - disyllabic ["seI SI´t]
20thither - ["DI D„]
21Titanian - trisyllabic [taI "teI nI´n]
 6

Briareos22 or Typhon23, whom the den

200 By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast
Leviathan24, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim th' ocean-stream.
Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam,
The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff,
205 Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell,
With fixèd anchor in his scaly rind,
Moors by his side under the lee, while night
Invests the sea, and wishèd morn delays.

So stretched out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay,

210 Chained on the burning lake; nor ever thence
Had risen, or heaved his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might
215 Heap on himself damnation, while he sought
Evil to others, and enraged might see
How all his malice served but to bring forth
Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shewn25
On Man by him seduced, but on himself
220 Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance poured.

Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool

His mighty stature; on each hand the flames
Driven backward slope their pointing spires, and, rolled
In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale.
225 Then with expanded wings he steers his flight
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air,
That felt unusual weight; till on dry land
He lights--if it were land that ever burned
With solid, as the lake with liquid fire,
230 And such appeared in hue as when the force
Of subterranean26 wind transports a hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the shattered side
Of thundering Etna, whose combustible
And fuelled entrails, thence conceiving fire,
235 Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds,
And leave a singèd bottom all involved
With stench and smoke. Such resting found the sole
Of unblest feet. Him followed his next mate;
Both glorying to have scaped the Stygian27 flood
240 As gods, and by their own recovered strength,
Not by the sufferance of supernal28 Power.

22Briareos- [b®aI "E´ ®i ´s]

23Typhon - ["taI f´n]
24Leviathan - [l´ "vaI ´ ÆTœn]
25shewn - archaic spelling of shown [SoUn] or [SEUn] or [Sun]
26subterranean - [Æsøb t´ "®eI nI´n]
27Stygian - ["stI dZI´n]
 7

"Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,"

Said then the lost Archangel29, "this the seat
That we must change for Heaven?--this mournful gloom
245 For that celestial light? Be it so, since he
Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid
What shall be right: farthest from him is best
Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme
Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields,
250 Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
Infernal world! and thou, profoundest Hell,
Receive thy new possessor--one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
255 Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
260 Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
265 Th' associates30 and co-partners of our loss,
Lie thus astonished on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
270 Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell?"

So Satan spake; and him Beelzebub

Thus answered:--"Leader of those armies bright
Which, but th' Omnipotent, none could have foiled!
If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge
275 Of hope in fears and dangers--heard so oft
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battle, when it raged, in all assaults
Their surest signal--they will soon resume
New courage and revive, though now they lie
280 Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire,
As we erewhile, astounded and amazed;
No wonder, fallen such a pernicious31 height!"

He scarce had ceased when the superior Fiend

Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield,
285 Ethereal32 temper, massy, large, and round,

28supernal - [su "p‰± n´l]

29Archangel - [A„ "keIn dZ´l]
30associates - trisyllabic [´ "soU SIts]
31pernicious - [p„ "nI S´s]
32Ethereal - [I "Ti ®I´l]
 8

Behind him cast. The broad circumference

Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening, from the top of Fesole33,
290 Or in Valdarno34, to descry new lands,
Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.
His spear--to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of some great admiral, were but a wand--
295 He walked with, to support uneasy steps
Over the burning marl, not like those steps
On Heaven's azure35; and the torrid clime
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire.
Nathless he so endured, till on the beach
300 Of that inflamèd sea he stood, and called
His legions--Angel Forms, who lay entranced
Thick as autumnal36 leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades
High over-arched embower; or scattered sedge
305 Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed
Hath vexed the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
Busiris37 and his Memphian38 chivalry,
While with perfidious39 hatred they pursued
The sojourners40 of Goshen41, who beheld
310 From the safe shore their floating carcases
And broken chariot-wheels. So thick bestrown,
Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He called so loud that all the hollow deep
315 Of Hell resounded:--"Princes, Potentates,
Warriors, the Flower of Heaven--once yours; now lost,
If such astonishment as this can seize
Eternal Spirits! Or have ye chosen this place
After the toil of battle to repose
320 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
To adore the Conqueror, who now beholds
Cherub42 and Seraph43 rolling in the flood

33Fesole - ["fi z´ ÆleI]

34Valdarno - [vÅl "dA„ noU]
35azure - ["œ ZIU„]
36autumnal - [Å tøm n´l]
37Busiris - [bU "saI ®Is]
38Memphian - ["mEm fI´n]
39perfidious - [p„ "fI dI´s]
40sojourners - [s´ "dZ‰± n„z]
41Goshen - ["goU S´n]
42Cherub - ["tSE´ ®øb]
43Seraph - ["sE´ ®´f]
 9

325 With scattered arms and ensigns44, till anon

His swift pursuers from Heaven-gates discern
Th' advantage, and, descending, tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linkèd thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf?
330 Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen!"

They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung

Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
335 Nor did they not perceive the evil plight
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to their General's voice they soon obeyed
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram's45 son, in Egypt's evil day,
340 Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud
Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious46 Pharaoh hung
Like Night, and darkened all the land of Nile;
So numberless were those bad Angels seen
345 Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell,
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires;
Till, as a signal given, th' uplifted spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their course, in even balance down they light
350 On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain:
A multitude like which the populous North
Poured never from her frozen loins to pass
Rhene47 or the Danaw48, when her barbarous sons
Came like a deluge on the South, and spread
355 Beneath Gibraltar49 to the Libyan sands.
Forthwith, from every squadron and each band,
The heads and leaders thither haste where stood
Their great Commander--godlike Shapes, and Forms
Excelling human; princely Dignities;
360 And Powers that erst50 in Heaven sat on thrones,
Though on their names in Heavenly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and razed
By their rebellion from the Books of Life.
Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve
365 Got them new names, till, wand'ring o'er the earth,
Through God's high sufferance for the trial of man,
By falsities and lies the greatest part

44ensigns - ["En s´nz]

45Amram's - ["œm ®œmz]
46impious - disyllabic ["Im pI´s]
47Rhene - [®in]
48Danaw - [d´ "nO]
49Gibraltar - [dZI "b®Ål t„]
50erst - [‰±st]
 10

Of mankind they corrupted to forsake

God their Creator, and th' invisible
370 Glory of him that made them to transform
Oft to the image of a brute, adorned
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,
And devils to adore for deities:
Then were they known to men by various names,
375 And various idols through the heathen world.

Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who last,
Roused from the slumber on that fiery couch,
At their great Emperor's call, as next in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
380 While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof?

The chief were those who, from the pit of Hell

Roaming to seek their prey on Earth, durst fix
Their seats, long after, next the seat of God,
Their altars by his altar, gods adored
385 Among the nations round, and durst abide
Jehovah51 thundering out of Sion, throned
Between the Cherubim52; yea, often placed
Within his sanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations; and with cursèd things
390 His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned,
And with their darkness durst affront his light.
First, Moloch53, horrid king, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears;
Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud,
395 Their children's cries unheard that passed through fire
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite54
Worshipped in Rabba55 and her watery plain,
In Argob56 and in Basan57, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon58. Nor content with such
400 Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
His temple right against the temple of God
On that opprobrious59 hill, and made his grove
The pleasant valley of Hinnom60, Tophet61 thence

51Jehovah - [dZ´ "hoU vø]

52Cherubim - ["tSE´ ®U ÆbIm]
53Moloch - ["mÅ l´k]
54Ammonite - ["œ m´ ÆnaIt]
55Rabba - ["®œ b´]
56Argob - ["A„ gÅb]
57Basan - ["bœ s´n]
58Arnon - [A„ nÅn]
59opprobrious - trisyllabic [´ "p®oU b®I´s]
60Hinnom - ["hI n´m]
61Tophet - ["tÅ f´t]
 11

405 And black Gehenna62 called, the type of Hell.

Next Chemos63, th' obscene dread of Moab's64 sons,
From Aroar65 to Nebo66 and the wild
Of southmost Abarim67; in Hesebon68
And Horonaim69, Seon's70 realm, beyond
410 The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines,
And Eleale71 to th' Asphaltic72 Pool:
Peor73 his other name, when he enticed
Israel in Sittim74, on their march from Nile,
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
415 Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged
Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove
Of 75Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate,
Till good Josiah76 drove them thence to Hell.
With these came they who, from the bordering flood
420 Of old Euphrates77 to the brook that parts
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general names
Of Baalim78 and Ashtaroth79--those male,
These feminine. For Spirits, when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both; so soft
425 And uncompounded is their essence pure,
Not tried or manacled with joint or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they choose,
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,
430 Can execute their airy purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfil.
For those the race of Israel oft forsook
Their Living Strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous altar, bowing lowly down
435 To bestial gods; for which their heads as low

62Gehenna - [g´ "hE n´]

63Chemos - ["ki moUs]
64Moab's - ["moU œbz]
65Aroar - ["œ ®oU ÆA„]
66Nebo - ["ni boU]
67Abarim - ["œ b´ Æ®Im]
68Hesebon - ["he z´ ÆbÅn]
69Horonaim - [ÆhÅ ®´ "naI Im]
70Seon's - ["seI Ånz]
71Eleale - [ÆE lI "œ le]
72th' Asphaltic - [Dœs "fÅl tIk]
73Peor - [pi O„]
74Sittim - ["sI tIm]
75Moloch - ["mÅ l´k]
76Josiah - [dZoU "saI ´]
77Euphrates - [ju "f®eI tiz]
78Baalim - ["bA… lim]
79Ashtaroth - [ÆœS t´ "®ÅT]
 12

Bowed down in battle, sunk before the spear

Of despicable foes. With these in troop
Came Astoreth80, whom the Phoenicians81 called
Astarte82, queen of heaven, with crescent horns;
440 To whose bright image nigntly by the moon
Sidonian83 virgins paid their vows and songs;
In Sion also not unsung, where stood
Her temple on th' offensive mountain, built
By that uxorious84 king whose heart, though large,
445 Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell
To idols foul. Thammuz85 came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day,
450 While smooth Adonis from his native rock
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch
455 Ezekiel86 saw, when, by the vision led,
His eye surveyed the dark idolatries
Of alienated Judah. Next came one
Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark
Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off,
460 In his own temple, on the grunsel-edge87,
Where he fell flat and shamed his worshippers:
Dagon88 his name, sea-monster,upward man
And downward fish; yet had his temple high
Reared in Azotus89, dreaded through the coast
465 Of Palestine, in Gath90 and Ascalon91,
And Accaron92 and Gaza's frontier bounds.
Him followed Rimmon93, whose delightful seat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks
Of Abbana94 and Pharphar95, lucid streams.

80Astoreth - [Æas tO´ "®ET]

81Phoenicians - [f´ "ni S´nz]
82Astarte - [œs "tA„ te]
83Sidonian - [sI "doU nI´n]
84uxorious - [øk "sO´ ®I´s]
85Thammuz - [Tœ "muz]
86Ezekiel - [i "zi kI´l]
87grunsel - ["g®øn z´l]
88Dagon - ["deI gÅn]
89Azotus - [´ "zoU t´s]
90Gath - [gaT]
91Ascalon - ["a skE ÆlÅn]
92Accaron - ["a k´ Æ®Ån]
93Rimmon - ["®I m´n]
94Abbana - ["œ b´ ÆnA]
 13

470 He also against the house of God was bold:

A leper once he lost, and gained a king--
Ahaz96, his sottish conqueror, whom he drew
God's altar to disparage and displace
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
475 His odious offerings, and adore the gods
Whom he had vanquished. After these appeared
A crew who, under names of old renown--
Osiris97, Isis98, Orus99, and their train--
With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused
480 Fanatic Egypt and her priests to seek
Their wandering gods disguised in brutish forms
Rather than human. Nor did Israel scape
Th' infection, when their borrowed gold composed
The calf in Oreb100; and the rebel king
485 Doubled that sin in Bethel101 and in Dan,
Likening102 his Maker to the grazèd ox--
Jehovah, who, in one night, when he passed
From Egypt marching, equalled with one stroke
Both her first-born and all her bleating gods.
490 B e l i a l103 came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd
Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love
Vice for itself. To him no temple stood
Or altar smoked; yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
495 Turns atheist, as did Eli's 104sons, who filled
With lust and violence the house of God?
In courts and palaces he also reigns,
And in luxurious cities, where the noise
Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers,
500 And injury and outrage; and, when night
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.
Witness the streets of Sodom105, and that night
In Gibeah106, when th' hospitable door
505 Exposed a matron, to avoid worse rape.

These were the prime in order and in might:

95Pharphar - ["fA„ fA„]

96Ahaz - [eI "hÅz]
97Osiris - [oU "saI ®´s]
98Isis - ["aI sIs]
99Orus - ["O´ ®´s]
100Oreb - ["O´ ®´b]
101Bethel - ["bE T´l]
102Likening - disyllabic ["laI knIN]
103Belial - trochaic ["bE lI´l]
104Eli's - ["i laIz]
105Sodom - ["sÅ d´m]
106Gibeah - ["gI be Æ´]
 14

The rest were long to tell; though far renowned

Th' Ionian gods--of Javan's 107issue held
Gods, yet confessed later than Heaven and Earth,
510 Their boasted parents;--Titan, Heaven's first-born,
With his enormous brood, and birthright seized
By younger Saturn: he from mightier Jove,
His own and Rhea's108 son, like measure found;
So Jove usurping reigned. These, first in Crete
515 And Ida known, thence on the snowy top
Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air,
Their highest heaven; or on the Delphian109 cliff,
Or in Dodona110, and through all the bounds
Of Doric111 land; or who with Saturn old
520 Fled over Adria112 to th' Hesperian113 fields,
And o'er the Celtic114 roamed the utmost Isles.

All these and more came flocking; but with looks

Downcast and damp; yet such wherein appeared
Obscure some glimpse of joy to have found their Chief
525 Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost
In loss itself; which on his countenance cast
Like doubtful hue. But he, his wonted pride
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth, not substance, gently raised
530 Their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears.
Then straight commands that, at the warlike sound
Of trumpets loud and clarions, be upreared
His mighty standard. That proud honour claimed
Azazel as his right, a Cherub115 tall:
535 Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled
Th' imperial ensign; which, full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind,
With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed,
Seraphic116 arms and trophies; all the while
540 Sonorous117 metal blowing martial sounds:
At which the universal host up-sent
A shout that tore Hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
All in a moment through the gloom were seen

107Javan's - ["dZœ v´nz]

108Rhea's - ["®i ´z]
109Delphian - ["dEl fI´n]
110Dodona - [d´ "doU n´]
111Doric - ["dÅ ®Ik]
112Adria - ["eI d®I´]
113th' Hesperian - [DEs "pE´ ®I´n]
114Celtic - ["kEl tIk]
115Cherub - [tSE´ ®´b]
116Seraphic - [sE´ "®œ fIk]
117Sonorous - ["sÅ n´ Æ®´s]
 15

545 Ten thousand banners rise into the air,

With orient colours waving: with them rose
A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms
Appeared, and serried118 shields in thick array
Of depth immeasurable. Anon they move
550 In perfect phalanx119 to the Dorian120 mood
Of flutes and soft recorders--such as raised
To height of noblest temper heroes old
Arming to battle, and instead of rage
Deliberate valour breathed, firm, and unmoved
555 With dread of death to flight or foul retreat;
Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage
With solemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase
Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain
From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they,
560 Breathing united force with fixèd thought,
Moved on in silence to soft pipes that charmed
Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil. And now
Advanced in view they stand--a horrid front
Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise
565 Of warriors old, with ordered spear and shield,
Awaiting what command their mighty Chief
Had to impose. He through the armèd files
Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse
The whole battalion views--their order due,
570 Their visages121 and stature as of gods;
Their number last he sums. And now his heart
Distends with pride, and, hardening in his strength,
Glories: for never, since created Man,
Met such embodied force as, named with these,
575 Could merit more than that small infantry
Warred on by cranes--though all the giant brood
Of Phlegra122 with th' heroic race were joined
That fought at Thebes123 and Ilium124, on each side
Mixed with auxiliar gods; and what resounds
580 In fable or romance of Uther's125 son,
Begirt126 with British and Armoric127 knights;
And all who since, baptized or infidel,
Jousted in Aspramont128, or Montalban129,

118serried - ["sE ®
d]

119phalanx - ["fœ lœNks]
120Dorian - ["dO´ ®I´n]
121visages - ["vI z´ ÆdZ´z]
122Phlegra - ["flE g®´]
123Thebes - [Tibz]
124Ilium - ["I lI´m]
125Uther's - ["uT„z]
126Begirt - [bi "g‰±t]
127Armoric - [A„ "mÅ ®Ik]
128Aspramont - ["œs p®´ ÆmÅnt]
 16

Damasco130, or Marocco, or Trebisond131,

585 Or whom Biserta132 sent from Afric shore
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabbia133. Thus far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed
Their dread Commander. He, above the rest
590 In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower. His form had yet not lost
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than Archangel ruined, and th' excess
Of glory obscured: as when the sun new-risen
595 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. Darkened so, yet shone
600 Above them all th' Archangel: but his face
Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows
Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride
Waiting revenge. Cruel his eye, but cast
605 Signs of remorse and passion, to behold
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
(Far other once beheld in bliss), condemned
For ever now to have their lot in pain--
Millions of Spirits for his fault amerced
610 Of Heaven, and from eternal splendours flung
For his revolt--yet faithful how they stood,
Their glory withered; as, when heaven's fire
Hath scathed134 the forest oaks or mountain pines,
With singèd top their stately growth, though bare,
615 Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepared
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 assayed, and thrice, in spite of scorn,
620 Tears, such as Angels weep, burst forth: at last
Words interwove with sighs found out their way:--

"O myriads135 of immortal Spirits! O Powers

Matchless, but with th' Almighty!--and that strife
Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire,
625 As this place testifies, and this dire change,
Hateful to utter. But what power of mind,

129Montalban - ["mÅn t´l ÆbAn]

130Damasco - [d´ "mœs koU]
131Trebisond - ["t®E bI ÆsÅnd]
132Biserta - [bI "s‰± t´]
133Fontarabbia - [ÆfÅn t´ "®œ bI´]
134scathed - [skeIDd]
135myriads - ["mi ®I´dz]
 17

Forseeing or presaging, from the depth

Of knowledge past or present, could have feared
How such united force of gods, how such
630 As stood like these, could ever know repulse?
For who can yet believe, though after loss,
That all these puissant136 legions, whose exile
Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend,
Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?
635 For me, be witness all the host of Heaven,
If counsels different137, or danger shunned
By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns
Monarch in Heaven till then as one secure
Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute,
640 Consent or custom, and his regal state
Put forth at full, but still his strength concealed--
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
645 New war provoked: 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.
650 Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
There went a fame in Heaven that he ere long
Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the Sons of Heaven.
655 Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
Our first eruption--thither, or elsewhere;
For this infernal pit shall never hold
Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
660 Full counsel must mature. Peace is despaired;
For who can think submission? War, then, war
Open or understood, must be resolved."

He spake; and, to confirm his words, outflew

Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
665 Of mighty Cherubim138; the sudden blaze
Far round illumined Hell. Highly they raged
Against the Highest, and fierce with graspèd arms
Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven.

670 There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top

Belched fire and rolling smoke; the rest entire
Shone with a glossy scurf--undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic ore,

- ["pwi sÅnt]
136puissant

- trisyllabic ["dI f„ Æ®´nt]

137different
138Cherubim - ["tSE´ ®U ÆbIm]
 18

The work of sulphur. Thither, winged with speed,

675 A numerous139 brigade hastened: as when bands
Of pioneers, with spade and pickaxe armed,
Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field,
Or cast a rampart. Mammon140 led them on--
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
680 From Heaven; for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold,
Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed
In vision beatific141. By him first
685 Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
Ransacked the centre, and with impious142 hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother Earth
For treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Opened into the hill a spacious wound,
690 And digged out ribs of gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that soil may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell
Of Babel143, and the works of Memphian144 kings,
695 Learn how their greatest monuments of fame
And strength, and art, are easily outdone
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they, with incessant toil
And hands innumerable, scarce perform.
700 Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepared,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude
With wondrous art founded the massy ore,
Severing each kind, and scummed the bullion-dross.
705 A third as soon had formed within the ground
A various mould, and from the boiling cells
By strange conveyance filled each hollow nook;
As in an organ, from one blast of wind,
To many a row of pipes the sound-board breathes.
710 Anon out of the earth a fabric huge
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet145 symphonies and voices sweet--
Built like a temple, where pilasters146 round
Were set, and Doric147 pillars overlaid

139numerous - disyllabic ["num ®øs]

140Mammon - ["mœ m´n]
141beatific - [Æbi ´ "tI fIk]
142impious - disyllabic ["Im pi´s]
143Babel - ["beI b´l]
144Memphian - disyllabic ["mEm fI´n]
145dulcet - ["døl s´t]
146pilasters - [pI "lœ st„z]
147Doric -[dO´ ®Ik]
 19

715 With golden architrave148; nor did there want

Cornice149 or frieze150, with bossy sculptures graven;
The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon
Nor great Alcairo151 such magnificence
Equalled in all their glories, to enshrine
720 Belus152 or Serapis153 their gods, or seat
Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove
In wealth and luxury. Th' ascending pile
Stood fixed her stately height, and straight the doors,
Opening154 their brazen folds, discover, wide
725 Within, her ample spaces o'er the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof,
Pendent by subtle magic, many a row
Of starry lamps and blazing cressets155, fed
With naptha156 and asphaltus157, yielded light
730 As from a sky. The hasty multitude
Admiring entered; and the work some praise,
And some the architect. His hand was known
In Heaven by many a towered structure high,
Where sceptred Angels held their residence,
735 And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
Each in his Hierarchy, the Orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or unadored
In ancient Greece; and in Ausonian land
740 Men called him Mulciber; and how he fell
From Heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements: from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day, and with the setting sun
745 Dropt from the zenith, like a falling star,
On Lemnos158, th' Aegaean159 isle. Thus they relate,
Erring160; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before; nor aught aviled him now
To have built in Heaven high towers; nor did he scape
750 By all his engines, but was headlong sent,
With his industrious crew, to build in Hell.

148architrave - ["A„ kI Æt®eIv]

149Cornice -["kO„ nIs]
150frieze -[f®iz]
151Alcairo - [œl "kaI ®oU]
152Belus - ["bE l´s]
153Serapis - [sE´ ®´ ÆpIs]
154Opening - disyllabic ["oU pnIN]
155cressets - ["k®E s´ts]
156naptha - ["nœp T´]
157asphaltus - [œs "fÅl t´s]
158Lemnos - ["lEm noUs]
159th' Aegaean - [Di "gi ´n]
160Erring - ["‰± ®IN]
 20

Meanwhile the wingèd Heralds, by command

Of sovereign161 power162, with awful ceremony163
And trumpet's sound, throughout the host proclaim
755 A solemn council forthwith to be held
At Pandemonium164, the high capital
Of Satan and his peers. Their summons called
From every band and squarèd regiment
By place or choice the worthiest165: they anon
760 With hundreds and with thousands trooping came
Attended. All access was thronged; the gates
And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall
(Though like a covered field, where champions166 bold
Wont ride in armed, and at the Soldan's167 chair
765 Defied the best of Paynim168 chivalry
To mortal combat, or career with lance),
Thick swarmed, both on the ground and in the air,
Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. As bees
In spring-time, when the Sun with Taurus rides,
770 Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothèd plank,
The suburb of their straw-built citadel,
New rubbed with balm, expatiate169, and confer
775 Their state-affairs: so thick the airy crowd
Swarmed and were straitened; till, the signal given170,
Behold a wonder! They but now who seemed
In bigness to surpass Earth's giant sons,
Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room
780 Throng numberless--like that pygmean171 race
Beyond the Indian mount; or faery elves,
Whose midnight revels, by a forest-side
Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
Or dreams he sees, while overhead the Moon
785 Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth
Wheels her pale course: they, on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund172 music charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal173 Spirits to smallest forms

161sovereign - disyllabic ["sÅ v®In]

162power - monosyllabic [pAU„]
163ceremony - disyllabic (if possible!) ["sE ®´m´n
]
164Pandemonium - [Æpœn dE "moU ni ´m]
165worthiest - disyllabic ["w‰± DI´st]
166champions -disyllabic ["tSœm pI´nz]
167Soldan's - ["soUl d´nz]
168Paynim - ["peI nIm]
169expatiate - [Eks "peI SI´t]
170given - monosyllabic [gIvn]
171pygmean - disyllabic ["pIg} mI´n]
172jocund - ["dZÅ k´nd]
 21

790 Reduced their shapes immense, and were at large,

Though without number still, amidst the hall
Of that infernal court. But far within,
And in their own dimensions like themselves,
The great Seraphic174 Lords and Cherubim175
795 In close recess and secret conclave sat,
A thousand demi-gods on golden seats,
Frequent and full. After short silence then,
And summons read, the great consult began.

173incorporeal- trisyllabic [In "kO„ p®´l]

- [sE´ "®œ fIk]
174Seraphic
175Cherubim - ["tSE´ ®u ÆbIm]