Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Milton
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Space may produce new Worlds; whereof so rife
There went a fame75 in Heav’n that he ere long
Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the Sons of Heav’n:
655
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere:
For this Infernal Pit shall never hold
Cælestial Spirits in Bondage, nor th’ Abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
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Full Counsel must mature: Peace is despaird,
For who can think Submission? Warr then, Warr
Open or understood must be resolv’d.
He spake: and to confirm his words, out-flew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
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Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze
Far round illumin’d hell: highly they rag’d
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped Arms
Clash’d on thir sounding Shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance toward the Vault of Heav’n.
670
There stood a Hill not far whose griesly top
Belch’d fire and rowling smoak; the rest entire
Shon with a glossie scurff, undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic Ore,
The work of Sulphur. Thither wing’d with speed
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A numerous Brigad hasten’d. As when Bands
Of Pioners with Spade and Pickax arm’d
Forerun the Royal Camp, to trench a Field,
Or cast a Rampart. Mammon76 led them on,
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
680
From heav’n, for ev’n in heav’n his looks and thoughts
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of Heav’ns pavement, trod’n Gold,
Then aught divine or holy else enjoy’d
In vision beatific: by him first
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Men also, and by his suggestion taught,
Ransack’d the Center, and with impious hands
Rifl’d the bowels of thir mother Earth
For Treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Op’nd into the Hill a spacious wound
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And dig’d out ribs of Gold. Let none admire
That riches grow in Hell; that soyl may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boast in mortal things, and wondring tell
Of Babel,77 and the works78 of Memphian Kings
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Learn how thir greatest Monuments of Fame,
And Strength and Art are easily outdone
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they with incessant toyl
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
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Nigh on the Plain in many cells prepar’d,
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluic’d from the Lake, a second multitude
With wondrous Art founded the massie Ore,
Severing each kind, and scum’d the Bullion dross:
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A third as soon had form’d within the ground
A various mould, and from the boyling cells
By strange conveyance fill’d each hollow nook,
As in an Organ from one blast of wind
To many a row of Pipes the sound-board breaths.
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Anon out of the earth a Fabrick huge
Rose like an Exhalation, with the sound
Of Dulcet Symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a Temple, where Pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
715
With Golden Architrave; nor did there want
Cornice or Freeze, with bossy79 Sculptures grav’n,
The Roof was fretted Gold. Not Babilon,
Nor great Alcairo80 such magnificence
Equal’d in all thir glories, to inshrine
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Belus or Serapis81 thir Gods, or seat
Thir Kings, when Ægypt with Assyria strove
In wealth and luxurie. Th’ ascending pile
Stood fixt her stately highth, and strait the dores
Op’ning thir brazen foulds discover wide
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Within, her ample spaces, o’re the smooth
And level pavement: from the arched roof
Pendant by suttle Magic many a row
Of Starry Lamps and blazing Cressets fed
With Naphtha and Asphaltus yeilded light
730
As from a sky. The hasty multitude
Admiring enter’d, and the work some praise
And some the Architect: his hand was known
In Heav’n by many a Towred structure high,
Where Scepter’d Angels held thir residence,
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And sat as Princes, whom the supreme King
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
Each in his Hierarchie, the Orders bright
Nor was his name unheard or unador’d
In ancient Greece; and in Ausonian82 land
740
Men call’d him Mulciber;83 and how he fell
From Heav’n, they fabl’d, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o’re the Chrystal Battlements: from Morn
To Noon84 he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summers day; and with the setting Sun
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Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star,
On Lemnos th’ Ægæan Ile: thus they relate,
Erring; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before; nor aught avail’d him now
To have built in Heav’n high Towrs; nor did he scape
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By all his Engins, but was headlong sent
With his industrious crew to build in hell.
Mean while the winged Haralds by command
Of Sovran power, with awful Ceremony
And Trumpets sound throughout the Host proclaim
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A solemn Councel forthwith to be held
At Pandæmonium,85 the high Capitol
Of Satan and his Peers: thir summons call’d
From every Band and squared Regiment
By place or choice the worthiest; they anon
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With hunderds and with thousands trooping came
Attended: all access was throng’d, the Gates
And Porches wide, but chief the spacious Hall
(Though like a cover’d field, where Champions bold
Wont ride in arm’d, and at the Soldans chair
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Defi’d the best of Paynim86 chivalry
To mortal combat or carreer with Lance)
Thick swarm’d, both on the ground and in the air,
Brusht with the hiss of russling wings. As Bees
In spring time, when the Sun with Taurus87 rides,
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Pour forth thir populous youth about the Hive
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Flie to and fro, or on the smoothed Plank,
The suburb of thir Straw-built Gittadel,
New rub’d with Baum, expatiate88 and confer
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Thir State affairs. So thick the aerie crowd
Swarm’d and were strait’n’d; till the Signal giv’n.
Behold a wonder! they but now who seemd
In bigness to surpass Earths Giant Sons
Now less than smallest Dwarfs, in narrow room
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Throng numberless, like that Pigmean Race
Beyond the Indian Mount, or Faerie Elves,
Whose midnight Revels, by a Forrest side
Or Fountain some belated Peasant sees,<
br />
Or dreams he sees, while over-head the Moon
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Sits Arbitress, and neerer to the Earth
Wheels her pale course, they on thir mirth and dance
Intent, with jocond Music charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms
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Reduc’d thir shapes immense, and were at large,
Though without number still amidst the Hall
Of that infernal Court. But far within
And in thir own dimensions like themselves
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim
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In close recess and secret conclave sat
A thousand Demy-Gods on golden seats,
Frequent89 and full. After short silence then
And summons read, the great consult began.
* * *
1 The ten books of the epic in the 1667 edition became twelve in the second edition (1674) by the division of VII into VII and VIII, and of X into XI and XII. The early books (I, II, IV) emphasize the nature of the fall from grace and the nature of evil; the means of regaining grace is expounded in III, in Raphael’s discussion of free will and the revolt of Satan in V, and in the war in heaven in VI. At first evil seems to dominate (a strong cause for the former critical judgment of Satan as hero), but the victory over Satan counsels Man against the “terrible Example … of disobedience” (VI, 910-11). The later books relate the actual fall of Adam and Eve and its consequences for Man and his history thereafter. The poem, beginning classically in the middle of the action, goes both forward and backward, Raphael bringing the action up to date and Michael foretelling the future. The dramatic climax occurs with the defeat of the rebellious angels in the War in Heaven; see VI, 762, and n. The poem ascends and descends repeatedly, the first fall (of Satan and his cohorts) occurring in Heaven, and the second fall (of Adam and Eve) occurring on Earth. But the latter as a felix culpa allows for ascent.
The “message” of the epic is that true freedom lies in obedience—and obedience is not bondage. Man has free will to choose although his choices may be limited. Obedience requires faith in God and God’s omniscience. The fall has thus been considered “fortunate” since it points to the need for obedience to God’s will.
The universe depicted by Milton is complex and reflects the astronomical theories of his age, including four of the most important ones (compare VIII, 12-168). Basically, however, the created universe with earth as center consists of ten spheres: those of the seven planets and the fixed stars, the Crystalline Sphere, and the outermost primum mobile. Surrounding the universe is boundless Chaos (II, 890-967), in which is found Hell (II, 570-628). The middle layer of air (frequently referred to), which lies between earth and the first sphere of the moon, is the region in which clouds, winds, rains, snow, thunder, etc., are generated.
The poem, a compendium of the scientific, metaphysical, political, moral, and theological doctrines of the times, adheres to the theory of accommodation: because actual knowledge of God is beyond the comprehension of man, He “accommodates” or adjusts what He reveals to the limited, finite understanding of mankind and to the inadequacies of human vocabulary. He conveys His truths in words, images, parables, etc., which are accurate and complete to the extent that human intellect is capable of grasping them. The Bible, as the foremost revelation of God, is cited throughout for its “types” or “shadows” of God, God’s acts and will, and God’s accommodation. The most significant references to the Bible are given.
2 e.g., Trissino and Tasso.
3 identified as Gaoncalo Perez (translator of the Odyssey, 1550) and Juan de Jáuregni (translator of Tasso’s Aminta, c. 1607) by Carl W. Cobb in PQ, XLII (1963), 264-67. The introduction to Aminta defended the use of blank verse.
4 that is, true musical delight.
5 playing on its derivation from mors (“death”).
6 Christ.
7 Urania, but see VII, 1, and n.
8 Moses.
9 a reference to David as King.
10 the temple in Jerusalem, the site of divine revelation. John ix. 7: As Jesus heals the blind man, he says, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.… He went his way therefore, and came seeing.”
11 Compare Orlando Furioso, I, ii, 2.
12 a mountain sacred to the muses: probably Mount Parnassus; see El. 4, n. 10. Milton is going to soar above the level of Nature and the pagan muses to treat revealed truths.
13 Compare Ps. xv. 1-2 and 1 Cor. iii. 16.
14 Compare Matt. iii. 16, Mark i. 10, Luke iii. 22, and John i. 2.
15 The lines equate the concept of the fortunate fall: out of the abyss of darkness (and evil) the Spirit of God (the dove being an emblem of the Holy Spirit) creates the universe, but what is more important, other dove-like beings, Man. “Brooding” means producing young (see Nativity Ode, n. 13), with, however, a glance here at the sad way in which such creatures must be produced. Compare VII, 233-35. In the background is the myth that Chaos and Night were the parents of Day.
16 Compare the Titans in Hesiod’s Theogony, 720 ff.
17 perhaps a noun meaning “range of sight.”
18 The distance between hell and heaven is three times that between earth and the primum mobile, or outermost sphere.
19 literally, “adversary.” “Beelzebub” means “god of flies.”
20 Isa. xiv. 12: “How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!”
21 meaning that they were uncertain of the outcome, but also that any battle with God is futile.
22 Note throughout the choice of words assigned to Satan: they ascribe his own evil motives and actions to others, here to God.
23 feared for.
24 one of the orders of angels, but Milton uses the names of those orders to signify all the angels.
25 overthrown.
26 the goddess Earth, whose sons, including hundred-armed Briareus, were giants. Typhon was a giant with a hundred heads. The assault on Jove (see Nov. 5, n. 19) is a “type” of the rebellion against God.
27 a whale-like monster, often called a serpent and identified with Satan.
28 being antithetical to truth, mercy, and justice dispensed to man.
29 form, appearance.
30 a promontory of Sicily near Mt. Etna, whose eruption is described; compare Nov. 5, 31–39, and n. 5.
31 refined.
32 Lethe, infernal river of forgetfulness.
33 Galileo, who lived in Fiesole above the valley of the Arno.
34 the flagship of a fleet.
35 near Florence.
36 the equatorial constellation associated with winter storms. Busiris, an Egyptian king who persecuted foreigners, was mistakenly identified with Pharaoh who pursued the Israelites across the Red Sea.
37 Moses; see Exod. x. 12-15.
38 moving forward.
39 Rhine or the Danube.
40 The Vandals invaded Spain and thence North Africa.
41 Rev. iii. 5: “I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.”
42 literally, “king”; see Nativity Ode, n. 43. He was worshipped by the Ammonites.
43 the Mount of Olives (2 Kings xxiii. 13); called also “that Hill of scandal” (l. 416).
44 the god of the Moabites, whose lands are cited in the following lines.
45 Sihon’s.
46 the Dead Sea.
47 the Besor.
48 plural forms of the Phoenician male and female chief gods.
49 Solomon.
50 identified with Adonis; see Nativity Ode, n. 43.
51 See Ezek. viii. 13-14.
52 threshold.
53 god of the Philistines, whose chief cities are listed; see Nativity Ode, n. 43.
54 Naaman; see 2 Kings v.
55 See Nativity Ode, n. 43.
56 identified with the Egyptian Apis, a sacred bull.
57 Jeroboam; see 1 Kings xii. 25-33.
58 See Exod. xii. 29.
59 The name means worthlessness.
60 See 1 Sam. ii. 12-17.
61 See Judges xix. 22-28.
62 Ion, his issue being the Ionian Greeks, but identified with Japheth’s son.
63 that is, faith was placed in them.
64 the eldest Titan; his brother Saturn seized his inheritance.
65 Mt. Parnassus.
60 the Adriatic, then the western lands (Italy, France, the British Isles).
67 the area ruled by Chaos and Erebus.
68 “that Pigmean Race Beyond the Indian Mount” (ll. 780-81); see Iliad, III, 1-5, for the battle, and Pliny (VII, vii) for the pygmies’ abode.
69 Arthur.
70 of Brittany.
71 References are scenes in romantic epics: one called Aspramont, Orlando Furioso (among others), Marino’s Il Collvandro Fedele, and the Song of Roland.
72 punished.
73 outcome.
74 Satan misrepresents: both Death (II, 692) and Raphael (V, 710) tell us it was a third.
75 rumor.
76 literally, “wealth.”
77 capital of the tyrant Nimrod, which is compared with the pyramids.
78 the Pyramids.
79 embossed.
80 Memphis, near modern Cairo.
81 Baal or Osiris.
82 Italian.
83 Vulcan, whose fall is recounted in Iliad, I, 588-95.
84 The ambiguous meaning “midnight” (compare Il Penseroso, 67-68) lurks in the background with its evil connotations.
85 “all the spirits” and then pejoratively “all the demons.”
86 pagan, Mohammedan.
87 the Zodiacal sign for Apr. 20–May 20.
88 walk about.
89 crowded.
BOOK II
THE ARGUMENT
The Consultation begun, Satan debates whether another Battel be to be hazarded for the recovery of Heaven: some advise it, others dissuade: A third proposal is prefer’d, mention’d before by Satan, to search the truth of that Prophesie or Tradition in Heaven concerning another world, and another kind of creature equal or not much inferiour to themselves, about this time to be created: Thir doubt who shall be sent on this difficult search: Satan thir chief undertakes alone the voyage, is honourd and applauded. The Councel thus ended, the rest betake them several wayes and to several imployments, as thir inclinations lead them, to entertain the time till Satan return. He passes on his Journey to Hell Gates, finds them shut, and who sat there to guard them, by whom at length they are op’n’d, and discover to him the great Gulf between Hell and Heaven; with what difficulty he passes through, directed by Chaos, the Power of that place, to the sight of this new World which he sought.