"Incens'd with indignation Satan stood Unterrify'd, and like a comet burn'd That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In th' arctic sky, and from his horrid hair Shakes pestilence and war."

"So spake the grisly Terror."

"Back to thy punishment, False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings."

"Whence and what art thou, execrable shape?"

"The other shape, If shape it might be call'd that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb; Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, For each seem'd either,—black it stood as night, Fierce as ten furies, terrible as hell, And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Satan was now at hand."

"Gorgons and Hydras and Chimæras dire."

"O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp, Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death."

"A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old, Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. Thither by harpy-footed Furies hal'd, At certain revolutions all the damn'd Are brought, and feel by turns the bitter change Of fierce extremes,—extremes by change more fierce; From beds of raging fire to starve in ice Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine Immovable, infix'd, and frozen round, Periods of time; thence hurried back to fire."

"Arm th' obdur'd breast With stubborn patience as with triple steel."

"Vain wisdom all and false philosophy."

"In discourse more sweet; For eloquence the soul, song charms the sense. Others apart sat on a hill retired, In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high Of Providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate, Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute, And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost."

"Oh, shame to men! devil with devil damn'd Firm concord holds, men only disagree Of creatures rational."

"The low'ring element Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape."

"Their rising all at once was as the sound Of thunder heard remote."

"Long is the way And hard, that out of Hell leads up to Light."

"The palpable obscure."

"To sit in darkness here Hatching vain empires."

"With grave Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed A pillar of state; deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat and public care; And princely counsel in his face yet shone, Majestic though in ruin: sage he stood, With Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear The weight of mightiest monarchies; his look Drew audience and attention still as night Or summer's noontide air."

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

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

"The never-ending flight Of future days."

"Unrespited, unpitied, unrepriev'd."

"His red right hand."

"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?"

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

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

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

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

"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."

"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."

"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."

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

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

"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."

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

"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?"

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

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

"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."

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

"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."

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

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

"Execute their airy purposes."