To wait them with his keys, and now at foot 485 Of Heav'n's ascent they lift their feet, when, lo! A violent cross wind from either coast
Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry Into the devious air; then might ye see
Cowls, hoods, and habits with their wearers tost And flutter'd into rags, then reliques, beads, 491 Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls,
The sport of winds all these upwhirl'd aloft Fly o'er the backside of the world far off Into a Limbo large and broad, since call'd The Paradise of Fools, to few unknown Long after, now unpeopled, and untrod. All this dark globe the Fiend found as he pass'd, And long he wander'd, till at last a gleam Of dawning light turn'd thither-ward in haste 500 His travell'd steps: far distant he descries Ascending by degrees magnificent
Up to the wall of Heav'n a structure high: At top whereof, but far more rich, appear'd The work as of a kingly palace gate, With frontispiece of diamond and gold Embellish'd; thick with sparkling orient gems The portal shone, inimitable on earth By model, or by shading pencil drawn. The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw Angels ascending and descending, bands Of guardians bright, when he from Esau fled Po Padin Aram in the field of Luz Dream by night under the open sky,
And waking cry'd, This is the gate of Heav'n. 515 Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood There always, but drawn up to Heav'n sometimes Viewless; and underneath a bright sea flow'd Of jasper, or of liquid pearl, whereon
Who after came from earth sailing arriv'd 520 Wafted by angels, or flew o'er the lake
Rapt 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: 525 Direct against which open'd from beneath, Just o'er the blissful seat of Paradise,
A passage down to th' Earth, a passage wide, Wider by far than that of after times Over Mount Sion, and, though that were large, Over the Promis'd Land to God so dear, By which, to visit oft those happy tribes, On high behests his angels to and fro
Pass'd frequent, and his eye with choice regard From Panæas the fount of Jordan's flood
Te Beërsaba, where the Holy Land Borders on Egypt and th' Arabian shore;
So wide the opening seem'd, where bounds were
To darkness, such as bound the ocean wave. Satan from hence, now on the lower stair That scal'd by steps of gold to Heaven gate, Looks down with wonder at the sudden vrew' Of all this world at once. As when a scout.
Through dark and desert ways with peril gone All night, at last by break of cheerful dawn 545 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 renown'd metropolis With glist'ring spires and pinnacles adorn'd, 550 Which now the rising sun gilds with his beams: Such wonder seiz'd, though after Heaven seen, The spirit malign, but much more envy seiz'd, At sight of all this world beheld so fair. Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood So high above the circling canopy 556 Of Night's extended shade) from eastern point Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
Beyond th' horizon; then from pole to pole 560 He views in breadth, and without longer pause Down right into the world's first region throws His flight precipitant, and winds with ease Through the pure marble air his oblique way Amongst innumerable stars, that shone 565 Stars distant, but nigh hand seem'd other worlds; Or other worlds they seem'd, or happy isles, Like those Hesperian gardens fam'd of old, Fortunate fields, and groves, and flow'ry vales, Thrice happy isles, but who dwelt happy there 570 He stay❜d not to inquire: above them all The golden sun in splendor likest Heav'n Allur'd his eye: thither his course he bends
Through the calm firmament, (but up or down, By centre, or eccentric, hard to tell, Or longitude,) where the great luminary Aloof the vulgar constellations thick,
That from his lordly eye keep distance due, Dispenses light from far; they as they move Their starry dance in numbers that compute 580 Days months and years, tow'ards his all-cheering lamp
Turn swift their various motions, or are turn'd By his magnetic beam, that gently warms The universe, and to each inward part With gentle penetration, though unseen, Shoots invisible virtue ev'n to the deep; So wondrously was set his station bright. There lands the Fiend, a spot like which perhaps Astronomer in the sun's lucent orb
Through his glaz'd optic tube yet never saw. The place he found beyond expression bright, Compar'd with aught on earth, metal or stone; Not all parts like, but all alike inform'd With radiant light, as glowing ir'on with fire; If metal, part seem'd gold, part silver clear; 595 If stone, carbuncle most or chrysolite,
Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone
In Aaron's breast-plate, and a stone besides Imagin'd rather oft than elsewhere seen,
That stone, or like to that which here below 600 Philosophers in vain so long have sought, In vain, though by their powerful art they bind
Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound
In various shapes old Proteus from the sea, Drain'd through a limbec to his native form. 605 What wonder then if fields and regions here Breathe forth elixir pure, and rivers run Potable gold, when with one virtuous touch Th' arch-chemic Sun, so far from us remote, Produces, with terrestrial humor mix'd, Here in the dark so many precious things Of color glorious, and effect so rare ? Here matter new to gaze the devil met Undazzled; far and wide his eye commands; For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade, 615 But all sun-shine, as when his beams at noon Culminate from th' equator, as they now
Shot upward still dirent, whence no way round Shadow from body' opaque can fall; and th' air No where so clear, sharpen'd his visual ray 620 To objects distant far, whereby he soon Saw within ken a glorious angel stand, The same whom John saw also in the sun : His back was turn'd; but not his brightness hid; Of beaming sunny rays a golden tiar
Circled his head, nor less his locks behind
Illustrious on his shoulders fledge with wings Lay waving round; on some great charge employ'd He seem'd, or fix'd in cogitation deep. Glad was the spirit impure, as now in hope 630 To find who might direct his wand'ring flight To Paradise the happy seat of man,
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