J74
��PARADISE LOST
��Equal in their creation they were
formed, 690
Save what sin hath impaired which yet
hath wrought
Insensibly, for I suspend their doom: Whence in perpetual fight they needs must
last
Endless, and no solution will be found. War wearied hath performed what war can
do,
And to disordered rage let loose the reins, With mountains, as with weapons, armed;
which makes Wild work in Heaven, and dangerous to
the main. Two days are, therefore, passed ; the third
is thine:
For thee I have ordained it, and thus far 700 Have suffered, that the glory may be thine Of ending this great war, since none but
thou Can end it. Into thee such virtue and
grace Immense I have transfused, that all may
know
In Heaven and Hell thy power above com- pare, And this perverse commotion governed
thus,
To manifest thee worthiest to be Heir Of all things to be Heir, and to be
King
By sacred unction, thy deserved right. Go, then, thou Mightiest, in thy Father's
might; 710
Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels That shake Heaven's basis; bring forth all
my war;
My bow and thunder, my almighty arms, Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant
thigh; Pursue these Sons of Darkness, drive them
out From all Heaven's bounds into the utter
Deep; There let them learn, as likes them, to
despise
God, and Messiah his anointed King.' " He said, and on his Son with rays di- rect
Shon full. He all his Father full ex- pressed 720 Ineffably into his face received; And thus the Filial Godhead answering
spake:
��" ' O Father, O Supreme of Heavenly
Thrones, First, Highest, Holiest, Best, thou always
seek'st
To glorify thy Son; I always thee, As is most just. This I my glory account, My exaltation, and my whole delight, That thou in me, well pleased, declar'st thy
will
Fulfilled, which to fulfil is all my bliss. Sceptre and power, thy giving, I assume, 730 And gladlier shall resign when in the end Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee For ever, and in me all whom thou lov'st. . But whom thou hat'st I hate, and can put
on
Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on, Image of thee in all things : and shall soon, Armed with thy might, rid Heaven of
these rebelled,
To their prepared ill mansion driven down, To chains of darkness and the undying
Worm,
That from thy just obedience could re- volt, 740 Whom to obey is happiness entire. Then shall thy Saints, unmixed, and from
the impure
Far separate, circling thy holy Mount, Unfeigned halleluiahs to thee sing, Hymns of high praise, and I among them
chief.' " So said, He, o'er his sceptre bowing,
rose From the right hand of Glory where He
sat;
And the third sacred morn began to shine, Dawning through Heaven. Forth rushed
with whirlwind sound
The chariot of Paternal Deity, 750
Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel ;
undrawn,
Itself instinct with spirit, but convoyed By four cherubic Shapes. Four faces each Had wondrous; as with stars, their bodies
all And wings were set with eyes; with eyes
the wheels
Of beryl, and careering fires between; Over their heads a crystal firmament, Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with
pure
Amber and colours of the showery arch. He, in celestial panoply all armed 760
Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought,
�� �
