Driv'n backward, flope their pointed Spires, and rowl'd In Billows, leave i'th' Midft a horrid Vale: Then with expanded Wings he fteers his Flight Aloft, incumbent on the dusky Air,
That felt unufual Weight; till on dry Land He lights, if it be Land that ever burn'd With folid, as the Lake with liquid Fire. He walk'd
Over the burning Marle; the torrid Clime Smote on him fore befides, vaulted with Fire, Yet this he fo indur'd, till on the Beach Of that inflamed Sea he ftood, and call'd His Legions, Angel Forms, who lay intranc'd, Thick as autumnal Leaves that ftrow the Brooks In Vallombrofa, where th'Etrurian Shades High over-arch'd imbow'r :
They heard and were abafh'd, and up they fprung, Hov'ring on Wing under the Cope of Hell, 'Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding Fires. Part on the Plain, or in the Air fublime, Upon the Wing, or in fwift Race contend, As at th'Olympian Games or Pythian Fields; Part curb their fiery Steeds, or fhun the Goal With rapid Wheels; or fronted Brigades form : As when to warn proud Cities, War appears Wag'd in the troubl'd Sky, and Armies rufh To Battel in the Clouds; before each Van Prick forth the airy Knights, and couch their Spears, Till thicket Legions clofe; with Feats of Arms From either Side of Heav'n the Welkin burns. Others with vaft Typhoean Rage more fell,
Rend up both Rocks and Hills, and ride the Air In Whirlwind: Hell fearce holds the wild Uproar. Others more mild
Retreated in a filent Valley, fing
With Notes angelical to many a Harp,
Their own heroick Deeds and hapless Fall
By Doom of Battel; and complain that Fate Free Virtue fhould enthrall to Force or Chance. Their Song was partial, but the Harmony Sufpended Hell, and took with Ravishment The thronging Audience. In Difcourfe more fweet, (For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the Senfe) Others apart fat on a Hill retir'd,
In Thoughts more elevate, and reafon'd high Of Providence, Fore-knowledge, Will and Fate; Fix'd Fate, Free-will, Fore-knowledge abfolute,
And found no End, in wand'ring Mazes loft. Of Good and Evil much they argu'd then, Of Happiness and final Mifery,
Paffion and Apathy, Glory and Shame; Vain Wisdom all, and falfe Philofophy: Yet with a pleafing Sorcery could charm Pain for a while, or Anguith; and excite Fallacious Hope, or arm th'obdurate Breaft With ftubborn Patience as with triple Steel. Another Part in Squadrons and grofs Bands, On bold Adventure, to difcover wide That difmal World,' bend 7
Four Ways their flying March, along the Banks Of Four infernal Rivers, that difgorge Into the burning Lake their baleful Streams. Abhorred Styx, the Flood of deadly Hate; Sad Acheron, of Sorrow black and deep: Cocytus, nam'd of Lamentation loud Heard on the ruful Stream: Fierce Phlegeton, Whofe Waves of torrent Fire enflame with Rage: Far off from these a flow and filent Stream, Lethe, the River of Oblivion rowls
Her wat'ry Labyrinth; whereof who drinks, Forthwith his former State and Being forgets, Forgets both Joy and Grief, Pleafure and Pain. Beyond this Flood a frozen Continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual Storms Of Whirlwind and dire Hail, which on firm Land Thaws not, but gathers Heap, and Ruin feems Of antient Pile: All elfe deep Snow and Ice.
Burns frore, and Cold performs th'Effect of Fire. Thither by Harpy-footed Furies hall'd,
At certain Revolutions, all the Damn'd
Are brought, and feel by Turns the bitter Change Of fierce Extreams, Extreams by Change more fierce From Beds of raging Fire to ftarve in Ice Their foft ethereal Warmth, and there to pine Immoveable, infix'd, and frozen round, Periods of Time; thence hurry'd back to Fire, They ferry over this Lethean Sound
Both to and fro, their Sorrow to augment ; And with, and ftruggle, as they pass to reach The tempting Stream, with one fmall Drop to lofe In fweet Forgetfulness,all Pain and Woe; But Fate withstands, and to oppose th’Attempt
Medufa with Gorgonian Terrour guards The Ford, and of it self the Water flies All Tafte of living Wight, as once it fled The Lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on,
In confus'd March, forlorn, th'advent'rous Bands With fhudd'ring Horrour pale, and Eyes aghaft, View'd first their lamentable Lot, and found No Reft: Thro' many a dark and dreary Vale They pafs'd, and many a Region dolorous, O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp,
Rocks, Caves, Lakes, Fens, Bogs, Dens, and Shades of Death: A Univerfe of Death,
Where all Life dies, Death lives; and Nature breeds
Perverse, all monftrous, all prodigious Things.
Abominable, inutterable, and worse
Than Fables yet have feign'd, or Fear conceiv'd; Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.
Obfcure they went through dreary Shades that led
Along the wafte Dominions of the Dead. Thus wander Travellers in Woods by Night, By the Moon's doubtful and malignant Light; When Jove in dusky Clouds involves the Skies,
And the faint Crefcent fhoots by Fits before their Eyes. Juft in the Gates, and in the Jaws of Hell, Revengeful Cares, and fullen Sorrows dwell;
And pale Difeafes, and repining Age,
Want, Fear, and Famine's unrefifted Rage:
Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-Brother, Sleep, Forms terrible to view, their Centry keep; With anxious Pleafures of a guilty Mind, Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind: The Furies Iron Beds, and Strife, that fhakes, Her hiffing Treffes, and unfolds her Snakes. Full in the midst of this infernal Road, An Elm difplays her dusky Arms abroad: The God of Sleep there hides his heavy Head, And empty Dreams on ev'ry Leaf are fpread : Of various Forms unnumber'd Spectres more, Centaurs and double Shapes befiege the Door; Before the Paffage horrid Hydra ftands, Briareus with all his Hundred Hands, Gorgons, Geryon with his triple Frame,
And vain Chimera vomits empty Flame.
Before the Gates the Cries of Babes new-born,
Whom Fate had from their tender Mothers torn,
Affault his Ears: Then thofe whom Form of Laws Condemn'd to dye, when Traitors judg'd their Caufe;
Nor want they Lots, nor Judges to review The wrongful Sentence, and award a new: Minos, the ftri&t Inquifitor, appears,
And Lives, and Crimes, with his Affeffors, hears Round in his Urn the blended Balls he rolls, Abfolves the juft, and dooms the guilty Souls. The next in Place and Punishment are they, Who prodigally throw their Souls away: Fools, who, repining at their wretched State, And loathing anxious Life, fuborn'd their Fate. With late Repentance now they would retrieve The Bodies they forfook, and wish to live: Their Pains and Poverty defire to bear,
To view the Light of Heav'n, and breathe the vital Air. But Fate forbids: The Stygian Pools oppofe,
(Dryd, Virg And, with Nine circling Streams, the captive Souls inclofe. They haften'd onward to the pensive Grove,
The filent Mansion of disastrous Love.
Here Jealousy with Jaundice Looks appears, And broken Slumbers, and fantaftick Tears:
The widow'd Turtle hangs her moulting Wings, And to the Woods in mournful Numbers fings.
No Winds but Sighs are there; no Floods but Tears. Each confcious Tree a tragick Signal bears: Their wounded Bark records fome broken Vow, And Willow Garlands hang on ev'ry Bough.
Not far from thence the mournful Fields appear,
So call'd from Lovers that inhabit there: The Souls, whom that unhappy Flame invades, In fecret Solitude, and Myrtle Shades, Make endless Moans, and pining with Defire, Lament too late their unextinguish'd Fire. The Heroe looking on the Left, efpy'd A lofty Tow'r, and ftrong on ev'ry Side With treble Walls, which Phlegeton furrounds, Whofe fiery Flood the burning Empire bounds: And prefs'd betwixt the Rocks, the bellowing Wide is the fronting Gate, and rais'd on high, With adamantine Columns threats the Sky. Vain is the Force of Man, and Heav'n's as vain, To crush the Pillars which the Pile fuftain: Sublime on thefe a Tow'r of Steel is rear'd, And dire Tifiphone there keeps the Ward; Girt in her fanguin Gown by Night and Day, Obfervant of the Souls that pass the downward Way: From hence are heard the Groans of Ghofts, the Pains Of founding Lashes, and of dragging Chains;
And loud Laments that rend the liquid Air. Thefe dire Abodes Contain the Tortures of th'avenging Gods: These are the Realms of unrelenting Fate, And awful Radamanthus rules the State: He hears and judges each committed Crime, Enquires into the Manner, Place, and Time: The confcious Wretch muft all his A&ts reveal, Loath to confefs, unable to conceal,
From the first Moment of his vital Breath, To his laft Hour of unrepenting Death. Strait o'er the guilty Ghofts the Fury shakes The founding Whip, and brandishes her Snakes, And the pale Sinner, with her Sifters, takes. High o'er their Heads a mould'ring Rock is plac'd, That promises a Fall, and fhakes at ev'ry Blaft. They lie below on golden Beds display'd, And genial Feafts with regal Pomp are made: The Queen of Furies by their Sides is fet, And fnatches from their Mouths th'untafted Meat; Which if they touch, her hiffing Snakes fhe rears, Toffing her Torch, and thund'ring in their Ears. Then they, who Brothers better Claim difown, Expel their Parents, and ufurp the Throne; Defraud their Clients, and, to Lucre fold, Sit brooding on unprofitable Gold; Who dare not give, and ev'n refufe to lend To their poor Kindred, or a wanting Friend. Vaft is the Throng of thefe; nor lefs the Train Of luftful Youths for foul Adult'ry flain: Hofts of Deferters, who their Honour fold, And bafely broke their Faith for Bribes of Gold. All these within the Dungeon's Depth remain, Defpairing Pardon, and expecting Pain. Some roul a weighty Stone; fome laid along,
And bound with burning Wires, on Spokes of Wheels are hung. To Tyrants others have their Country fold,
Impofing foreign Lords for foreign Gold.
Some have old Laws repeal'd, new Statutes made,
Not as the People pleas'd, but as they pay'd.
With Inceft fome their Daughter's Bed prophan'd;
All dar'd the worst of Ills, and what they dar'd attain'd. Had I a Hundred Mouths, a Hundred Tongues,
And Throats of Brafs, infpir'd with Iron Lungs, I could not half those horrid Crimes repeat,
Nor half the Punishments thofe Crimes have met. Dryd. Virg
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