...to Satan in Book i of Paradise Lost ... the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs. That with reiterated crimes he might Heap on himself damnation . . . (211-15) 'I hope most of us have a higher idea in these modern times of the Almighty than this',...

...thence Had risen or heaved his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs That with reiterated...he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others, and enraged might see How all his malice served but to bring forth Infinite goodness,...

...Had ris'n, or heaved his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated...he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others, and enraged might see How all his malice served but to bring forth Infinite goodness,...

...thence Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs. That with reiterated...he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others, and enrag'd might see How all his malice serv'd but to bring forth Infinite goodness,...

...no Had risen or heaved his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated...he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others, and enraged might see How all his malice served but to bring forth Infinite goodness,...

...thence Had ris'n or heav'd his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated...he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought Evil to others. (1.192-216) Critics who have treated this simile generally disregard the crucial ways...