Upon my head. Long the decrees of Heaven Delay, for longest time to him is short;
And now, too soon for us, the circling hours This dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we Must bide the stroke of that long threaten'd wound (At least if so we can, and by the head Broken be not intended all our power
To be infringed, our freedom and our being, In this fair empire won of earth and air), For this ill news I bring, the Woman's Seed, Destined to this, is late of Woman born.
His birth to our just fear gave no small cause: But his growth now to youth's full flower, displaying All virtue, grace, and wisdom to achieve
Things highest, greatest, multiplies my fear. Before him a great Prophet, to proclaim His coming, is sent harbinger, who all Invites, and in the consecrated stream Pretends to wash off sin, and fit them, so Purified, to receive him pure, or rather To do him honour as their king: all come, And he himself among them was baptized; Not thence to be more pure, but to receive The testimony of Heaven, that who he is Thenceforth the nations may not doubt; I saw The Prophet do him reverence; on him, rising Out of the water, Heaven above the clouds Unfold her crystal doors; thence on his head A perfect dove descend (whate'er it meant), And out of Heaven the sovran voice I heard,
"This is my Son beloved, in him am pleased.” His mother then is mortal, but his Sire He who obtains the monarchy of Heaven: And what will he not do to advance his Son? His first begot we know, and sore have felt, When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep: Who this is we must learn, for Man he seems In all his lineaments, though in his face The glimpses of his Father's glory shine. Ye see our danger on the utmost edge Of hazard, which admits no long debate,
But must with something sudden be opposed
(Not force, but well couch'd fraud, well woven snares) Ere in the head of nations he appear,
Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth.
I, when no other durst, sole undertook
The dismal expedition to find out
And ruin Adam; and the exploit perform'd
Successfully: a calmer voyage now
Will waft me; and the way, found prosperous once, Induces best to hope of like success.
He ended, and his words impression left Of much amazement to the infernal crew, Distracted and surprised with deep dismay At these sad tidings; but no time was then For long indulgence to their fears or grief: Unanimous they all commit the care And management of this main enterprise To him, their great dictator, whose attempt At first against mankind so well had thrived
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march From Hell's deep vaulted den to dwell in light, Regents, and potentates, and kings, yea Gods, Of many a pleasant realm and province wide. So to the coast of Jordan he directs
His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles, Where he might likeliest find this new declared, This Man of men, attested Son of God, Temptation and all guile on him to try; So to subvert whom he suspected raised To end his reign on earth, so long enjoy'd: But contrary, unweeting he fulfill'd The purposed counsel, preordain'd and fix'd, Of the Most High; who, in full frequence bright Of Angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake: Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, Thou and all Angels conversant on earth With man or men's affairs, how I begin To verify that solemn message, late On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure
In Galilee, that she should bear a son, Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God;
Then told'st her, doubting how these things could be To her a virgin, that on her should come
The Holy Ghost, and the power of the Highest O'ershadow her. This Man, born and now upgrown, To show him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expose To Satan; let him tempt, and now assay His utmost subtlety, because he boasts
And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng Of his apostacy: he might have learn'd Less overweening, since he fail'd in Job, Whose constant perseverance overcame Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. He now shall know I can produce a Man, Of female seed, far abler to resist
All his solicitations, and at length
All his vast force, and drive him back to Hell; Winning, by conquest, what the first Man lost, By fallacy surprised. But first I mean
To exercise him in the wilderness;
There he shall first lay down the rudiments Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes, By humiliation and strong sufferance: His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength, And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh, That all the Angels and ethereal Powers, They now, and Men hereafter, may discern, From what consummate virtue I have chose This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son, To earn salvation for the sons of men.
So spake the Eternal Father, and all Heaven Admiring stood a space, then into hymns Burst forth, and in celestial measures moved, Circling the throne and singing, while the hand Sung with the voice, and this the argument:
Victory and triumph to the Son of God, Now entering his great duel, not of arms,
But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles! The Father knows the Son; therefore secure Ventures his filial virtue, though untried, Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce, Allure, or terrify, or undermine.
Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell, And, devilish machinations, come to nought! So they in Heaven their odes and vigils tuned : Meanwhile the Son of God, who yet some days Lodged in Bethabara, where John baptized, Musing, and much revolving in his breast, How best the mighty work he might begin Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first Publish his godlike office now mature, One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading And his deep thoughts, the better to converse With solitude, till, far from track of men, Thought following thought, and step by step led on, He enter'd now the bordering desert wild,
And, with dark shades and rocks environ'd round, His holy meditations thus pursued:
O, what a multitude of thoughts at once Awaken'd in me swarm, while I consider What from within I feel myself, and hear What from without comes often to my ears, Ill sorting with my present state compared! When I was yet a child, no childish play To me was pleasing; all my mind was set Serious to learn and know, and thence to do What might be public good; myself I thought
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