Unworshipt, unobey'd, the throne supreme,
Contemptuous; and his next subordinate
Awakening, thus to him in secret spake:

- «Sleep'st thou, companion dear? What sleep can close Thy eye-lids? and remember'st what decree

Of yesterday, so late hath pass'd the lips
Of heaven's Almighty? Thou to me thy thoughts
Wast wont, I mine to thee was wont, to impart;
Both waking we were one; how then can now
Thy sleep dissent? New laws thou seest impos'd;
New laws from him who reigns, new minds may raise
In us who serve, new counsels, to debate
What doubtful may ensue: more in this place
To utter is not safe. Assemble thou

Of all those myriads which we lead the chief;
Tell them, that by command, erc yet dim night
Her shadowy clouds withdraws, I am to haste,
And all who under me their banners wave,
Homeward, with flying march, where we possess
The quarters of the north; there to prepare
Fit entertainment to receive our King,
The great Messiah, and his new commands,
Who speedily through all the hierarchies
Intends to pass triumphant, and give laws. »
So spake the false arch-angel, and infus'd
Bad influence into the unwary breast
Of his associate: he together calls,

Or several one by one, the regent powers,
Under him regent; tells, as he was thaught,
That the Most High commanding, now ere night,
Now ere dim night had disincumber'd heaven,
The great hierarchal standard was to move;

Lasciare inadorato, inobbedito

Il sovran trono; e chi il seconda in grado
Svegliando, a lui così segreto parla:

Mio caro, dormi tu? Qual sonno gli occhi Può chiuderti? E rammenti qual decreto leri si tardo dalle labbra uscio

Del Regnator del ciel? Tu a me tua mente
Aprir solevi, a te io apria la mia;

Desti eravamo un solo; or come adunque
Tu dormi e io veglio? Nuove leggi udisti;
E nuove leggi in prence, idee novelle
Puon nel servo destar, novei consigli
Sul trepido avvenir: più in questo loco
Parlar non è sicuro. Tu raccogli

Di queste nostre schiere i duci, e narra
Loro che per comando pria che notte.
Stringa il suo velo ombroso, io correr debbo
Con ogni mio drappello al suol natio
Di passo accelerato, ove i quartieri
Di borea abbiamo; e là parare onori
Dovuti il nostro Re ad accorre, il grande
Messia, ci cenni novei di lui che tutte
Già tosto visitar le gerarchic

Dispone trionfante e dettar leggi. »

n

Si disse il falso arcangelo, ed infuse
Maligno influsso all' imprudente petto
Del suo compagno: ei tosto molti insieme
Appella o ad uno ad uno i primi duci
A sè soggetti; dice, come è edotto,
Che l'Eccelso imperando, or pria che notte,
Or pria che oscura notte in ciel dilegui,
Fia mosso il gran gerarchico vessillo;

Tells the suggested cause, and casts between
Ambiguous words and jealousies, to sound
Or taint integrity: but all obey'd

The wonted signal, and superior voice
Of their great Potentate; for great indeed
His name, and high was his degree in heaven;
His countenance, as the morning-star that guides
The starry flock, allur'd them, and with lies.
Drew after him the third part of heaven's host.
Meanwhile the eternal eye, whose sight discerns
Abstrusest thoughts, from forth his holy mount,
And from within the golden lamps that burn
Nightly before him., saw without their light
Rebellion rising; saw in whom, how spread
Among the sons of morn, what multitudes
Where banded to oppose his high decree;
And, smiling, to his only son thus said:

"

Son, thou in whom my glory I behold
In full resplendence, heir of all my might,
Nearly it now concerns us to be sure
Of our omnipotence, and with what arms
We mean to hold what anciently we claim
Of deity or empire: such a foe

Is rising, who intends to erect his throne
Equal to ours, throughout the spacious north;
Nor so content, hath in his thought to try
In battle, what our power is, or our right.
Let us advise, and to this hazard draw
With speed what force is left, and all employ
In our defence; lest unawares we lose
This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill. »

To whom the son with calm aspect and clear,

La cagion suggerita espone, e intanto
Lancia parole ambigue, invidi motti

Lor fe' a tentare o macular: ma tutti
Fur presti al segno usato, alla suprema
Voce del lor gran prence: e grande invero
Il nome, ed alto il grado avea nel cielo ;
L'aspetto suo, qual stella mattutina
Che gli astri guida, illuseli, e mendace
Tirò a sè un terzo dello stuol celeste.
Intanto l'occhio eterno che penétra

I più occulti pensier, dal santo monte,
Di dentro all' aurée lampe che notturne
Ardono innanti a sè, scoppiar lor fiamma
Rubelle vide; in lui la vide, e appresa
Ai figli del mattino, immensa turba
Surta a osteggiare il suo sovran decreto:
E sorridendo al figlio suo si disse:

"

Figlio, tu in cui mia gloria io veggo in pieno Lume e fulgor, d'ogni mia possa erede,

Or ben conviene a noi mostrar sicura
La nostra onnipotenza, e con quali armi
Vogliam tener nostre ragioni eterne
Di deità d'impero tal nemico
È surto, inteso ad ergere il suo trono
Al nostro egual nelle iperboree arene;
Nè pago a ciò; saggiar contende in pugna
Qual è possanza nostra o quale il dritto.
Orsù pugniam, spingiamo in tal cimento
Quante ci restan forze, e tutte a nostra
Difesa usiamle; ché non fia repenté

Scosso a noi il trono, il santuario, il monte. »>

A cui il Figliuol con queto volto e puro

37

Justly hast in derision, and, secure,

Laugh'st at their vain designs and tumults vain;
Matter to me of glory, whom their hate
Illustrates, when they see all regal power

Given me to quell their pride, and in event
Know whether I be dextrous to subdue
Thy rebels, or be found the worst in heaven. »

"So spake the son: but Satan, with his powers, Far was advanc'd on winged speed; an host Innumerable as the stars of night,

Or stars of morning, dew-drops, which the sun
Impearls on every leaf and every flower.
Regions they pass'd, the mighty regencies
Of seraphim, and potentates, and thrones,
In their triple degrees; regions to which
All thy dominion, Adam, is no more
Than what this garden is to all the earth,
And all the sea, from one entire globose
Stretch'd into longitude; which having pass'd,
At length into the limits of the north
They came; and Satan to his royal seat
High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount
Rais'd on a mount, with pyramids and towers
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold;

The palace of great Lucifer, (so call
That structure in the dialect of men
Interpreted) which not long after,
Affecting all equality with God,

In imitation of that mount whereon

he

Messiah was declar'd in sight of heaven,