Paradise Lost

by John Milton

  The rigid212 satisfaction, death for death.

  Say Heav’nly powers, where shall we find such love,

  Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

  Man’s mortal crime, and just215 th’ unjust to save,

  Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear?”

  He asked, but all the Heav’nly choir stood mute,

  And silence was in Heav’n: on man’s behalf

  Patron or intercessor none appeared,

  Much less that durst upon his own head draw

  The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set221.

  And now without redemption all mankind

  Must have been lost, adjudged to death and Hell

  By doom severe, had not the Son of God,

  In whom the fullness dwells of love divine,

  His dearest mediation226 thus renewed.

  “Father, thy word is past, man shall find grace;

  And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,

  The speediest of thy wingèd messengers,

  To visit all thy creatures, and to all

  Comes unprevented231, unimplored, unsought,

  Happy for man, so coming; he her aid

  Can never seek, once dead in sins233 and lost;

  Atonement for himself or offering meet234,

  Indebted and undone, hath none to bring:

  Behold me236 then, me for him, life for life

  I offer, on me let thine anger fall;

  Account me man; I for his sake will leave

  Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee

  Freely put off, and for him lastly die

  Well pleased, on me241 let Death wreck all his rage;

  Under his gloomy power I shall not long

  Lie vanquished; thou hast giv’n me to possess

  244 Life in244 myself forever, by thee I live,

  Though now to Death I yield, and am his due

  All that of me can die, yet that debt paid,

  Thou247 wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave

  His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul

  Forever with corruption there to dwell;

  But I shall rise victorious, and subdue

  My vanquisher, spoiled of his vaunted spoil;

  Death his death’s wound shall then receive, and stoop

  Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarmed253.

  I through the ample air in triumph high

  Shall lead Hell captive maugre255 Hell, and show

  The powers of darkness bound. Thou at the sight

  Pleased, out of Heaven shalt look down and smile,

  While by thee raised I ruin258 all my foes,

  Death last259, and with his carcass glut the grave:

  Then with the multitude of my redeemed

  Shall enter Heaven long absent, and return,

  Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud

  Of anger shall remain, but peace assured,

  And reconcilement; wrath shall be no more

  Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire.”

  His words here ended, but his meek aspect

  Silent yet spake, and breathed immortal love

  To mortal men, above which only shone

  Filial obedience: as a sacrifice

  Glad to be offered, he attends270 the will

  Of his great Father. Admiration271 seized

  All Heav’n, what this might mean, and whither tend

  Wond’ring; but soon th’ Almighty thus replied:

  “O thou in Heav’n and Earth the only peace

  Found out for mankind under wrath, O thou

  My sole complacence276! Well thou know’st how dear

  To me are all my works, nor man the least

  Though last created, that for him I spare

  Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,

  By losing thee a while, the whole race lost.

  Thou therefore281 whom thou only canst redeem,

  Their nature also to thy nature join;

  And be thyself man among men on earth,

  Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed,

  By wondrous birth: be thou in Adam’s room285

  The head of all mankind, though Adam’s son.

  As in287 him perish all men, so in thee

  As from a second root shall be restored,

  As many as are restored, without thee none.

  His crime makes guilty all his sons, thy merit290

  Imputed shall absolve them who renounce

  Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,

  And live in thee transplanted, and from thee

  Receive new life. So man, as is most just,

  Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die,

  And dying rise, and rising with him raise

  His brethren, ransomed with his own dear life.

  So Heav’nly love shall outdo Hellish hate,

  Giving299 to death, and dying to redeem,

  So dearly300 to redeem what Hellish hate

  So easily destroyed, and still301 destroys

  In those who, when they may, accept not grace.

  Nor shalt thou by descending to assume

  Man’s nature, lessen or degrade thine own.

  Because thou hast, though throned in highest bliss

  Equal to God306, and equally enjoying

  God-like fruition307, quitted all to save

  A world from utter loss, and hast been found

  By merit more than birthright Son of God,

  Found worthiest to be so by being good,

  Far more than great or high; because in thee

  Love hath abounded more than glory abounds,

  Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt

  With thee thy manhood also to this throne;

  Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt reign

  Both God and man, Son both of God and man,

  Anointed universal King; all power317

  I give thee, reign forever, and assume318

  Thy merits; under thee as Head Supreme

  Thrones, Princedoms,320 Powers, Dominions I reduce:

  All knees321 to thee shall bow, of them that bide

  In Heaven, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell;

  When thou attended gloriously from Heav’n

  Shalt in the sky appear, and from thee send

  The summoning Archangels to proclaim

  Thy dread tribunal: forthwith from all winds326

  The living, and forthwith the cited327 dead

  Of all past ages to the general doom328

  Shall hasten, such a peal shall rouse their sleep.329

  Then all thy saints330 assembled, thou shalt judge

  Bad men and angels, they arraigned331 shall sink

  Beneath thy sentence; Hell, her numbers full,

  Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Meanwhile

  The world shall burn334, and from her ashes spring

  New Heav’n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell,

  And after all their tribulations long

  See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,

  With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.

  Then thou thy regal scepter shalt lay by,

  For regal scepter then no more shall need340,

  God shall be all in all341. But all ye gods,

  Adore him, who to compass342 all this dies,

  Adore the Son, and honor him as me343.”

  No sooner had th’ Almighty ceased, but all

  The multitude of angels with a shout

  Loud as from numbers without number, sweet

  As from blest voices, uttering joy, Heav’n rung

  With jubilee348, and loud hosannas filled

  Th’ eternal regions: lowly reverent

  Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground

  With solemn adoration down they cast

  Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold,

  Immortal amarant353, a flow’r which once

  In Paradise, fa
st by the Tree of Life

  Began to bloom, but soon for man’s offense

  To Heav’n removed where first it grew, there grows,

  And flow’rs aloft shading the fount of life357,

  And where the river of bliss through midst of Heav’n

  Rolls o’er Elysian flow’rs her amber359 stream;

  With these that never fade the spirits elect

  Bind their resplendent locks inwreathed with beams,

  Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright

  Pavement that like a sea of jasper363 shone

  Impurpled with celestial roses smiled.

  Then crowned again their golden harps they took,

  Harps ever tuned, that glittering by their side

  Like quivers hung, and with preamble367 sweet

  Of charming symphony they introduce

  Their sacred song, and waken raptures high;

  No voice exempt370, no voice but well could join

  Melodious part, such concord is in Heav’n.

  Thee Father first they sung omnipotent,

  Immutable, immortal, infinite,

  Eternal King; thee Author of all being,

  Fountain of light, thyself invisible

  Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt’st

  Throned inaccessible, but377 when thou shad’st

  The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud

  Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine,

  Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear,

  Yet dazzle Heav’n, that381 brightest Seraphim

  Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes382.

  Thee next they sang of all creation first383,

  Begotten Son, divine similitude,

  In whose conspicuous count’nance, without cloud

  Made visible, th’ Almighty Father shines,

  Whom else no creature can behold387; on thee

  Impressed the effulgence388 of his glory abides,

  Transfused on thee his ample spirit rests.

  He Heav’n of Heav’ns and all the Powers therein

  By thee created, and by thee threw down

  Th’ aspiring Dominations392: thou that day

  Thy Father’s dreadful thunder didst not spare,

  Nor stop thy flaming chariot wheels, that shook

  Heav’n’s everlasting frame, while o’er the necks

  Thou drov’st of warring angels disarrayed.

  Back from pursuit thy Powers397 with loud acclaim

  Thee only extolled, Son of thy Father’s might,

  To execute fierce vengeance on his foes,

  Not so on man; him through their malice fall’n,

  Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom

  So strictly, but much more to pity incline:

  No sooner did thy dear and only Son

  Perceive thee purposed not to doom frail man

  So strictly, but much more to pity inclined,

  He to appease thy wrath, and end the strife

  Of mercy and justice in thy face discerned,

  Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat

  Second to thee, offered himself to die

  For man’s offense. O unexampled love,

  Love nowhere to be found less than divine!

  Hail Son412 of God, Savior of men, thy name

  Shall be the copious matter of my song

  Henceforth, and never shall my harp thy praise

  Forget, nor from thy Father’s praise disjoin.

  Thus they in Heav’n, above the starry sphere,

  Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent.

  Meanwhile upon the firm opacous418 globe

  Of this round world, whose first convex419 divides

  The luminous inferior orbs, enclosed

  From Chaos and th’ inroad of darkness old,

  Satan alighted walks: a globe far off

  It seemed, now seems a boundless continent

  Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night

  Starless exposed, and ever-threat’ning storms

  Of Chaos blust’ring round, inclement sky;

  Save on that side which from the wall of Heav’n

  Though distant far some small reflection gains

  Of glimmering air less vexed429 with tempest loud:

  Here walked the fiend at large430 in spacious field.

  As when a vulture on Imaüs431 bred,

  Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar432 bounds,

  Dislodging from a region scarce of prey

  To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling434 kids

  On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the springs435

  Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams;

  But in his way lights on the barren plains

  Of Sericana438, where Chineses drive

  With sails and wind439 their cany wagons light:

  So on this windy sea of land, the Fiend

  Walked up and down alone bent on his prey,

  Alone, for other creature in this place

  Living or lifeless to be found was none,

  None yet, but store444 hereafter from the earth

  Up hither like aërial vapors flew

  Of all things transitory and vain, when Sin

  With vanity had filled the works of men:

  Both all things vain, and all who in vain things

  Built their fond449 hopes of glory or lasting fame,

  Or happiness in this or th’ other life;

  All who have their reward on Earth, the fruits

  Of painful452 superstition and blind zeal,

  Naught seeking but the praise of men, here find

  Fit retribution, empty454 as their deeds;

  All th’ unaccomplished455 works of Nature’s hand,

  Abortive456, monstrous, or unkindly mixed,

  Dissolved on Earth, fleet457 hither, and in vain,

  Till final dissolution, wander here,

  Not in the neighboring moon, as some459 have dreamed;

  Those argent fields more likely habitants,

  Translated saints461 or middle spirits hold

  Betwixt th’ angelical and human kind:

  Hither of ill-joined sons and daughters born

  First from the ancient world those giants464 came

  With many a vain exploit, though then renowned:

  The builders next of Babel on the plain

  Of Sennaär467, and still with vain design

  New Babels, had they wherewithal, would build:

  Others came single; he who to be deemed

  A god, leaped fondly470 into Etna flames,

  Empedocles471, and he who to enjoy

  Plato’s Elysium, leaped into the sea,

  Cleombrotus473, and many more too long,

  Embryos474 and idiots, eremites and friars

  White, black475 and gray, with all their trumpery.

  Here pilgrims476 roam, that strayed so far to seek

  In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heav’n;

  And they478 who to be sure of Paradise

  Dying put on the weeds of Dominic,

  Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised;

  They pass481 the planets seven, and pass the fixed,

  And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs

  The trepidation talked, and that first moved;

  And now Saint Peter at Heav’n’s wicket484 seems

  To wait them with his keys485, and now at foot

  Of Heav’n’s ascent they lift their feet, when lo

  A violent crosswind from either coast

  Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry

  Into the devious489 air; then might ye see

  Cowls, hoods and habits with their wearers tossed

  And fluttered into rags, then relics, beads491,

  Indulgences492, dispenses, pardons, bulls,

  The sport of winds: all these upwhirled aloft

  Fly o’er the backside of the world494 far of
f

  Into a limbo495 large and broad, since called

  The Paradise of Fools496, to few unknown

  Long after, now unpeopled, and untrod;

  All this dark globe the fiend found as he passed,

  And long he wandered, till at last a gleam

  Of dawning light turned thitherward in haste

  His traveled501 steps; far distant he descries

  Ascending by degrees502 magnificent

  Up to the wall of Heaven a structure high,

  At top whereof, but far more rich appeared

  The work as of a kingly palace gate

  With frontispiece506 of diamond and gold

  Embellished; thick with sparkling orient507 gems

  The portal shone, inimitable on Earth

  By model, or by shading pencil drawn.

  The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw510

  Angels ascending and descending, bands

  Of guardians bright, when he from Esau fled

  To Padan-Aram513, in the field of Luz

  Dreaming by night under the open sky,

  And waking cried, “This is the gate of Heav’n.”

  Each stair mysteriously516 was meant, nor stood

  There always, but drawn up to Heav’n sometimes

  Viewless518, and underneath a bright sea flowed

  Of jasper, or of liquid pearl518, whereon

  Who after came from Earth, sailing arrived,

  Wafted521 by angels, or flew o’er the lake

  Rapt:522 in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds.

  The stairs were then let down, whether to dare

  The fiend by easy ascent, or aggravate

  His sad exclusion from the doors of bliss.

  Direct against which opened from beneath,526

  Just o’er the blissful seat of Paradise,526

  A passage down to th’ Earth526, a passage wide,

  Wider by far than that of aftertimes

  Over Mount530 Sion, and, though that were large,

  Over the Promised Land to God so dear,

  By which, to visit oft those happy tribes,

  On high behests his angels to and fro

  Passed frequent, and his eye with choice regard534

  From Paneas535 the fount of Jordan’s flood

  To Beërsaba536, where the Holy Land

  Borders on Egypt and the Arabian shore;

  So wide538 the op’ning seemed, where bounds were set

  To darkness, such as bound the ocean wave.

  Satan from hence now on the lower stair

  That scaled by steps of gold to Heaven gate

  Looks down with wonder at the sudden view

  Of all this world543 at once. As when a scout

  Through dark and desert ways with peril gone

  All night; at last by break of cheerful dawn

  Obtains the brow of some high-climbing hill,

  Which to his eye discovers547 unaware

  The goodly prospect of some foreign land