Has quoniam coeli nondum dignamur honore
Quas dedimus certe terras habitare sinamus.
Now had th' archangel trumpet, rais'd sublime
Above the walls of Heav'n, begun to sound;
All aether took the blast, and Hell beneath
Shook with the noise; th' Almighty host
Hot with pursuit, and reeking with the blood
Of guilty Cherubs smear'd in sulphurous dust,
Pause at the known command of sounding gold
At first they close the wide Tartarean gates,
Th' impenetrable folds on brazen hinge
Roll creaking horrible; the din beneath
O'ercomes the roar of flames, and deafens hell.
Then through the solid gloom with nimble wing
They cut their shining traces up to light:
Return'd upon the edge of heavenly day.
Where thinnest beams play round the vast obscure,
And with eternal gleam drive back the night.
They find the troops less stubborn, less involv'd
In crime and ruin, barr'd the realms of peace,
Yet uncondemn'd to baleful seats of woe,
Doubtful and suppliant; all the plumes of light
Moult from their shuddering wings and sickly fear
Shades every face with horror; conscious guilt
Rolls in the livid eye-ball, and each breast
Shakes with the dread of future doom unknown.
'Tis here the wide circumference of heaven
Opens in two vast gates, that inward turn
Voluminous, on jasper columns hung
By geometry divine: they ever glow
With living sculptures, that arise by turns
T'imboss the shining leaves, by turns they set
To give succeeding argument their place;
In holy hieroglyphics on they move,
The gaze of journeying angels, as they pass
Oft looking back, and held in deep surprize.
Here stood the troops distinct; the cherub guard
Unbarr'd the splendid gates, and in they roll
Harmonious; for a vocal spirit sits
Within each hinge, and, as they onward drive,
In just divisions breaks the numerous jarr
With symphony melodious, such as spheres
Involv'd in tenfold wreaths are said to sound.
Out flows a blaze of glory: for on high Tow'ring advanc'd the moving throne of God, Vast and majestic ; on each radiant side
The pointed rays slope glittering; at the foot
Glides a full tide of day, that onward pours,
In liquid torrents through the black abyss,
Sparkling among reluctant shapes which thence
Retire confus'd; as when Vesuvio shakes
With inward torments, and disgorges flames,
O'er the vast mountain's ridge the burning waves
Drive their refulgent curls, and on they roll
Sweeping the glowing plains down to the sea;
Th'affrighted sea leaps back with hideous roar
To give the fire its course; thus Chaos wild
Hissing recoils to let in floods of light.
Above the throne, th' ideas heavenly bright
Of past, of present, and of coming time
Fix'd their immov'd abode, and there present
An endless landscape of created things
To sight celestial, where angelic eyes
Are lost in prospect; for the shiny range,
Boundless and various, in its bosom bears
Millions of full proportion'd worlds, beheld
With stedfast eyes, till more arise to view,
And farther inward scenes start up unknown.
Myriads of seraphs in long series wait About the throne, and as it moves, proceed In numerous order, to celestial song. Above, the symphony of mellow flutes, And harps, by flying angels gently touch'd, Relieve the trumpet's rage, and fitly blend
The solemn sounds in harmony divine;
Such as might tune new worlds, and give the laws
To globes on high, and the just figure guide
Of planets forming all their airy dance.
Below, the blazing wheels drive bounding o'er
The starry pavement; stars and hills of light
Double their glories where the chariot rolls
With rattling sound; and th' empyraeum vast
Down to its stedfast axis, groans throughout
Under the burning tracts, 'till now it rests
Upon the gaping brink of heaven; and there
With open pomp, fills the vast empty space.
Silence ensues; a deep and awful pause
More terrible, all expectation held
In horror; now wrath imminent amaz'd
With dreadful precipice, to all it seems
More formidable near; then from the throne
A vocal thunder roll'd the sense of God,
Majestically long, repugnant all
To princes' customs here; their judgments flash
On guilt, with words concise, and sudden blaze.
Quite otherwise, the God's enlarged speech
Set wide the fate of things; that all around
Might take full prospects of their coming doom.
Servants of God! and Virtues great in arms; We approve your faithful works, and you return Bless'd from the dire pursuit of rebel foes; Resolv'd, oddurate, they have try'd the force
Of this right hand, and known Almighty pow'r;
Transfix'd with lightning down they sunk, they fell
Into the fiery gulf, and deep they plunge
Below the burning waves, to hide their heads
In shelter from my vengeance bellowing hence
More fierce, and scorching with more dreadful fires.
There let 'em find their doom, that durst defy
Omnipotence, and slight his proffer'd grace :
Rolling in flames, and ne'er to find a dawn
Of heavenly day; instead, the mind imbibes
Eternal gloom, and sing'd with constant flames,
Can find no ease; while fierce their boiling rage
Eats through th' imperial mould, and glows within
With endless pain; not one repentant thought
Shall cool the breast, but proud in horrid crime,
The soul anneals and hardens in the fire.
But you commission'd by commands divine,
Have wisely fill'd your trust, and clos'd 'em all
Within the fervid lake, lest any roam
Into the dark abyss to shun their doom,
And in the womb immense of things unborn
Should seek annihilation; you must rise
Among the shining Virtues more sublime ;
On lofty thrones preferr'd for lofty deeds.
For you, ye guilty throng! that lately join'd
In this sedition, since seduc'd from good,
And caught in trains of guile, by spirits malign,
Superior in their order; you accept,
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