登陆注册
5386800000015

第15章 Book 3(1)

Hail holy light, ofspring of Heav'n first-born, Or of th' Eternal Coeternal beam May I express thee unblam'd? since God is light, And never but in unapproached light Dwelt from Eternitie, dwelt then in thee, Bright effluence of bright essence increate.

Or hear'st thou rather pure Ethereal stream, Whose Fountain who shall tell? before the Sun, Before the Heavens thou wert, and at the voice Of God, as with a Mantle didst invest The rising world of waters dark and deep, Won from the void and formless infinite.

Thee I re-visit now with bolder wing, Escap't the STYGIAN Pool, though long detain'd In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight Through utter and through middle darkness borne With other notes then to th' ORPHEAN Lyre I sung of CHAOS and ETERNAL NIGHT, Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down The dark descent, and up to reascend, Though hard and rare: thee I revisit safe, And feel thy sovran vital Lamp; but thou Revisit'st not these eyes, that rowle in vain To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;

So thick a drop serene hath quencht thir Orbs, Or dim suffusion veild. Yet not the more Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt Cleer Spring, or shadie Grove, or Sunnie Hill, Smit with the love of sacred song; but chief Thee SION and the flowrie Brooks beneath That wash thy hallowd feet, and warbling flow, Nightly I visit: nor somtimes forget Those other two equal'd with me in Fate, So were I equal'd with them in renown, Blind THAMYRIS and blind MAEONIDES, And TIRESIAS and PHINEUS Prophets old.

Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird Sings darkling, and in shadiest Covert hid Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the Year Seasons return, but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of Ev'n or Morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose, Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;

But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark Surrounds me, from the chearful waies of men Cut off, and for the book of knowledg fair Presented with a Universal blanc Of Natures works to mee expung'd and ras'd, And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.

So much the rather thou Celestial light Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell Of things invisible to mortal sight.

Now had the Almighty Father from above, From the pure Empyrean where he sits High Thron'd above all highth, bent down his eye, His own works and their works at once to view:

About him all the Sanctities of Heaven Stood thick as Starrs, and from his sight receiv'd Beatitude past utterance; on his right The radiant image of his Glory sat, His onely Son; On Earth he first beheld Our two first Parents, yet the onely two Of mankind, in the happie Garden plac't, Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love, Uninterrupted joy, unrivald love In blissful solitude; he then survey'd Hell and the Gulf between, and SATAN there Coasting the wall of Heav'n on this side Night In the dun Air sublime, and ready now To stoop with wearied wings, and willing feet On the bare outside of this World, that seem'd Firm land imbosom'd without Firmament, Uncertain which, in Ocean or in Air.

Him God beholding from his prospect high, Wherein past, present, future he beholds, Thus to his onely Son foreseeing spake.

Onely begotten Son, seest thou what rage Transports our adversarie, whom no bounds Prescrib'd, no barrs of Hell, nor all the chains Heapt on him there, nor yet the main Abyss Wide interrupt can hold; so bent he seems On desperat revenge, that shall redound Upon his own rebellious head. And now Through all restraint broke loose he wings his way Not farr off Heav'n, in the Precincts of light, Directly towards the new created World, And Man there plac't, with purpose to assay If him by force he can destroy, or worse, By som false guile pervert; and shall pervert;

For man will heark'n to his glozing lyes, And easily transgress the sole Command, Sole pledge of his obedience: So will fall Hee and his faithless Progenie: whose fault?

Whose but his own? ingrate, he had of mee All he could have; I made him just and right, Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.

Such I created all th' Ethereal Powers And Spirits, both them who stood & them who faild;

Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.

Not free, what proof could they have givn sincere Of true allegiance, constant Faith or Love, Where onely what they needs must do, appeard, Not what they would? what praise could they receive?

What pleasure I from such obedience paid, When Will and Reason (Reason also is choice)

Useless and vain, of freedom both despoild, Made passive both, had servd necessitie, Not mee. They therefore as to right belongd, So were created, nor can justly accuse Thir maker, or thir making, or thir Fate;

As if Predestination over-rul'd Thir will, dispos'd by absolute Decree Or high foreknowledge; they themselves decreed Thir own revolt, not I: if I foreknew, Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault, Which had no less prov'd certain unforeknown.

So without least impulse or shadow of Fate, Or aught by me immutablie foreseen, They trespass, Authors to themselves in all Both what they judge and what they choose; for so I formd them free, and free they must remain, Till they enthrall themselves: I else must change Thir nature, and revoke the high Decree Unchangeable, Eternal, which ordain'd Thir freedom, they themselves ordain'd thir fall.

The first sort by thir own suggestion fell, Self-tempted, self-deprav'd: Man falls deceiv'd By the other first: Man therefore shall find grace, The other none: in Mercy and Justice both, Through Heav'n and Earth, so shall my glorie excel, But Mercy first and last shall brightest shine.

Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance fill'd All Heav'n, and in the blessed Spirits elect Sense of new joy ineffable diffus'd:

同类推荐
  • 碣石调幽兰

    碣石调幽兰

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Hunted Down

    Hunted Down

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说大净法门经

    佛说大净法门经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 归田诗话

    归田诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 盛世危言

    盛世危言

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 立世繁华之本妃无常

    立世繁华之本妃无常

    据说韩府二小姐是个无才无能的大奇葩,性子懦弱无比,有爹生没爹疼?某公主斜眼瞅着窝在某王爷怀里吃葡萄的韩洛隐。奇葩倒是真的,无才无能谁说的!名满京城的红衣姑娘知道是谁吗?韩洛隐!懦弱无比谁说的?知道灭了明芜国的是谁吗?韩洛隐!有爹生没爹疼?某公主看了眼坐在那里两眼放光的韩老爷子,心里无限哀叹,传闻不可信啊!一朝穿越,却碰上了上一世杀死自己的凶手?韩洛隐简直想拍手叫好。本想报完仇后就出去潇洒快活,却没料到,在自己还未来到这个世界的时候,就被大国师盯上了。算计,暗杀,随着身份一层一层被剥开,所牵扯的,也越来越多……
  • 赠言寄语

    赠言寄语

    《赠言寄语》讲述了:读书可以陶冶性情,可以博采知识,可以增长才干,使人开茅塞、除鄙见、得新知、养性灵。书中有着广阔的世界,书中有着永世不朽的精神,虽然沧海桑田,物换星移,但书籍永远是新的。阅读撼人心弦的高贵作品,就如同亲炙伟大性灵的教化,吸收超越生老病死的智慧,把目光投向更广阔的时空,让心灵沟通过去和未来、已知和未知。
  • 妃君不可:我的魔妃不好惹

    妃君不可:我的魔妃不好惹

    作为一个看了无数穿越小说的小叨叨,穿越这个事洛七七认命了,但是,为什么不是穿到什么皇宫大院穿成个郡主公主啥的?虽然她这个性也是各种宫斗宅斗的炮灰,但起码衣食无忧,身边还能有个关键人物贴身丫鬟告诉她人物关系ABC,再不济也穿到一个人群密集处,那现在算是怎么个情况?穿到一个鸟不生蛋的原始森林,然后遇到一个满脸血污,动不动就要杀了她的杀人狂魔?慢着!这杀人狂凑过来干什么,别以为长得帅就可以为所欲为啊,再过来她就给他来一脚丫了!
  • The Siege

    The Siege

    Ismail Kadare's The Siege dramatizes a relentless fictional assault on a Christian fortress in the Albanian mountains by the Ottoman Army in the fifteenth century. As the bloody and psychologically crushing struggle for control over the citadel unfolds, Kadare's newest work opens a window onto the eternal clash between religions and empires as well as the exhilaration, despair, and immediacy of the wkkk.net is a hugely respected novelist and a hero to his people, as well as an outspoken critic of all forms of totalitarianism. The Siege is a powerfully atmospheric … and vividly rendered (The Telegraph) novel of considerable cumulative power and resonance for our own times.
  • 一本书读完经济学名著

    一本书读完经济学名著

    本书精选了50多部堪称世界一流的经济学名著,对于每一部都设置了“华文导读”、“趣味延展”、“理论精读”等栏目,从多个角度对所选取的经典作品进行了详尽的解读。“华文导读”对作者的生平、成就、主要著作等信息做了简单介绍,是读者对所选取的著作有一个整体上的把握;“趣味延展”介绍了与名著或作者相关的一些逸闻趣事,增加了本书的可读性与趣味性,同时又可以开阔读者的视野;“理论精读”部分精粹阐述了名著的理论要点,让读者既不必纠缠于原著晦涩的文字,又能把握名著的理论精髓。想这些流芳百世的经典之作必将给每一位读者以智慧的启迪。
  • 教你学拳击(学生室内外运动学习手册)

    教你学拳击(学生室内外运动学习手册)

    体育运动是以身体练习为基本手段,以增强人的体质,促进人的全面发展,丰富社会文化生活和促进精神文明为目的一种有意识、有组织的社会活动。室内外体育运动内容丰富,种类繁多,主要项目有田径、球类、游泳、武术、登山、滑冰、举重、摔跤、自行车、摩托车等数十个类别。
  • 旷野独骑:一个铁血骑士的十年传奇

    旷野独骑:一个铁血骑士的十年传奇

    全书讲述了年过半百的罗维孝十余年的骑行经历。从雅安到青藏高原,从青藏高原到祖国各地,最后独闯异国他乡到达法国艾斯佩莱特市。
  • “三高”怎么吃怎么养

    “三高”怎么吃怎么养

    治疗高血压、高血脂、高血糖时离不开饮食的调理。《美食天下(第2辑):“三高”怎么吃怎么养》选择对症食物进行科学食疗,减轻“三高”药物的副作用,从根本上抵制病情诱发因素,彻底远离“三高”。
  • 唐钟馗全传

    唐钟馗全传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 权倾天下不如你

    权倾天下不如你

    她是丞相遗孤,奉旨入宫,由皇后变成德妃。他温润如玉,对她极尽宠爱。她终将一颗痴心相付,却不料她原本只是替身,在她身怀六甲之时,揭开了她满门被灭的真相,她走上祭坛留给苏穆最后一句话,我们之间不仅隔着她,还有江府上下和一个孩子的命。