BOOK SEVENTH
��179
��Number sufficient to possess her realms, Though wide, and this high temple to fre- quent
With ministeries due and solemn rites. But, lest his heart exalt him in the harm 150 Already done, to have dispeopled Heaven My damage fondly deemed I can repair That detriment, if such it he to lose Self-lost, and in a moment will create Another world; out of one man a race Of men innumerable, there to dwell, Not here, till, by degrees of merit raised, They open to themselves at length the way Up hither, under long obedience tried, And Earth be changed to Heaven, and Heaven to Earth, 160
One kingdom, joy and union without end. Meanwhile inhabit lax, ye Powers of
Heaven ;
And thou, my Word, begotten Son, by thee i This I perform ; speak thou, and be it done ! My overshadowing Spirit and might with
thee
I send along; ride forth, and bid the Deep Within appointed bounds be heaven and
earth.
Boundless the Deep, because I am who fill Infinitude; nor vacuous the space, Though I, uncircumscribed, myself re- tire, 170 And put not forth my goodness, which is
free
To act or not. Necessity and Chance Approach not me, and what I will is Fate.' " So spake the Almighty ; and to what
he spake
His Word, the Filial Godhead, gave effect. Immediate are the acts of God, more swift Than time or motion, but to human ears Cannot without process' of speech be told, So told as earthly notion can receive. 179 Great triumph and rejoicing was in Heaven When such was heard declared the Al- mighty's will.
Glory they sung to the Most High, good- will To future men, and in their dwellings
peace
Glory to Him whose just avenging ire Had driven out the ungodly from his sight And the habitations of the just; to Him Glory and praise whose wisdom had or- dained
Good out of evil to create instead Of Spirits malign, a better Race to bring
��Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse His good to worlds and ages infinite. 191 " So sang the Hierarchies. Meanwhile
the Son
On his great expedition now appeared, Girt with omnipotence, with radiance
crowned
Of majesty divine, sapience and love Immense; and all his Father in him shon. About his chariot numberless were poured Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones, And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots
winged From the armoury of God, where stand of
Old 200
Myriads, between two brazen mountains
lodged
Against a solemn day, harnessed at hand, Celestial equipage; and now came forth Spontaneous, for within them Spirit lived, Attendant on their Lord. Heaven opened
wide
Her ever-during gates, harmonious sound On golden hinges moving, to let forth The King of Glory, in his powerful Word And Spirit coming to create new worlds. On Heavenly ground they stood, and from the shore 210
They viewed the vast immeasurable Abyss, Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild, Up from the bottom turned by furious
winds
And surging waves, as mountains to as- sault Heaven's highth, and with the centre mix
the pole. " ' Silence, ye troubled waves, and, thou
Deep, peace ! ' Said then the omnific Word: 'your discord
end ! '
Nor stayed ; but, on the wings of Cherubim Uplifted, in paternal glory rode Far into Chaos and the World unborn ; 220 For Chaos heard his voice. Him all his
train
Followed in bright procession, to behold Creation, and the wonders of his might. Then stayed the fervid wheels, and in his
hand
He took the golden compasses, prepared In God's eternal store, to circumscribe This Universe, and all created things. One foot he centred, and the other turned Round through the vast profundity ob- scure,
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