Paradise Lost

"Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed, In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime."

"What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men."

"The infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile, Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived The mother of mankind."

"Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky With hideous ruin and combustion down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms."

"As far as angels' ken."

"Yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible."

"Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes at all."

"What though the field be lost? All is not lost; th’ unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield."

"To be weak is miserable, Doing or suffering."

"And out of good still to find means of evil."

"Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian, or Earth-born, that warred on Jove, Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast Leviathan, which God created of all his works Created hugest that swim th' Ocean stream."

"Farewell happy fields, Where joy forever dwells: hail, horrors!"

"A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n."

"[…] Here at least we shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice to reign is worth ambition though in Hell: Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."

"Heard so oft In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge Of battle."

"His spear, to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast Of some great ammiral were but a wand, He walk'd with to support uneasy steps Over the burning marle."

"Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High over-arch'd imbower."

"Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n."

"Spirits when they please Can either sex assume, or both."

"Execute their airy purposes."

"And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine."

"Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanc'd Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind."

"Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds: At which the universal host up sent A shout that tore hell's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night."

"Anon they move In perfect phalanx, to the Dorian mood Of flutes and soft recorders."

"His form had yet not lost All her original brightness, nor appear'd Less than archangel ruin'd, and th' excess Of glory obscur'd."

"In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs."

"Thrice he assay'd, and thrice in spite of scorn Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth."

"For who can yet believe, though after loss, That all these puissant legions, whose exile Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend, Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?"

"Who overcomes By force, hath overcome but half his foe."

"Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From heaven; for ev’n in heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven’s pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy’d In vision beatific."

"Let none admire That riches grow in hell; that soil may best Deserve the precious bane."

"Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose, like an exhalation."

"From morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer's day; and with the setting sun Dropped from the zenith like a falling star."

"Fairy elves, Whose midnight revels by a forest side Or fountain some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon Sits arbitress."

"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 Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit raised To that bad eminence; and from despair Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue Vain war with heav'n."

"Surer to prosper than prosperity Could have assur'd us."

"The strongest and the fiercest spirit That fought in heaven, now fiercer by despair."

"Rather than be less Cared not to be at all."

"My sentence is for open War; Of Wiles, More unexpert, I boast not: them let those Contrive who need, or when they need, not now. For while they sit contriving, shall the rest, Millions that stand in Arms, and longing wait The Signal to ascend, sit ling'ring here, Heav'n's fugitives, and for their dwelling place Accept this dark opprobrious Den of shame, The Prison of his Tyranny who Reigns By our delay? no, let us rather choose, Arm'd with Hell flames and fury all at once O'er Heaven's high Tow'rs to force resistless way, Turning our Tortures into horrid Arms Against the Torturer."

"That in our proper motion we ascend Up to our native seat: descent and fall To us is adverse."

"When the scourge Inexorable and the torturing hour Call us to penance."

"Which, if not victory, is yet revenge."

"But all was false and hollow; though his tongue Dropp'd manna, and could make the worse appear The better reason, to perplex and dash Maturest counsels."

"Th' ethereal mould Incapable of stain would soon expel Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire, Victorious. Thus repulsed, our final hope Is flat despair: we must exasperate Th' Almighty Victor to spend all his rage; And that must end us; that must be our cure-- To be no more. Sad cure! for who would lose, Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through eternity, To perish rather, swallowed up and lost In the wide womb of uncreated Night, Devoid of sense and motion?"

"His red right hand."

"Unrespited, unpitied, unrepriev'd."

"The never-ending flight Of future days."

"Thus Belial with words clothed in reason's garb Counseled ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth, Not peace."

"Our torments also may in length of time Become our elements."

"Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,"