BOOK I. Dropt from the Zenith like a falling star, Fell long before; nor aught avail'd him now Mean while the winged haralds by command 750 And trumpets' sound, throughout the host proclaim At Pandæmonium, the high capital Of Satan and his peers: their summons call'd 755 By place or choice the worthiest; they anon To mortal combat or career with lance,) 765 752 haralds] Par. Lost, 1st ed. Steevens' Shakesp. (Pericles) ed. 1793, vol. xiii. p. 489. 769 Taurus] v. Virg. Georg. i. 217. 'Candidus auratis aperit cum cornibus annum 770 775 Pour forth their populous youth about the hive Or dreams he sees, while over head the moon 780 785 Wheels her pale course; they, on their mirth and dance Intent, with jocund music charm his ear; At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds. Reduc'd their shapes immense, and were at large, 790 774 expatiate] i. e. walk abroad. v. Virg. Æn. iv. 62. Cic. Orat. iii. Ut palæstrice spatiari.' Todd. 784 dreams] See Ap. Rhod. Arg. iv. 1479. Virg. Æn. vi. 453. Todd. 785 arbitress] v. Hor. Ep. v. 49. 'Non infideles arbitræ Nox et Diana.' Heylin. And in their own dimensions like themselves, In close recess and secret conclave sat, 795 PARADISE LOST. BOOK II. THE ARGUMENT. THE Consultation begun, Satan debates whether another battle be to be hazarded for the recovery of heaven: some advise it, others dissuade. A third proposal is preferred, mentioned before by Satan, to search the truth of that prophecy or tradition in heaven concerning another world, and another kind of creature, equal, or not much inferior, to themselves, about this time to be created: their doubt who shall be sent on this difficult search: Satan their chief undertakes alone the voyage, is honoured and applauded. The council thus ended, the rest betake them several ways, and to several employments, as their 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 opened, 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. HIGH on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous east with richest hand 1 High] Compare with this the opening of the second book of Ovid's Metam. 'Regia solis erat,' &c. 2 Ormus] See View of Ormus, in Buckingham's Travels in Assyria, p. 428, 4to. Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, To that bad eminence; and, from despair Vain war with heaven, and by success untaught Powers and dominions, deities of heav'n! 5 10 15 20 25 4 barbaric] Lucret. lib. ii. 500. Barbarica vestes.' Euripid. Iph. Aul. 73. de Paride: χρυσῷ τε λάμπρος, βαρβάρω χλιδήματι. and Virg. Æn. ii. 504. |