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To meet ſo great a foe: and now great deeds
Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung,
Had not the Snakie Sorcereſs that ſat
Faſt by Hell Gate, and kept the fatal Key,
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry ruſh'd between.
  O Father, what intends thy hand, ſhe cry'd,
730Againſt thy only Son? What fury O Son,
Poſſeſſes thee to bend that mortal Dart
Againſt thy Fathers head? and know’ſt for whom;
For him who ſits above and laughs the while
At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute
What e’re his wrath, which he calls Juſtice, bids,
His wrath which one day will deſtroy ye both.
  She ſpake, and at her words the helliſh Peſt
Forbore, then theſe to her Satan return'd:
  So ſtrange thy outcry, and thy words ſo ſtrange
Thou interpoſeſt, that my ſudden hand
Prevented ſpares to tell thee yet by deeds
740What it intends; till firſt I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
In this infernal Vaile firſt met thou call’ſt
Me Father, and that Fantaſm call’ſt my Son?
I know thee not, nor ever ſaw till now
Sight more deteſtable then him and thee.
T' whom thus the Portreſs of Hell Gate reply'd;
Haſt thou forgot me then, and do I ſeem
Now in thine eye ſo foul, once deemed ſo fair
In Heav’n, when at th' Aſſembly, and in ſight
750Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd
In bold conſpiracy againſt Heav’ns King,
All on a ſudden miſerable pain
Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzie ſwumm