Will either quite consume us, and reduce To nothing this essential1-happier far Than miserable to have eternal being! Or, if our substance be indeed divine, And cannot cease to be, we are at worst 100 On this side nothing; and by proof we feel Our power sufficient to disturb his Heaven, And with perpetual inroads to alarm, Though inaccessible, his fatal throne: Which, if not victory, is yet revenge." 105 He ended frowning, and his look denounced2

Desperate revenge, and battle dangerous To less than gods. On the other side up

Ominous conjecture on the whole success; When he who most excels in fact of arms, In what he counsels and in what excels 125 Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair

And utter dissolution, as the scope

Of all his aim, after some dire revenge. First, what revenge? The towers of Heaven are filled

With armed watch, that render all access Impregnable: oft on the bordering deep 131 Encamp their legions, or with obscure wing

Scout far and wide into the realm of Night, Scorning surprise. Or could we break our

To be no more. Sad cure! for who would lose,

Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through eternity,

To perish rather, swallowed up and lost In the wide womb of uncreated Night, 150

Devoid of sense and motion? And who knows,

Let this be good, whether our angry Foe
Can give it, or will ever? How he can
Is doubtful; that he never will is sure.
Will He, so wise, let loose at once his ire,155
Belike through impotence, or unaware,
To give his enemies their wish, and end
Them in his anger, whom his anger saves
To punish endless? 'Wherefore cease we
then?'

Say they who counsel war; 'we are decreed,
Reserved, and destined to eternal woe; 161
Whatever doing, what can we suffer more,
What can we suffer worse?' Is this then
worst,

Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms? What when we fled amain, pursued and strook

165

We can create, and in what place soe'er 260 Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain

Through labor and endurance. This deep world

Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst Thick clouds and dark doth Heaven's allruling Sire

Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, 265 And with the majesty of darkness round Covers his throne, from whence deep thunders roar,

Mustering their rage, and Heaven resembles Hell!

As he our darkness, cannot we his light Imitate when we please? This desert soil Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and

To found this nether empire, which might rise,

By policy, and long process of time,
In emulation opposite to Heaven.
Which when Beelzebub perceived-than
whom,

Satan except, none higher sat—with grave
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed 301
A pillar of state. Deep on his front en-
graven

Deliberation sat and public care;

And princely counsel in his face yet shone, Majestic, though in ruin. Sage he stood, With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear 306 The weight of mightiest monarchies; his look

Drew audience and attention still as night Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake:

"Thrones and Imperial Powers, Offspring of Heaven,

310

Ethereal Virtues! or these titles now Must we renounce, and, changing style, be called

Princes of Hell? for so the popular vote Inclines-here to continue, and build up here

A growing empire; doubtless! while we dream,

315 And know not that the King of Heaven hath doomed

This place our dungeon-not our safe retreat

Beyond his potent arm, to live exempt From Heaven's high jurisdiction, in new league

Banded against his throne, but to remain

In strictest bondage, though thus far removed,

321

Irreparable; terms of peace yet none Vouchsafed or sought; for what peace will be given

To us enslaved, but custody severe,
And stripes, and arbitrary punishment
Inflicted? and what peace can we return,
But, to our power, hostility and hate, 336
Untamed reluctance, and revenge, though
slow,

Yet ever plotting how the Conqueror least May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice

In doing what we most in suffering feel? 340 Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need With dangerous expedition to invade Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege,

Or ambush from the Deep. What if we

find

344

355

Or substance, how endued, and what their power,

And where their weakness: how attempted best,

By force or subtlety. Though Heaven be shut,

And Heaven's high Arbitrator sit secure In his own strength, this place may lie exposed, 360

The utmost border of his kingdom, left
To their defence who hold it; here, perhaps,
Some advantageous act may be achieved
By sudden onset-either with Hell-fire
To waste his whole creation, or possess 365
All as our own, and drive, as we were
driven,

I made an end of.