Eternal Father from his throne beheld

Their multitude, and to his Son thus spake.

At least our envious foe hath fail'd, who thought

All like himself rebellious, by whose aid

This inaccessible high strength, the seat
Of deity supreme, us dispossest,

He trusted to have seiz'd, and into fraud

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Drew many, whom their place knows here no more:
Yet far the greater part have kept, I see,
Their station; heaven yet populous retains
Number sufficient to possess her realms

Though wide, and this high temple to frequent
With ministeries due and solemn rites.

But lest his heart exalt him in the harm
Already done, to have dispeopled heaven,
My damage fondly deem'd, I can repair
That detriment, if such it be to lose
Self-lost, and in a moment will create
Another world, out of one man a race
Of men innumerable, there to dwell,
Not here, till by degrees of merit rais'd,
They open to themselves at length the way
Up hither, under long obedience try'd,

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And earth be chang'd to heaven, and heaven to earth,
One kingdom, joy and union without end.
Meanwhile inhabit lax, ye powers of heaven,
And thou my Word, begotten Son, by thee

139 least] Mr. Thyer saith, That I do not like taking liberties with the text, or I should read "at last."'

This I perform, speak thou, and be it done.
My overshadowing spirit and might with thee
I send along; ride forth, and bid the deep
Within appointed bounds be heaven and earth;
Boundless the deep, because I Am who fill
Infinitude, nor vacuous the space.
Though I uncircumscrib'd myself retire,
And put not forth my goodness, which is free
To act, or not, necessity and chance
Approach not me, and what I will is fate.

So spake th' Almighty, and to what he spake
His Word, the Filial Godhead, gave effect.
Immediate are the acts of God, more swift
Than time or motion, but to human ears
Cannot without process of speech be told,
So told as earthly notion can receive.
Great triumph and rejoicing was in heaven,

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When such was heard declar'd the Almighty's will
Glory they sung to the Most High, good will
To future men, and in their dwellings peace';
Glory to him, whose just avenging ire
Had driven out th' ungodly from his sight
And th' habitations of the just; to him
Glory and praise, whose wisdom had ordain'd
Good out of evil to create, in stead

185

173 fate] Todd has quoted Plato's Timæus, ed. Serrani, vol. iii. p. 41. Bentley cites Lucan, v. ver. 91. Jortin, Statii Theb. i. 212. Thyer, Claud. de R. Pros. ii. 306. and Tasso Gier. Lib. iv. 17.

'Sia destin cio, ch' io voglio.'

182 the] Bentley reads 'to God most high,' which Newton approves.

Of spirits malign a better race to bring

Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse
His good to worlds and ages infinite.

190

So sang the Hierarchies. Mean while the Son On his great expedition now appear'd, Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crown'd Of Majesty divine, sapience and love Immense, and all his Father in him shone. About his chariot numberless were pour'd Cherub and seraph, potentates and thrones,

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And virtues, winged spirits, and chariots wing'd,
From the armoury of GoD, where stand of old 200
Myriads, between two brazen mountains lodg'd
Against a solemn day, harness'd at hand,
Celestial equipage; and now came forth
Spontaneous, for within them spirit liv'd,
Attendant on their Lord: heaven open'd wide
Her ever during gates, harmonious sound
On golden hinges moving, to let forth
The King of glory, in his powerful Word
And Spirit coming to create new worlds.
On heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore
They view'd the vast immeasurable abyss
Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
Up from the bottom turn'd by furious winds
And surging waves, as mountains, to assault
Heaven's highth, and with the centre mix the pole.

211

214 And] Newton would read 'In surging waves;' it seems better, says Todd, as the Doctor observes, to say of the sea, 'in surging waves,' than 'by.'

Silence, ye troubled waves, and, thou deep, peace, Said then th' omnific Word, your discord end.

Nor staid; but, on the wings of cherubim Uplifted, in Paternal Glory rode

Far into Chaos and the world unborn;

For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his train
Follow'd in bright procession to behold
Creation, and the wonders of his might.
Then stay'd the fervid wheels, and in his hand
He took the golden compasses, prepar'd
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things.
One foot he centre'd, and the other turn'd
Round through the vast profundity obscure,

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225

And said, Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds, 230 This be thy just circumference, O world.

Thus GOD the heaven created, thus the earth, Matter unform'd and void. Darkness profound Cover'd th' abyss; but on the watery calm His brooding wings the Spirit of GoD outspread, 235 And vital virtue infus'd and vital warmth Throughout the fluid mass, but downward purg'd The black, tartareous, cold, infernal, dregs, Adverse to life then founded, then conglob'd Like things to like; the rest to several place

240

Disparted, and between spun out the air,
And earth self-balanc'd on her centre hung.

245

Let there be light, said GOD, and forthwith light Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure, Sprung from the deep, and from her native east To journey through the aery gloom began, Spher'd in a radiant cloud, for yet the sun Was not; she in a cloudy tabernacle

250

Sojourn'd the while. God saw the light was good;
And light from darkness by the hemisphere
Divided light the Day, and darkness Night,
He nam❜d. Thus was the first day ev'n and morn:
Nor past uncelebrated, nor unsung

By the celestial choirs, when orient light
Exhaling first from darkness they beheld,
Birth-day of heav'n and earth; with joy and shout
The hollow universal orb they fill'd,

255

And touch'd their golden harps, and hymning prais'd GOD and his works, creator him they sung,

Both when first evening was, and when first morn. Again God said, Let there be firmament

Amid the waters, and let it divide

The waters from the waters: and God made
The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure,
Transparent, elemental air, diffus'd

In circuit to the uttermost convex

Of this great round; partition firm and sure,
The waters underneath from those above
Dividing for as earth, so he the world
Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide

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