Paradise Regained

**PARADISE REGAINED** **BOOK I** Satan returning to his own abode from the search of Paradise, Finds a singularly strong fit of sickness upon him; And, in that extremity, this discourse. He spake; and to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze Far round illumin’ed hell; highly they rag’d, And fierce with sharp impetuous force array’d From centre to the circling horizon, all Infernal battle fronted, and the vault Resounded with besieged armado’s noise. Meanwhile the Son of God, to whom was power Given on earth to bind and loose, now went Into the wilderness far from the temple, Where he had been in prayer, and in the desert fast Forty days, and was an hungred: there the Fiend Met him, and with assault unceasing came, And foul invective, and hiss’d in his ears Contemptuous words, who from his face withdrew And to the mountain top retired, and there Held high discourse with God incarnate. But Satan, now full sore ashamed, and scorched With excess of heat, to th’ lower world fled Returning the way the angels went, who went Before him down the sides of many a steep, And many a rock, and many a rugged ridge, Climbing the steep up to the gate of Hell, That looks on the regions of the deep. There they arrived; and thither he returned Under the spacious firmament of Night, Bright with th’ innumerable train of stars, That ever from her ancient mansion bright Shoots forth her beams, and from her eastern gate Rolls in the day. He found them all at rest, and Sin and Death Standing upon the banks of the black stream. Sin, who first perceiving his approach, To Death she cries, and whispers in his ear, “My son, arise; I hear the footsteps of our foe, He comes to tempt us, and we must prepare For his assault, and fight with him in vain. He is strong, and we are weak, and we shall fall Unless we join with him, and make him strong Against himself, and then he will be weak, And we shall be strong, and then we shall be free.” Death answered, “Sister, I am ready now, I will go with thee, and we will meet him, And we will make him strong, and then he will be weak, And we shall be strong, and then we shall be free.” So saying, Death rose up, and Sin with him, And they went forth to meet the Fiend, And they met him in the midst of the plain, And they made him strong, and then he was weak, And they were strong, and then they were free. But Satan, seeing them, was afraid, And fled to the bottom of the pit, And there he sat, and wept, and mourned, And wished that he had never been born, For he knew that he had lost his chance, And that he was now a fallen angel, And that he would never again be able To tempt mankind, nor to overthrow The kingdom of God, nor to make The world a place of misery and woe. But the angels of God were glad, For they knew that the Son of God had overcome, And that the kingdom of God was secure, And that the world would be a place of peace, And that all men would be saved, And that they would live in joy For evermore.