He asked, but all the
Heavenly
Quire stood mute,
And silence was in Heaven.
And silence was in Heaven.
World's Greatest Books - Volume 17 - Poetry and Drama
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With the year
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But clouds instead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off.
God, observing the approach of Satan to the world, foretells the fall
of Man to the Son, who listens while
In his face
Divine compassion visibly appeared,
Love without end, and without measure grace.
The Father asks where such love can be found as will redeem man by
satisfying eternal Justice.
He asked, but all the Heavenly Quire stood mute,
And silence was in Heaven.
Admiration seized all Heaven, and "to the ground they cast their
crowns in solemn adoration," when the Son replied
"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 me let Death wreak all his rage.
Under his gloomy power I shall not long
Lie vanquished. "
While the immortal quires chanted their praise, Satan drew near, and
sighted the World--the sun, earth, moon, and companion planets--
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 discovers unaware
The goodly prospect of some foreign land
First seen, or some renowned metropolis
With glistening spires and pinnacles adorned,
Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams,
Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,
The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,
At sight of all this world beheld so fair.
Flying to the Sun, and taking the form of "a stripling Cherub," Satan
recognises there the Archangel Uriel and accosts him.
"Brightest Seraph, tell
In which of all these shining orbs hath Man
His fixed seat. "
And Uriel, although held to be "the sharpest-sighted Spirit of all in
Heaven," was deceived, for angels cannot discern hypocrisy. So Uriel,
pointing, answers:
"That place is Earth, the seat of Man. . . .
That spot to which I point is Paradise,
Adam's abode; those lofty shades his bower.
Thy way thou canst not miss; me mine requires. "
Thus said, he turned; and Satan, bowing low,
As to superior Spirits is wont in Heaven,
Where honour due and reverence none neglects,
Took leave, and toward the coast of Earth beneath,
Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success,
Throws his steep flight in many an aery wheel,
Nor stayed till on Niphantes' top he lights.
_IV.
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But clouds instead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off.
God, observing the approach of Satan to the world, foretells the fall
of Man to the Son, who listens while
In his face
Divine compassion visibly appeared,
Love without end, and without measure grace.
The Father asks where such love can be found as will redeem man by
satisfying eternal Justice.
He asked, but all the Heavenly Quire stood mute,
And silence was in Heaven.
Admiration seized all Heaven, and "to the ground they cast their
crowns in solemn adoration," when the Son replied
"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 me let Death wreak all his rage.
Under his gloomy power I shall not long
Lie vanquished. "
While the immortal quires chanted their praise, Satan drew near, and
sighted the World--the sun, earth, moon, and companion planets--
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 discovers unaware
The goodly prospect of some foreign land
First seen, or some renowned metropolis
With glistening spires and pinnacles adorned,
Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams,
Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,
The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,
At sight of all this world beheld so fair.
Flying to the Sun, and taking the form of "a stripling Cherub," Satan
recognises there the Archangel Uriel and accosts him.
"Brightest Seraph, tell
In which of all these shining orbs hath Man
His fixed seat. "
And Uriel, although held to be "the sharpest-sighted Spirit of all in
Heaven," was deceived, for angels cannot discern hypocrisy. So Uriel,
pointing, answers:
"That place is Earth, the seat of Man. . . .
That spot to which I point is Paradise,
Adam's abode; those lofty shades his bower.
Thy way thou canst not miss; me mine requires. "
Thus said, he turned; and Satan, bowing low,
As to superior Spirits is wont in Heaven,
Where honour due and reverence none neglects,
Took leave, and toward the coast of Earth beneath,
Down from the ecliptic, sped with hoped success,
Throws his steep flight in many an aery wheel,
Nor stayed till on Niphantes' top he lights.
_IV.
