Out flows a blaze of glory; for on high
Tow'ring advanc'd the moving throne of God,
Vaft and majestick; on each radiant fide

The pointed rays flope glittering; at the foot
Glides a full tide of day, that onward pours,
In liquid torrents through the black abyss,
Sparkling among reluctant shapes which thence
Retire confus'd; as when Vefuvio shakes
With inward torments, and difgorges flames,
O'er the vast mountain's ridge the burning waves
Drive their refulgent curls, and on they roll
Sweeping the glowing plains down to the fea ;
Th'affrighted fea leaps back with hideous roar
To give the fire its courfe; thus Chaos wild
Hiffing recoils to let in floods of light.

Above the throne, th' ideas hea venly bright
Of past, of present, and of coming time
Fix'd their immov'd abode, and there present
An endless landscape of created things
To fight celeftial, where angelick eyes
Are loft in prospect; for the fhiny range,
Boundless and various in its bofom bears
Millions of full-proportion'd worlds, beheld
With ftedfaft eyes, till more arise to view,
And farther inward scenes ftart up unknown.
Myriads of feraphs in long feries wait
About the throne, and as it moves, proceed
In numerous order, to celestial song.

Above,

Above, the fymphony of mellow flutes,
And harps, by flying angels gently touch'd,
Relieve the trumpet's rage, and fitly blend
The folemn founds in harmony divine;

Such as might tune new worlds, and give the laws
To globes on high, and the just figure guide
Of planets forming all their airy dance.

Below, the blazing wheels drive bounding o'er
The starry pavement; ftars and hills of light
Double their glories where the chariot rolls
With rattling found; and th' empyræum vast
Down to its stedfast axis, groans throughout
Under the burning tracts, till now it rests
Upon the gaping brink of heaven; and there
With open pomp, fills the vaft empty space.
Silence enfues; a deep and aweful pause
More terrible, all expectation held

In horror: now wrath imminent amaz'd
With dreadful precipice, to all it feems
More formidable near; then from the throne
A vocal thunder roll'd the fenfe of God,
Majestically long, repugnant all

To princes' customs here; their judgments flash
On guilt, with words concife, and sudden blaze.
Quite otherwise, the God's enlarged fpeech
Set wide the fate of things; that all around
Might take full profpects of their coming doom.

VOL. I.

L

Servants

Servants of God! and Virtues great in arms 3
We approve your faithful works, and you return
Blefs'd from the dire pursuit of rebel foes;
Refolv'd, obdurate, they have try'd the force
Of this right hand, and known Almighty pow'r ;
Transfix'd with lightning down they funk, they fell
Into the fiery gulph, and deep they plunge
Below the burning waves, to hide their heads
In fhelter from my vengeance bellowing hence
More fierce, and fcorching with more dreadful fires,
There let 'em find their doom, that durft defy
Omnipotence, and flight his proffer'd grace;
Rolling in flames, and ne'er to find a dawn
Of heavenly day; inftead, the mind imbibes
Eternal gloom, and fing'd with conftant flames,
Can find no eafe; while fierce their boiling rage
Eats through th' impyreal mould, and glows within
With endless pain; not one repentant thought
Shall cool the breast, but proud in horrid crime,
The foul anneals and hardens in the fire.

But you! commiffion'd by commands divine,
Have wifely fill'd your truft, and clos'd 'em all
Within the fervid lake, left any roam
Into the dark abyfs to fhun their doom,
And in the womb immenfe of things unborn
Should feek annihilation; you must rise
Among the fhining virtues, more fublime;
On lofty thrones preferr❜d for lofty deeds.

For

1

For you, ye guilty throng! that lately join'd
In this fedition, fince feduc'd from good,
And caught in trains of guile, by spirits malign,
Superior in their order; you accept,
Trembling, my heavenly clemency and

grace.

When the long æra once has fill'd its orb,
You fhall emerge to light, and humbly here
Again shall bow before his favouring throne,
If your own virtue second my decree :

But all must have their manes first below,
So ftands th' eternal fate, but fmoother yours
Than what loft angels feel; nor can our reign,

Without just dooms, the peace of heav'n fecure;

For forms celeftial new erect in glory

Wou'd totter, dazzled with the heights of power,
Did not the nerves of justice fix their fight.

See, where below in Chaos wond'rous deep
A fpeck of light dawns forth, and thence throughout
The shades, in many a wreath, my forming power
There swiftly turns the burning eddy round,
Absorbing all crude matter near its brink;
Which next, with fubtle motions, takes the form
I please to ftamp, the feed of infant worlds
All now in embryo, but ere long shall rife
Variously scatter'd in this vaft expanse,
Involv'd in winding orbs, until the brims
Of outward circles brush the heavenly gates.

The middle point a globe of curling fire

Shall hold, which round it sheds its genial heat;

Where'er I kindle life the motion

grows

In all the endless orbs, from this machine;

And infinite viciffitudes fhall roll

About the restlefs center; for I rear,

In those meanders turn'd, a dufty ball,
Deform'd all o'er with woods, whose shaggy tops
Inclose eternal mifts, and deadly damps

Hover within their boughs, to choak the light;
Impervious fcenes of horror, 'till reform'd
To fields, and graffy dales, and flow'ry meads,
By your continual pains. The torrid zone
Here fries, with conftant heat, the fwarthy world;
Parching the plains where hideous monfters glare,
And dufty mountains, tumbled by the winds,
Stretch their uncertain heaps; no less the froft
At either end shall rage, and high shall raise
Firm promontories; vaft the ruins feem
Of defart nature, and th' eternal piles
Load all the dreary coaft, and thick in ice,
Arm either pole, that yearly peeps aíkance
On coming light, but feels no gentle ray
Unbind the frozen chain. Between thefe lie
The changeful climes, alternately they burn,
And chill again by turns; for both extremes
Make their incurfions here; and this my will
Unchangeable ordains your doleful feat.

Beneath,