Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/147

So sudden to behold the grisly king;
Yet thus, unmoved with fear, accost him soon:
"Which of those rebel Spirits adjudged to Hell
Comest thou, escaped thy prison? and transformed,
Why satest thou like an enemy in wait,
Here watching at the head of these that sleep?"
"Know ye not then? said Satan, filled with scorn,
"Know ye not me? ye knew me once no mate
For you, there sitting where ye durst not soar.
Not to know me argues yourselves unknown830
The lowest of your throng; or if ye know,
Why ask ye, and superfluous begin
Your message, like to end as much in vain?"
To whom thus Zephon, answering scorn with scorn:
"Think not, revolted Spirit, thy shape the same,
Or undiminished brightness to be known,
As when thou stoodest in Heaven upright and pure.
That glory then, when thou no more wast good,
Departed from thee, and thou resemblest now
Thy sin and place of doom obscure and foul.840
But come; for thou, be sure, shalt give account
To him who sent us, whose charge is to keep
This place inviolable, and these from harm."
So spake the Cherub; and his grave rebuke,
Severe in youthful beauty, added grace