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PARADISE LOST.

BOOK I.

The First Book proposes, first in brief, the whole subject, Man's disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise, wherein he was placed: then touches the prime cause of his fall, the serpent, or rather Satan in the serpent; who, revolting from God, and drawing to his side many legions of angels, was, by the command of God, driven out of heaven, with all his crew, into the great deep. Which action passed over, the poem hastens into the midst of things, presenting Satan, with his angels, now fallen into hell, described here, not in the centre, (for heaven and earth may be supposed as yet not made, certainly not yet accursed,) but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest called Chaos : here Satan, with his angels, lying on the burning lake, thunderstruck and astonished, after a certain space recovers, as from confusion, calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him they confer of their miserable fall: Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the same manner confounded. They rise; their numbers; array of battle: their chief leaders named according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan and the countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world, and a new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy, or report, in heaven; for, that angels were, long before this visible creation, was the opinion of many ancient fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers to a full council. What his associates thence attempt. Pandemonium, the palace of Satan, rises, suddenly built out of the deep the infernal peers there sit in council.

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Of 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

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

Sing, heav'nly Muse! that, on the secret top

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the heav'ns and earth

Rose out of chaos: or, if Sion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose, or rhyme.

LIBERMA

SEPTEMBER 1928

17636

LE PARADIS PERDU.

CHANT PREMIER.

Les anges rebelles précipités dans les enfers conçoivent le projet de rentrer dans le ciel, leur première demeure, ou tout au moins de se venger de l'Éternel qui les a foudroyés. Satan les rassemble. Dénombrement de l'armée infernale. Caractère des principaux chefs. Ils construisent un palais appelé Pandæmonium, afin d'y discuter leurs intérêts en conseil général.

La première désobéissance de l'Homme et le fruit défendu, dont la connaissance fatale introduisit la mort et tous les maux sur la terre, et causa la perte d'Eden, jusqu'au jour où l'homme Dieu régénéra la race d'Adam et reconquit pour elle le séjour de la suprême félicité; voilà les objets qu'il faut chanter, ô muse céleste, qui, sur les sommets sacrés d'Oreb ou de Sina, inspiras ce pasteur, qui, le premier, apprit au peuple choisi comment dans le principe le ciel et la terre sortirent du chaos! ou si la colline de Sion, si les bords du Siloë, qui coulait près des lieux où l'Éternel rendit ses oracles, ont plus de charmes pour toi, c'est de là que je t'invoque! Viens soutenir mon génie audacieux, qui d'un vol rapide aspire à s'élever au-dessus des monts Aoniens, tandis qu'il suit la trace des grands événements dont la prose ni les vers n'ont encore essayé le tableau,

And chiefly Thou, O SPIRIT! that dost prefer Before all temples the upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for Thou knowest: Thou from the first 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 I may assert eternal Providence,

And justify the ways of God to men.

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 besides? Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt? The infernal Serpent. He it was, whose guile, Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceiv'd 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, He trusted to have equall'd the Most High, If he oppos'd; and, with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God Rais'd impious war in heaven, and battle proud, With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurl'd headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, With hideous ruin and combustion, down To bottomless perdition; there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms.

Nine times the space that measures day and night To mortal men, he with his horrid crew Lay vanquish'd, rolling in the fiery gulf, Confounded, though immortal. But his doom Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought

Both of lost happiness, and lasting pain,

Torments him. Round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay,
Mix'd with obdúrate pride, and steadfast hate :
At once, as far as angels ken, he views

The dismal situation waste and wild :

A dungeon horrible on all sides round

As one great furnace flam'd; yet from those flames

Et toi surtout, ô Esprit saint, qui préfères à tous les temples un cœur droit et pur, instruis-moi; rien ne t'est caché! Dès l'origine du monde, tu étais; et, semblable à une colombe qui dispose à la vie une famille nouvelle, étendant tes ailes puissantes sur le vaste abîme, tu l'échauffas et le rendis fécond. Eclaire mon esprit, élève et fortifie sa faiblesse, afin que soutenu à la hauteur de mon sujet, je puisse disculper l'éternelle Providence et justifier aux yeux des hommes les voies de Dieu.

Dis d'abord, puisque rien ne se dérobe à tes regards, ni dans les cieux, ni dans la profondeur des enfers; dis quelle cause porta nos premiers pères, comblés de tant de faveurs dans leur heureuse demeure, à se révolter contre leur Créateur, à transgresser l'unique défense qu'il leur avait imposée en leur donnant l'empire du monde. Qui les séduisit le premier? qui les poussa à cette folle rébellion? le serpent infernal. Ce fut lui dont la malice, animée par la vengeance et l'envie, trompa la mère du genre humain, après que son orgueil l'eut expulsé des cieux avec son armée d'anges rebelles. Aidé de tels guerriers, il aspirait à s'élever audessus de la gloire de ses égaux ; et si l'Éternel s'y fût opposé, il se flattait de monter jusqu'au trône même de l'Éternel. Dans cet ambitieux projet contre la monarchie et la souveraineté de Dieu, il alluma dans le ciel le feu de la guerre et des combats sacriléges. Le téméraire! la Toute-puissance le précipita de la voûte éthérée, au milieu de la foudre et des flammes dévorantes, dans l'immense profondeur de l'abîme. Là fut chargé d'indestructibles chaînes, et consumé d'un feu vengeur, l'insensé qui osa défier au combat le Tout-puissant.

Durant neuf fois le temps que l'intervalle d'un jour et d'une nuit mesure aux hommes, il resta accablé de sa défaite, roulant, ainsi que sa horde perverse, au gré des vagues enflammées, et confondu quoique immortel. Mais son arrêt le réservait à d'autres supplices. Aux maux qu'il endure se joint le souvenir de son bonheur passé. Il lance autour de lui ses sombres regards, dans lesquels sont peints la profonde douleur et le désespoir, avec l'orgueil farouche et l'irréconciliable haine. De cette vue perçante propre aux natures célestes, il plonge au fond de ces affreux déserts, de ce donjon épouvantable enflammé comme une vaste fournaise; mais de ces flammes il ne sortait point de lumière : c'é

No light; but rather darkness visible
Serv'd only to discover sights of woe!

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 unconsum'd!
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd
For those rebellious; here their prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of heaven,
As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole.
O, how unlike the place from whence they fell!
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelm'd
With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire
He soon discerns; and welt'ring by his side
One next himself in pow'r, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd
Beelzebub. To whom th' arch-enemy,-

And thence in heav'n call'd Satan,-with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence, thus began:

"If thou be'st he,-but O, how fall'n! how chang'd "From him, who, in the happy realms of light, "Cloth'd with transcendent brightness, didst outshine "Myriads though bright!-if he, whom mutual league, "United thoughts and counsels, equal hope

"And hazard in the glorious enterprise,

"Join'd with me once, now misery hath join'd

"In equal ruin; into what pit, thou seest,

"From what height fall'n! so much the stronger prov'd

"He with his thunder and till then who knew

"The force of those dire arms? Yet not for those, "Nor what the potent victor in his rage

"Can else inflict, do I repent, or change,

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Though chang'd in outward lustre, that fix'd mind, And high disdain, from sense of injur'd merit, "That with the Mightiest rais'd me to contend; "And to the fierce contention brought along "Innumerable force of spirits arm'd,

"That durst dislike his reign; and, me preferring,

"His utmost pow'r with adverse pow'r oppos'd

"In dubious battle on the plains of heav'n,

"And shook his throne. What though the field be lost? "All is not lost; th' unconquerable will, "And study of revenge, immortal hate, "And courage never to submit or yield, "And what is else not to be overcome,

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