Author of evil, unknown till thy revolt, Unnamed in Heaven, now plenteous, as thou see These Acts of hateful strife, hateful to all, Though heaviest by just measure on thy self And thy adherents: how has thou disturb d Heavens blessed peace, and into Nature brought Misery, uncreated till the crime Of thy Rebellion? how has thou instilled Thy malice into thousands, once upright And faithful, now proved false. But think not here To trouble Holy Rest; Heaven casts thee out From all her Confines. Heaven the seat of bliss Brooks not the works of violence and War. Hence then, and evil go with thee along Thy offspring, to the place of evil, Hell, Thou and thy wicked crew; there mingle broils, Ere this avenging Sword begin thy doom, Or some more sudden vengeance winged from God Precipitate thee with augmented pain. Adam, Heavens high behest no Preface needs: Sufficient that thy Prayers are heard, and Death, Then due by sentence when thou did transgress, Defeated of his seizure many days Given thee of Grace, wherein thou may repent, And one bad act with many deeds well done May cover: well may then thy Lord appeased Redeem thee quite from Deaths rapacious claim; But longer in this Paradise to dwell Permits not; to remove thee I am come, And send thee from the Garden forth to till The ground whence thou was taken, fitter Soil. Lament not Eve, but patiently resign What justly thou has lost; nor set thy heart, Thus over-fond, on that which is not thine; Thy going is not lonely, with thee goes Thy Husband, him to follow thou art bound; Where he abides, think there thy native soil. Adam, now open thine eyes, and first behold Th'effects which thy original crime hath wrought In some to spring from thee, who never touched Th'excepted Tree, nor with the Snake conspired, Nor sinned thy sin, yet from that derive Corruption to bring forth more violent deeds. These two are Brethren, Adam, and to come Out of thy loins; th'unjust the just hath slain, For envy that his Brothers Offering found From Heaven acceptance; but the bloody Fact Will be avenged, and th'others Faith approved Loose no reward, though here thou see him die, Rolling in dust and gore. Death thou has seen In his first shape on man; but many shapes Of Death, and many are the ways that lead To his grim Cave, all dismal; yet to sense More terrible at th'entrance then within. Some, as thou saw, by violent stroke shall die, By Fire, Flood, Famine, by Intemperance more In Meats and Drinks which on the Earth shall bring Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew Before thee shall appear; that thou may know What misery th'inabstinence of Eve Shall bring on men. Their Makers Image, then Forsook them, when themselves they vilified To serve ungoverned appetite, and took His Image whom they served, a brutish vice, Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve. Therefore so abject is their punishment, Disfiguring not Gods likeness, but their own, Or if his likeness, by themselves defaced While they pervert pure Natures healthful rules To loathsome sickness, worthily, since they Gods Image did not reverence in themselves. There is, if thou well observe The rule of not too much, by temperance taught In what thou eats and drinks, seeking from thence Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight, Till many years over thy head return: So may thou live, till like ripe Fruit thou drop Into thy Mothers lap, or be with ease Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature: This is old age; but then thou must outlive Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change To withered weak and gray; thy Senses then Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forgo, To what thou has, and for the Air of youth Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will reign A melancholy damp of cold and dry To weigh thy Spirits down, and last consume The Balm of Life. Nor love thy Life, nor hate; but what thou lives Live well, how long or short permit to Heaven: And now prepare thee for another sight. Judge not what is best By pleasure, though to Nature seeming meet, Created, as thou art, to nobler end Holy and pure, conformity divine. Those Tents thou saw so pleasant, were the Tents Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his Race Who slew his Brother; studious they appear Of Arts that polish Life, Inventors rare, Unmindful of their Maker, though his Spirit Taught them, but they his gifts acknowledged none. Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget; For that fair female Troop thou saw, that seemed Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay, Yet empty of all good wherein consists Women's domestic honour and chief praise; Bred only and completed to the taste Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance, To dress, and troule the Tongue, and roll the Eye. To these that sober Race of Men, whose lives Religious titl'd them the Sons of God, Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame Ignobly, to the trains and to the smiles Of these fair Atheists, and now swim in joy, (Erelong to swim at large) and laugh; for which The world erelong a world of tears must weep. From Mans effeminate slackness it begins, who should better hold his place By wisdom, and superior gifts received. But now prepare thee for another Scene. These are the product Of those ill mated Marriages thou saw; Where good with bad were matched, who of themselves Abhor to join; and by imprudence mixed, Produce prodigious Births of body or mind. Such were these Giants, men of high renown; For in those days Might only shall be admired, And Valour and Heroic Virtue called; To overcome in Battle, and subdue Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite Man-slaughter, shall be held the highest pitch Of human Glory, and for Glory done Of triumph, to be styled great Conquerors, Patrons of Mankind, Gods, and Sons of Gods, Destroyers rightlier called and Plagues of men. Thus Fame shall be achieved, renown on Earth, And what most merits fame in silence hid. But he the seventh from thee, whom thou behold The only righteous in a World perverse, And therefore hated, therefore so beset With Foes for daring single to be just, And utter odious Truth, that God would come To judge them with his Saints: Him the most High Rapt in a balmy Cloud with winged Steeds Did, as thou saw, receive, to walk with God High in Salvation and the Climes of bliss, Exempt from Death; to show thee what reward Awaits the good, the rest what punishment? Which now direct thine eyes and soon behold. Those whom last thou saw In Triumph and luxurious wealth, are they First seen in acts of prowess eminent And great exploits, but of true virtue void; Who having spilt much blood, and don much waste Subduing Nations, and achieved thereby Fame in the World, high titles, and rich prey, Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth, Surfeit, and lust, till wantonness and pride Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in Peace. The conquered also, and enslaved by War Shall with their freedom lost all virtue loose And fear of God, from whom their piety feigned In sharp contest of Battle found no aide Against invaders; therefore cooled in zeal Thenceforth shall practice how to live secure, Worldly or dissolute, on what their Lords Shall leave them to enjoy; for the Earth shall bear More then enough, that temperance may be tried: So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved, Justice and Temperance, Truth and Faith forgot; One Man except, the only Son of light In a dark Age, against example good, Against allurements, custom, and a World Offended; fearless of reproach and scorn, Or violence, he of their wicked ways Shall them admonish, and before them set The paths of righteousness, how much more safe, And full of peace, denouncing wrath to come On their impenitence; and shall return Of them derided, but of God observed The one just Man alive; by his command Shall build a wondrous Ark, as thou behold, To save himself and household from amidst A World devote to universal rack. No sooner he with them of Man and Beast Select for life shall in the Ark be lodged, And sheltered round, but all the Cataracts Of Heaven set open on the Earth shall power Rain day and night, all fountains of the Deep Broke up, shall heave the Ocean to usurp Beyond all bounds, till inundation rise Above the highest Hills: then shall this Mount Of Paradise by might of Waves be moved Out of his place, pushed by the horned flood, With all his verdure spoiled, and Trees adrift Down the great River to the opening Gulf, And there take root an Island salt and bare, The haunt of Seals and Orcs, and Sea-mews clang. To teach thee that God attributes to place No sanctity, if none be thither brought By Men who there frequent, or therein dwell. And now what further shall ensue, behold. Dexterously thou aim; So willingly doth God remit his Ire, Though late repenting him of Man depraved, Grieved at his heart, when looking down he saw The whole Earth filled with violence, and all flesh Corrupting each their way; yet those removed, Such grace shall one just Man find in his sight, That he relents, not to blot out mankind, And makes a Covenant never to destroy The Earth again by flood, nor let the Sea Surpass his bounds, nor Rain to drown the World With Man therein or Beast; but when he brings Over the Earth a Cloud, will therein set His triple-coloured Bow, whereon to look And call to mind his Covenant: Day and Night, Seed time and Harvest, Heat and hoary Frost Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new, Both Heaven and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell. The End of the Eleventh Book. Paradise Lost. BOOK XII. THE ARGUMENT. The Angel Michael continues from the Flood to relate what shall succeed; then, in the mention of Abraham, comes by degrees to explain, who that Seed of the Woman shall be, which was promised Adam and Eve in the Fall; his Incarnation, Death, Resurrection, and Ascention; the state of the Church till his second Coming. Adam greatly satisfied and recomfort by these Relations and Promises descends the Hill with Michael; wakens Eve, who all this while had slept, but with gentle dreams composed to quietness of mind and submission. Michael in either hand leads them out of Paradise, the fiery Sword waving behind them, and the Cherubim taking their Stations to guard the Place, Thus thou has seen one World begin and end; And Man as from a second stock proceed. Much thou has yet to see, but I perceive Thy mortal sight to fail; objects divine Must needs impair and weary human sense: Henceforth what is to come I will relate, Thou therefore give due audience, and attend. This second sours of Men, while yet but few; And while the dread of judgement past remains Fresh in their minds, fearing the Deity, With some regard to what is just and right Shall lead their lives, and multiply apace, Labouring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop, Corn wine and oil; and from the herd or flock, Oft sacrificing Bullock, Lamb, or Kid, With large Wine-offerings poured, and sacred Feast, Shall spend their days in joy unblamed, and dwell Long time in peace by Families and Tribes Under paternal rule; till one shall rise Of proud ambitious heart, who not content With fair equality, fraternal state, Will arrogate Dominion undeserved Over his brethren, and quite dispossess Concord and law of Nature from the Earth, Hunting (and Men not Beasts shall be his game) With War and hostile snare such as refuse Subjection to his Empire tyrannous: A mighty Hunter thence he shall be styled Before the Lord, as in despite of Heaven, Or from Heaven climbing second Sovereignty; And from Rebellion shall derive his name, Though of Rebellion others he accuse. He with a crew, whom like Ambition joins With him or under him to tyrannise, Marching from Eden towards the West, shall find The Plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge Boils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell; Of Brick, and of that stuff they cast to build A City and Tower, whose top may reach to Heaven; And get themselves a name, least far dispersed In foreign Lands their memory be lost Regardless whether good or evil fame. But God who oft descends to visit men Unseen, and through their habitations walks To mark their doings, them beholding soon, Comes down to see their City, ere the Tower Obstruct Heaven Towers, and in derision sets Upon their Tongues a various Spirit to raise Quite out their Native Language, and instead To sow a jangling noise of words unknown: Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud Among the Builders; each to other calls Not understood, till hoarse, and all in rage, As mocked they storm; great laughter was in Heaven And looking down, to see the hubbub strange And hear the din; thus was the building left Ridiculous, and the work Confusion named. Justly thou abhorr'st That Son, who on the quiet state of men Such trouble brought, affecting to subdue Rational Liberty; yet know withal, Since thy original lapse, true Liberty Is lost, which always with right Reason dwells Twinned, and from her hath no dividual being: Reason in man obscured, or not obeyed, Immediately inordinate desires And upstart Passions catch the Government From Reason, and to servitude reduce Man till then free. Therefore since he permits Within himself unworthy Powers to reign Over free Reason, God in judgement just Subjects him from without to violent Lords; Who oft as undeservedly enthral His outward freedom: Tyranny must be, Though to the Tyrant thereby no excuse. Yet sometimes Nations will decline so low From virtue, which is reason, that no wrong, But Justice, and some fatal curse annexed Deprives them of their outward liberty, Their inward lost: Witness th'irreverent Son Of him who built the Ark, who for the shame Don to his Father, heard this heavy curse, Doubt not but that sin Will reign among them, as of thee begot; And therefore was Law given them to evince Their natural pravitie, by stirring up Sin against Law to fight; that when they see Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak, The blood of Bulls and Goats, they may conclude Some blood more precious must be paid for Man, Just for unjust, that in such righteousness To them by Faith imputed, they may find Justification towards God, and peace Of Conscience, which the Law by Ceremonies Cannot appease, nor Man the moral part Perform, and not performing cannot live. So law appears imperfect, and but given With purpose to resign them in full time Up to a better Covenant, disciplined From shadowy Types to Truth, from Flesh to Spirit, From imposition of strict Laws, to free Acceptance of large Grace, from servile fear To filial, works of Law to works of Faith. And therefore shall not Moses, though of God Highly beloved, being but the Minister Of Law, his people into Canaan lead; But Joshua whom the Gentiles Jesus call, His Name and Office bearing, who shall quell The adversary Serpent, and bring back Through the worlds wilderness long wandered man Safe to eternal Paradise of rest. Meanwhile they in their earthly Canaan placed Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sins National interrupt their public peace, Provoking God to raise them enemies: From whom as oft he saves them penitent By Judges first, then under Kings; of whom The second, both for piety renowned And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive Irrevocable, that his Regal Throne For ever shall endure; the like shall sing All Prophecy, That of the Royal Stock Of David (so I name this King) shall rise A Son, the Women's Seed to thee foretold, Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust All Nations, and to Kings foretold, of Kings The last, for of his Reign shall be no end. But first a long succession must ensue, And his next Son for Wealth and Wisdom famed, The clouded Ark of God till then in Tents Wandering, shall in a glorious Temple enshrine. Such follow him, as shall be registered Part good, part bad, of bad the longer scroll, Whose foul Idolatrous, and other faults Heaped to the popular sum, will so incense God, as to leave them, and expose their Land, Their City, his Temple, and his holy Ark With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey To that proud City, whose high Walls thou saw Left in confusion, Babylon thence called. There in captivity he lets them dwell The space of seventy years, then brings them back, Remembering mercy, and his Covenant sworn To David, stablisht as the days of Heaven. Returned from Babylon by leave of Kings Their Lords, whom God disposed, the house of God They first re-edifie, and for a while In mean estate live moderate, till grown In wealth and multitude, factious they grow; But first among the Priests dissension springs, Men who attend the Altar, and should most Endeavour Peace: their strife pollution brings Upon the Temple it self: at last they seize The Sceptre, and regard not Davits Sons, Then loose it to a stranger, that the true Anointed King Messiah might be born Barred of his right; yet at his Birth a Star Unseen before in Heaven proclaims him come, And guides the Eastern Sages, who enquire His place, to offer Incense, Myrrh, and Gold; His place of birth a solemn Angel tells To simple Shepherds, keeping watch by night; They gladly thither haste, and by a Quire Of squadrond Angels hear his Carol sung. A Virgin is his Mother, but his Sire The Power of the most High; he shall ascend The Throne hereditary, and bound his Reign With earths wide bounds, his glory with the Heavens. Dream not of their fight, As of a Duel, or the local wounds Of head or heel: not therefore joins the Son Manhood to God-head, with more strength to foil Thy enemy; nor so is overcome Satan, whose fall from Heaven, a deadlier bruise, Disabled not to give thee thy deaths wound: Which he, who comes thy Saviour, shall recur, Not by destroying Satan, but his works In thee and in thy Seed: nor can this be, But by fulfilling that which thou did want, Obedience to the Law of God, imposed On penalty of death, and suffering death, The penalty to thy transgression due, And due to theirs which out of thine will grow: So only can high Justice rest appaid. The Law of God exact he shall fulfil Both by obedience and by love, though love Alone fulfil the Law; thy punishment He shall endure by coming in the Flesh To a reproachful life and cursed death, Proclaiming Life to all who shall believe In his redemption, and that his obedience Imputed becomes theirs by Faith, his merits To save them, not their own, though legal works. For this he shall live hated, be blasphemed, Seized on by force, judged, and to death condemned A shameful and accursed, nailed to the Cross By his own Nation, slain for bringing Life; But to the Cross he nails thy Enemies, The Law that is against thee, and the sins Of all mankind, with him there crucified, Never to hurt them more who rightly trust In this his satisfaction; so he dies, But soon revives, Death over him no power Shall long usurp; ere the third dawning light Return, the Stars of Morn shall see him rise Out of his grave, fresh as the dawning light, Thy ransom paid, which Man from death redeems, His death for Man, as many as offered Life Neglect not, and the benefit embrace By Faith not void of works: this God-like act Annuls thy doom, the death thou should have died, In sin for ever lost from life; this act Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength Defeating Sin and Death, his two maine arms, And fix far deeper in his head their stings Then temporal death shall bruise the Victors heel, Or theirs whom he redeems, a death like sleep, A gentle wafting to immortal Life. Nor after resurrection shall he stay Longer on Earth then certain times to appear To his Disciples, Men who in his Life Still followed him; to them shall leave in charge To teach all nations what of him they learned And his Salvation, them who shall believe Baptising in the profluent stream, the sign Of washing them from guilt of sin to Life Pure, and in mind prepared, if so befall, For death, like that which the redeemer died. All Nations they shall teach; for from that day Not only to the Sons of Abrahams Loins Salvation shall be Preached, but to the Sons Of Abrahams Faith wherever through the world; So in his seed all Nations shall be blessed. Then to the Heaven of Heavens he shall ascend With victory, triumphing through the air Over his foes and thine; there shall surprise The Serpent, Prince of air, and drag in Chains Through all his Realm, and there confounded leave; Then enter into glory, and resume His Seat at Gods right hand, exalted high Above all names in Heaven; and thence shall come, When this worlds dissolution shall be ripe, With glory and power to judge both quick and dead, To judge th'unfaithful dead, but to reward His faithful, and receive them into bliss, Whether in Heaven or Earth, for then the Earth Shall all be Paradise, far happier place Then this of Eden, and far happier days. Be sure they will, but from Heaven He to his own a Comforter will send, The promise of the Father, who shall dwell His Spirit within them, and the Law of Faith Working through love, upon their hearts shall write, To guide them in all truth, and also arm With spiritual Armour, able to resist Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts, What man can do against them, not afraid, Though to the death, against such cruelties With inward consolations recompense, And oft supported so as shall amaze Their proudest persecutors: for the Spirit Poured first on his Apostles, whom he sends To evangelise the Nations, then on all Baptised, shall them with wondrous gifts endue To speak all Tongues, and do all Miracles, As did their Lord before them. Thus they win Great numbers of each Nation to receive With joy the tidings brought from Heaven: at length Their Ministry performed, and race well run, Their doctrine and their story written left, They die; but in their room, as they forewarn, Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous Wolves, Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven To their own vile advantages shall turn Of lucre and ambition, and the truth With superstitions and traditions taint, Left only in those written Records pure, Though not but by the Spirit understood. Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names, Places and titles, and with these to join Secular power, though feigning still to act By spiritual, to themselves appropriating The Spirit of God, promised alike and given To all Believers; and from that pretence, Spiritual Laws by carnal power shall force On every conscience; Laws which none shall find Left them inrould, or what the Spirit within Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then But force the Spirit of Grace it self, and bind His consort Liberty; what, but unbuild His living Temples, built by Faith to stand, Their own Faith not another: for on Earth Who against Faith and Conscience can be heard Infallible? yet many will presume: Whence heavy persecution shall arise On all who in the worship persevere Of Spirit and Truth; the rest, far greater part, Will deem in outward Rites and specious forms Religion satisfied; Truth shall retire Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works of Faith Rarely be found: so shall the World go on, To good malignant, to bad men benign, Under her own weight groaning till the day Appear of respiration to the just, And vengeance to the wicked, at return Of him so lately promised to thy aid The Women's seed, obscurely then foretold, Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord, Last in the Clouds from Heaven to be reveled In glory of the Father, to dissolve Satan with his perverted World, then raise From the conflagrations mass, purged and refined, New Heavens, new Earth, Ages of endless date Founded in righteousness and peace and love To bring forth fruits Joy and eternal Bliss. This having learnt, thou has attained the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the Stars Thou knew by name, and all the Ethereal Powers, All secrets of the deep, all Natures works, Or works of God in Heaven, Air, Earth, or Sea, And all the riches of this World enjoydst, And all the rule, one Empire; only add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add Faith, Add virtue, Patience, Temperance, add Love, By name to come called Charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A paradise within thee, happier far. Let us descend now therefore from this top Of Speculation; for the hour precise Exacts our parting hence; and see the Guards, By me encamped on yonder Hill, expect Their motion, at whose Front a flaming Sword, In signal of remove, waves fiercely round; We may no longer stay: go, waken Eve; Her also I with gentle Dreams have calmed Portending good, and all her spirits composed To meek submission: thou at season fit Let her with thee partake what thou has heard, Chiefly what may concern her Faith to know, The great deliverance by her Seed to come (For by the Women's Seed) on all Mankind. That ye may live, which will be many days, Both in one Faith unanimous though sad, With cause for evils past, yet much more cheered With meditation on the happy end.