Has quoniam cæli nondum dignamur bonore, Quas dedimus certè terras habitare finamus.
OW had th' archangel trumpet, rais'd sublime Above the walls of heav'n, begun to found; All æther took the blaft, and hell beneath Shook with celeftial noise; th' almighty host Hot with purfuit, and reeking with the blood Of guilty cherubs fmear'd in fulphurous duft, Paufe at the known command of founding gold. At first they clofe the wide Tartarian 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 folid gloom with nimble wing They cut their fhining 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 lefs ftubborn, lefs involv'd In crime and ruin, barr'd the realms of peace, Yet uncondemn'd to baleful feats of woe, Doubtful and fuppliant; all the plumes of light Moult from their fhuddering wings, and fickly fear Shades every face with horror; confcious 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 vaft gates, that inward turn Voluminous, on jafper columns hung By geometry divine: they ever glow With living sculptures, that arise by turns T'imbofs the fhining leaves, by turns they fet To give fucceeding argument their place; In holy hieroglyphics on they move, The gaze of journeying angels, as they pafs Oft looking back, and held in deep furprize. Here ftood the troops diftinet; the cherub guard Unbarr'd the fplendid gates, and in they roll Harmonious; for a vocal spirit fits
Within each hinge, and, as they onward drive, In juft divifions breaks the numerous jarr With fymphony melodious, fuch as spheres Involv'd in tenfold wreaths are faid to found. .
Out flows a blaze of glory; for on high Tow'ring advanc'd the moving throne of God, Vaft and majeftic; on each radiant fide
The pointed rays flope 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 difgorges 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 fea; Th' affrighted sea leaps back with hideous roar To give the fire its course; thus Chaos wild Hiffing recoils to let in floods of light.
Above the throne, th' ideas heavenly bright Of past, of prefent, and of coming time Fix'd their immov'd abode, and there prefent An endless landscape of created things To fight celestial, where angelic eyes Are loft in profpect; for the fhiny range, Boundless and various, in its bofom bears Millions of full-proportion'd worlds, beheld With ftedfaft eyes, 'till more arife to view, And farther inward fcenes ftart up unknown.
Myriads of feraphs in long feries wait About the throne, and as it moves, proceed In numerous order, to celestial fong.
Above, the fymphony of mellow flutes, And harps, by flying angels gently touch'd, Relieve the trumpet's rage, and fitly blend The folemn founds in harmony divine;
Such as might tune new worlds, and give the laws. To globes on high, and the juft figure guide Of planets forming all their airy dance. Below, the blazing wheels drive bounding o'er The ftarry pavement; ftars and hills of light Double their glories where the chariot rolls With rattling found; and th' empyræum vast Down to its ftedfast axis, groans throughout Under the burning tracts, 'till now it refts Upon the gaping brink of heaven; and there With open pomp, fills the vaft empty space. Silence enfues; a deep and aweful 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 fenfe of God, Majestically long, repugnant all
To princes' cuftoms here; their judgments flash On guilt, with words concife, and sudden blaze, Quite otherwife, 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
Blefs'd from the dire pursuit of rebel foes; Refolv'd, obdurate, they have try'd the force Of this right hand, and known Almighty pow'r ; Transfix'd with lightning down they funk, they fell Into the fiery gulf, and deep they plunge Below the burning waves, to hide their heads In fhelter from my vengeance bellowing hence More fierce, and scorching with more dreadful fires. There let 'em find their doom, that durft 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 fing'd with conftant flames, Can find no eafe; while fierce their boiling rage Eats through th' impyreal mould, and glows within With endless pain; not one repentant thought Shall cool the breast, but proud in horrid crime, The foul anneals and hardens in the fire.
But you commiffion'd by commands divine, Have wifely fill'd your truft, and clos'd 'em all Within the fervid lake, left any roam Into the dark abyss to shun their doom, And in the womb immense of things unborn Should feek annihilation; you must rise Among the fhining Virtues more fublime; On lofty thrones preferr'd for lofty deeds.
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