3

If he opposd; and with ambitious aim

Against the Throne and Monarchy of God

Raisd impious War in Heavn and Battel proud

With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power

Hurld headlong flaming from th Ethereal Skie [ 45 ]

With hideous ruine and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell

In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,

Who durst defie th Omnipotent to Arms.

Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night [ 50 ]

To mortal men, he with his horrid crew

Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe

Confounded though immortal: But his doom

Reservd him to more wrath; for now the thought

Both of lost happiness and lasting pain [ 55 ]

Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes

That witnessd huge affliction and dismay

Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:

At once as far as Angels kenn he views

The dismal Situation waste and wilde, [ 60 ]

A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round

As one great Furnace flamd, yet from those flames

No light, but rather darkness visible

Servd onely to discover sights of woe,

Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace [ 65 ]

And rest can never dwell, hope never comes

That comes to all; but torture without end

Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed

With ever-burning Sulphur unconsumd:

Such place Eternal Justice had prepard [ 70 ]

For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordaind

In utter darkness, and thir portion set

As far removd from God and light of Heavn

As from the Center thrice to th utmost Pole.

O how unlike the place from whence they fell! [ 75 ]

There the companions of his fall, orewhelmd

With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,

He soon discerns, and weltring by his side

One next himself in power, and next in crime,