And after all their tribulations long
See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,
With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth:
Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by,
For regal sceptre then no more shall need,
God shall be all in all. But all ye Gods
Adore him, who to compass all this dies;
Adore the Son, and honour him as me.
No sooner had th' Almighty ceas'd, but all
The multitude of angels with a shout,
Loud as from numbers without number, sweet
As from blest voices, uttering joy, heaven rung
With jubilee, and loud hosannas fill'd
Th' eternal regions. Lowly reverent
Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground 350
With solemn adoration down they cast
Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold;
Immortal amarant, a flower which once
In Paradise fast by the Tree of Life
Began to bloom, but soon for man's offence
To heaven remov'd, where first it grew, there
And flowers aloft shading the fount of life,
And where the river of bliss through midst of heaven
Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream;
337 golden] Virg. Eclog. iv. 9.
'Toto surget gens aurea mundo.' Hume.
345 angels] On the construction of this sentence, see Pearce's and Monboddo's note.
359 flowers] fields, plains, gems. Bentl. MS.
359 amber] Callim. St. Ceres, 29, ¿λéntqivov bdwg; and Virg. Æn. iii. 522.
With these that never fade the spirits elect
Bind their resplendent locks inwreath'd with beams;
Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright
Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone,
Impurpled with celestial roses smil❜d.
Then crown'd again their golden harps they took,
Harps ever tun'd, that glittering by their side.
Like quivers hung, and with preamble sweet
Of charming symphony they introduce
Their sacred song, and waken raptures high;
No voice exempt, no voice but well could join
Melodious part, such concord is in heaven.
Thee, Father, first they sung, Omnipotent,
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,
Eternal king; thee author of all being,
Fountain of light, thyself invisible
Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sit'st
Thron'd inaccessible, but when thou shad'st
The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud
Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine,
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear;
Yet dazzle heaven, that brightest seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.
363 Impurpled] Tutto di Rose imporporato il cielo.'
Marino Ad. c. iv. st. 291. Thyer.
'Caligine e lassù d'ombre lucenti
In cui s' involve Re ch' il ciel governa;
Quivi iddio pose en fulgide tenebre
E'n profondo silenzio, alte latebre.'
Tasso Gier. Lib. See Black's Life, ii. 489.
Thee next they sang of all creation first,
Begotten Son, Divine Similitude,
In whose conspicuous count'nance, without cloud
Made visible, the Almighty Father shines,
Whom else no creature can behold: on thee
Impress'd th' effulgence of his glory abides;
Transfus'd on thee his ample Spirit rests.
He heaven of heavens and all the powers therein 390
By thee created, and by thee threw down
Th' aspiring dominations. Thou that day
Thy father's dreadful thunder didst not spare,
Nor stop thy flaming chariot wheels, that shook
Heav'n's everlasting frame, while o'er the necks 395
Thou drov'st of warring angels disarray'd.
Back from pursuit thy powers with loud acclaim
Thee only extoll'd, Son of thy Father's might,
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes:
Not so on man; him thro' their malice fall'n,
Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom
So strictly; but much more to pity incline.
No sooner did thy dear and only Son
Perceive thee purpos'd not to doom frail man
So strictly, but much more to pity inclin'd,
He to appease thy wrath, and end the strife
Of mercy and justice in thy face discern'd,
Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat
394 shook] v. Fairfax's Tasso, ii. 91.
'Againe to shake Heav'n's everlasting frame. Todd. 406 He] Than' or 'but' is understood before 'He,' to complete the sense.
Second to thee, offered himself to die
For man's offence. O unexampled love,
Love no where to be found less than Divine!
Hail Son of GOD, Saviour of men, thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my song
Henceforth, and never shall my harp thy praise
Forget, nor from thy Father's praise disjoin!
Thus they in heaven, above the starry sphere,
Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent.
Mean while upon the firm opacous globe
Of this round world, whose first convex divides
The luminous inferior orbs, inclos'd
From Chaos and th' inroad of Darkness old,
Satan alighted walks: a globe far off
It seem'd, now seems a boundless continent,
Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of night
Starless expos'd, and ever-threat'ning storms
Of Chaos blust'ring round, inclement sky;
Save on that side which from the wall of heaven
Though distant far some small reflection gains
Of glimmering air, less vex'd with tempest loud:
Here walk'd the fiend at large in spacious field. 430
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds,
Dislodging from a region scarce of prey
gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the springs Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;
412 Hail] Virg. Æn. viii. 301.
'Salve, vera Jovis proles, decus addite divis.' Newton.
But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive
With sails and wind their cany waggons light:
So on this windy sea of land the fiend
Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his prey;
Alone, for other creature in this place
Living or lifeless to be found was none;
None yet, but store hereafter from the earth
Up hither like aërial vapours flew
Of all things transitory and vain, when sin
With vanity had fill'd the works of men:
Both all things vain, and all who in vain things
Built their fond hopes of glory or lasting fame,
Or happiness in this or th' other life;
All who have their reward on earth, the fruits
Of painful superstition and blind zeal,
Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find
Fit retribution, empty as their deeds:
All th' unaccomplish'd works of nature's hand, 455
Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mix'd,
Dissolv'd on earth, fleet hither, and in vain,
Till final dissolution, wander here,
Not in the neighb'ring moon, as some have dream'd;
Those argent fields more likely habitants,
Translated saints, or middle spirits hold
Betwixt th' angelical and human kind:
Hither of ill-join'd sons and daughters born
438 Chineses] See Hudibras, iii. 1. 707.
'For though Chineses go to bed.'
459 moon] He means Ariosto Or. Fur. c. xxxiv. st. 70. Newton.
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