REDEMPTION. 51
In the dread strife involved, to ruin falls. So rack'd was hell ; when, rising, the archfiend, His countenance inflamed with hate and rage, Thus check'd the growing storm, and their despite, Malicious, turn'd against the common foe:
" Insensate furies ! hath not hell enough Sharp throes, that ye should thus incendious Add to our hurt? whom now, if ev'r, concord Should firmly bind, in unison to meet Him whom we equally abhor; whose pow'r, 'Tis both our interest and aim t' o'erthrow? Or, deem ye so replete and strong our force, That ye can well afford its strength to waste In broils intestinal? It was not thus Ye overcame and conquer'd earth; still less Our empire there, by this, can long retain. Cease then your strife, or soon expect to feel A weight of wrath descending on your heads, Such as the heav'ns themselves have ne'er outpour'd."
Instant their clamor ceased; for more they fear'd The Dragon's voice, than aught save th' omniscient, All-consuming, ire; when thus the goblin Such prologue began : " Ethereal born, Though now hell-doom'd, unless perchance ye fly Your pains, and seek more blest abodes, secure From ills perpetual; though much I doubt, From what has pass'd this night in hell. Or else My senses me deceive, or here ye'd stay, Courting uneasy ease, when one more throw, Eternally may our great empire fix, Firm bound to our allegiance. When man first, (Wisely, I deem,) broke faith with heav'n, the fruit
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