Conflicting fire: long time in even scale
The battel hung; till Satan, who that day
Prodigious pow'r had shown, and met in arms
No equal, ranging through the dire attack
Of fighting Seraphim confus'd, at length
Saw where the fword of Michael fmote, and fell'd 250
Squadrons at once; with huge two-handed fway,
Brandish'd aloft, the horrid edge came down
Wide wafting; fuch destruction to withstand
He hafted, and oppos'd the rocky orb
Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield,
A vast circumference: At his approach
The great Arch-Angel from his warlike toil
Surceas'd; and glad,as hoping here to end
Inteftin war in Heav'n, th' arch-foe fubdu'd,
Or captive dragg'd in chains, with hoftile frown, 260
And visage all inflam'd, first thus began.
Author of evil, unknown till thy revolt,
Unnam'd in Heav'n, now plenteous, as thou seest,
Thefe acts of hateful ftrife; hateful to all,
Though heavieft,by just measure, on thyfelf
And thy adherents: how haft thou disturb'd
Heav'n's bleffed peace, and into nature brought
Misery, uncreated till the crime
Of thy rebellion? how haft thou inftill'd
Thy malice into thousands, once upright
And faithful, now prov'd falfe? But think not here To trouble holy reft; Heav'n cafts thee out
From all her confines. Heav'n, the feat of bliss,
Brooks not the works of violence and war.
Hence then, and evil go with thee along,
Thy ofspring, to the place of evil, Hell,
Thou and thy wicked crew; there mingle broils,
Ere this avenging fword begin thy doom,
Or fome more fudden vengeance,wing'd from God,
Precipitate thee with augmented pain.
So fpake the prince of Angels; to whom thus
The Adversary. Nor think thou with wind
aery threats to awe, whom yet with deeds
Thou canst not. Haft thou turn'd the least of these To flight, or if to fall, but that they rife Unvanquish'd; easier to transact with me
That thou shouldst hope, imperious, and with threats
To chafe me hence? err not that fo fhall end
The ftrife which thou call'ft evil, but we file
The ftrife of glory; which we mean to win,
Or turn this Heav'n itself into the Hell
Thou fableft, here however to dwell free,
If not to reign: mean while thy utmost force,
And join him nam'd Almighty to thy aid,
I fly not, but have fought thee far and nigh.
They ended parle, and both address'd for fight Unspeakable; for who, though with the tongue Of Angels, can relate, or to what things Liken on earth confpicuous, that may lift Human imagination to fuch highth Bb 2
Of Godlike pow'r? for likest Gods they seem'd,
Stood they, or mov'd; in stature, motion, arms,
Fit to decide the empire of great Heaven.
Now wav'd their fiery fwords, and in the air
Made horrid circles; two broad funs,their shields, 305
Blaz'd oppofit, while expectation stood
In horror; from each hand with speed retir'd,
Where erst was thickest fight, th'angelic throng,
And left large field, unsafe within the wind
Of fuch commotion; fuch as, to set forth
Great things by fmall, if nature's concord broke,
Among the conftellations war were sprung,
Two planets, rushing from aspéct malign,
Of fierceft opposition, in mid sky
Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.
Together both with next to almighty arm
Uplifted imminent, one ftroke they aim'd
That might determin, and not need repeat,
As not of pow'r at once; nor odds appear'd
In might or swift prevention: but the fword
Of Michael from the armoury of God
Was giv'n him temper'd so, that neither keen
Nor folid might refift that edge: it met
The fword of Satan with steep force to smite
Defcending, and in half cut sheer; nor stay'd,
But with swift wheel reverse, deep entring, shar'd
All his right fide: then Satan first knew pain,
And writh'd him to and fro,convolv'd; so fore
The griding fword with discontinuous wound
Pafs'd through him: but th' ethereal substance clos'd,
Not long divisible; and from the gash
A stream of necta rous humor iffuing flow'd
Sanguin, such as celestial Spi rits may bleed,
And all his armour ftain'd,ere while fo bright.
Forthwith, on all fides,to his aid was run
By Angels many and strong, who interpos'd
Defense; while others bore him on their shields
Back to his chariot, where it stood retir'd
From off the files of war; there they him laid,
Gnashing for anguish,and despite,and shame,
To find himself not matchless; and his pride
Humbled by such rebuke, so far beneath
His confidence to equal God in power.
Yet foon he heal'd; for Spirits that live throughout
Vital in every part, not as frail man
In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,
Cannot but by annihilating die;
Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound
Receive, no more than can the fluid air:
All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear,
All intellect, all fenfe; and as they please,
They limb themselves, and color, shape or fize
Affume, as likes them beft, condense or rare.
Mean while, in other parts,like deeds deferv'd
Memorial, where the might of Gabriel fought,
And with fierce enligns pierc'd the deep array
Of Moloch furious king; who him defy'd,
And at his chariot wheels to drag him bound
Threaten'd, nor from the Holy One of Heaven
Refrain'd his tongue blafphemous; but anon,
Down cloven to the wafte, with fhatter'd arms,
And uncouth pain, fled, bellowing. On each wing
Uriel and Raphaël his vaunting foe,
Though huge, and in a rock of diamond arm'd,
Vanquish'd Adramelech, and Asmadai,
Two potent Thrones, that to be less than Gods Disdain'd, but meaner thoughts learn'd in their flight, Mangled with ghaftly wounds through plate and mail. Nor flood unmindful Abdiel to annoy
The atheist crew, but with redoubled blow
Ariel and Arioch, and the violence
Of Ramiel, fcorch'd and blafted, overthrew.
I might relate of thousands, and their names
Eternize here on earth; but those elect
Angels, contented with their fame in Heaven,
Seck not the praise of men: the other fort,
In might though wondrous,and in acts of war,
Nor of renown less eager, yet by doom
Cancel'd from Heav'n and facred memory,
Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell.
For ftrength from truth divided, and from just,
Illaudable, nought merits but dispraise
And ignominy; yet to glory aspires
Vain glorious, and through infamy seeks fame:
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