Irradiate; there plant eyes; all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see, and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight.
Now had the Almighty Father from above,
From the pure empyrean, where he sits
High throned, above all height, bent down his eye,
His own works, and their works, at once to view.
About him all the Sanctities of Heaven
Stood thick as stars, and from his sight received
Beatitude past utterance: on his right
The radiant image of his glory sat,
His only Son. On earth he first beheld
Our two first parents, yet the only two
Of mankind, in the happy garden placed,
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love;
Uninterrupted joy, unrivall❜d love,
In blissful solitude. He then survey'd
Hell, and the gulf between, and Satan there,
Coasting the wall of Heaven, on this side Night,
In the dun air sublime; and ready now
To stoop, with wearied wings, and willing feet,
On the bare outside of this world, that seem'd
Firm land imbosomed, without firmament,
Uncertain which, in ocean or in air.
Him God beholding, from his prospect high,
Wherein past, present, future he beholds,
Thus to his only Son, foreseeing, spake:
"Only begotten Son! seest thou what rage
Transports our adversary? whom no bounds
Prescribed, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains
Heap'd on him there, nor yet the main abyss,
Wide interrupt, can hold; so bent he seems
On desperate revenge, that shall redound
Upon his own rebellious head. And now,
Through all restraint broke loose, he wings his way
Not far off Heaven, in the precincts of light
Directly towards the new created world,
And Man there placed; with purpose to essay,
If him by force he can destroy, or, worse,
By some false guile pervert; and shall pervert:
For man will hearken to his glozing lies,
And easily transgress the sole command,
Sole pledge of his obedience; so will fall
He and his faithless progeny.-Whose fault?
Whose, but his own? Ingrate! he had of me,
All he could have: I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all the ethereal powers
And Spirits, both them who stood, and them who
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.
Not free, what proof could they have given sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,
Where only what they needs must do appear'd,
Not what they would? what praise could they re-
What pleasure I from such obedience paid, [ceive?
When will and reason (reason also is choice)
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil'd,
Made passive both, had served necessity,
Not me? They, therefore, as to right belong'd
So were created; nor can justly accuse
Their Maker, or their making, or their fate,
As if predestination over ruled
Their will, disposed by absolute decree,
Or high foreknowledge. They themselves decreed
Their own revolt, not I; if I foreknew,
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no less proved certain, unforeknown.
So, without least impulse, or shadow of fate,
Or aught by me immutably foreseen,
They trespass; authors to themselves in all,
Both what they judge, and what they choose; for so
I form'd them free, and free they must remain,
Till they enthral themselves: I else must change
Their nature, and revoke the high decree
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordained
Their freedom: they themselves ordain'd their fall.
The first sort by their own suggestion fell,
Self-tempted, self-depraved. Man falls, deceived
By the other first; man therefore shall find grace,
The other none: in mercy and justice both, [cel;
Through Heaven and Earth, so shall my glory ex
But mercy, first and last, shall brightest shine."
Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance fill'd
All heaven; and in the blessed Spirits elect,
Sense of new joy ineffable diffused.
Beyond compare the Son of God was seen
Most glorious; in him all his Father shone,
Substantially express'd; and in his face
Divine compassion visibly appeared,
Love without end, and without measure grace;
Which uttering thus, he to his Father spake:
"O Father! gracious was that word, which closed Thy sovereign sentence, that man should find grace,
For which, both Heaven and Earth shall high extol
Thy praises, with the innumerable sound
Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne,
Encompass'd, shall resound thee ever bless'd.
For should man finally be lost? should man,
Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son,
Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though joined
With his own folly? That be from thee far!
That far be from thee, Father, who art Judge
Of all things made, and judgest only right.
Or, shall the adversary thus obtain
His end, and frustrate thine? shall he fulfil
His malice, and thy goodness bring to nought?
Or proud return, though to his heavier doom,
Yet with revenge accomplished, and to Hell
Draw after him the whole race of mankind,
By him corrupted? or wilt thou thyself
Abolish thy creation, and unmake
For him, what for thy glory thou hast made?
So should thy goodness, and thy greatness, both
Be question'd, and blasphemed, without defence."
To whom the great Creator thus replied:
"O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight!
Son of my bosom! Son, who art alone
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might!
All hast thou spoken, as my thoughts are; all
As my eternal purpose
hath decreed:
Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will:
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me,
Freely vouchsafed. Once more I will renew
His lapsed powers, though forfeit, and enthrall'd
By sin, to foul exorbitant desires:
Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand,
On even ground, against his mortal foe;
By me upheld, that he may know how frail
His fallen condition is, and to me owe
All his deliverance, and to none but me.
Some I have chosen of peculiar grace,
Elect above the rest; so is my will:
The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd
Their sinful state; and to appease betimes
The incensed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites: for I will clear their senses dark,
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.
prayer, repentance, and obedience due, Though but endeavour'd with sincere intent,
shall not be slow, mine eye not shut, And I will place within them, as a guide, My umpire, Conscience; whom if they will hear, Light after light, well used, they shall attain; And to the end persisting, safe arrive. This, my long sufferance, and my day of grace, They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste: But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more, That they may stumble on, and deeper fall; but such from mercy I exclude. But yet all is not done: man disobeying, Disloyal, breaks his fealty, and sins Against the high supremacy of Heaven, Affecting Godhead, and, so losing all, To expiate his treason hath nought left,
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