Book I. Paradiſe loſt.
Moors by his ſide under the Lee, while Night
Inveſts the Sea, and wiſihed Morn delayes :
So ſtretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
210 Chain’d on the burning Lake, nor ever thence
Had riſ’n or heav’d his head, but that the will
And high permiſſion of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark deſigns,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himſelf damnation, while he fought
Evil to others, and enrag’d might fee
How all his malice ſerv’d but to bring forth
Infinite goodneſs, grace and mercy vhewn
On Man by him ſeduc’t, but on himſelf
220Treble confuſion, wrath and vengeance pour’d.
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward ſlope their pointing ſpires, & rowld
In billows, leave i’th’ midſt a horrid Vale.
Then with expanded wings he ſtears his flight
Aloft, incumbent- on the dusky Air
That felt unuſual weight; till on dry Land
He lights, if it were Land that ever burn’d
With ſolid, as the Lake with liquid fire;
230And ſuch appear’d in hue, as when the force
Of ſubterranean wind tranſports a Hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the ſhatter'd ſide
Of thundring Ætna, whoſe combuſtible
And ſewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
Sublim’d with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
And leave a ſinged bottom all involv’d
With ſtench and ſmoak:Such reſting found the ſole
Of unbleſt feet. Him followed his next Mate,
Inveſts the Sea, and wiſihed Morn delayes :
So ſtretcht out huge in length the Arch-fiend lay
210 Chain’d on the burning Lake, nor ever thence
Had riſ’n or heav’d his head, but that the will
And high permiſſion of all-ruling Heaven
Left him at large to his own dark deſigns,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himſelf damnation, while he fought
Evil to others, and enrag’d might fee
How all his malice ſerv’d but to bring forth
Infinite goodneſs, grace and mercy vhewn
On Man by him ſeduc’t, but on himſelf
220Treble confuſion, wrath and vengeance pour’d.
Forthwith upright he rears from off the Pool
His mighty Stature; on each hand the flames
Drivn backward ſlope their pointing ſpires, & rowld
In billows, leave i’th’ midſt a horrid Vale.
Then with expanded wings he ſtears his flight
Aloft, incumbent- on the dusky Air
That felt unuſual weight; till on dry Land
He lights, if it were Land that ever burn’d
With ſolid, as the Lake with liquid fire;
230And ſuch appear’d in hue, as when the force
Of ſubterranean wind tranſports a Hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the ſhatter'd ſide
Of thundring Ætna, whoſe combuſtible
And ſewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fire,
Sublim’d with Mineral fury, aid the Winds,
And leave a ſinged bottom all involv’d
With ſtench and ſmoak:Such reſting found the ſole
Of unbleſt feet. Him followed his next Mate,
Both
