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Or with repose; and such discourse bring on As may advise him of his happy state-Happiness in his power, left free to will, Left to his own free will, his will though free Yet mutable; whence warn him to beware He swerve not, too secure. Tell him withal His danger, and from whom; what enemy Late fallen himself from heaven, is plotting now The fall of others from like state of bliss; By violence? no, for that shall be withstood; But by deceit and lies. This let him know, Lest wilfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned.

So spake the Eternal Father, and fulfilled All justice. Nor delayed the winged saint After his charge received; but from among Thousand celestial Ardours,2 where he stood Veiled with his gorgeous wings, up springing light, Flew through the midst of heaven;—the angelic quires, On each hand parting, to his speed gave way Through all the empyreal road: till, at the gate Of Heaven arrived, the gate self opened wide On golden hinges turning, as by work Divine the sov'reign Architect had framed. From hence no cloud, or, to obstruct his sight, Star interposed, however small—he sees, Not unconform³ to other shining globes, Earth, and the garden of God, with cedars crowned Above all hills. As when by night the glass Of Galileo, less assured, observes Imagined lands and regions in the moon: Or pilot,4 from amidst the Cyclades,

Delos or Samos' first appearing, kens A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing, Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air;2 till, within soar Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems A phœnix, gazed by all, as that sole bird, When, to enshrine his relics in the Sun's Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies.

At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise He lights; and to his proper shape returns, A seraph winged. Six wings he wore, to shade His lineaments divine; the pair that clad Each shoulder, broad, came mantling o'er his breast With regal ornament; the middle pair Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold, And colours dipt in heaven; the third his feet Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail, Sky-tinctured grain.3 Like Maia's son4 he stood, And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance filled The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands Of Angels under watch; and to his state, And to his message high, in honour rise; For on some message high they guessed him bound. Their glittering tents he passed, and now is come Into the blissful field, through groves of myrrh, And flowering odours, cassia, nard, and balm; A wilderness of sweets; for Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will

As may advise him. -- Make him aware of -- sensible to.

^&lt;sup>2</sup> Celestial Ardours,—Seraphic powers.

Not unconform. - Sees the earth as conformed in appearance to other globes. Or pilot.—Used by Milton for captain or commander.

¹ Cyclades, Delos or Samos. - Greek islands. Buzom air .- Light, yielding.

Feathered mail, sky-tinetured grain.—Beautiful colouring wrought in so as to be durable.

^\* Like Maia's son. - Like Mercury.

Pope, " Rape of the Lock," cant. ii.