Page:Milton - Milton's Paradise Lost, tra il 1882 e il 1891.djvu/24

12 Came like a deluge on the south, and spread Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands. Forthwith from every squadron and each band, The heads and leaders thither haste where stood Their great commander. Godlike shapes, and forms Excelling human; princely dignities; And powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones, Though of their names in heavenly records now Be no memorial, blotted out and rased By their rebellion from the Book of Life. Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve Got them new names; till, wandering o'er the earth, Through God's high sufferance, for the trial of man, By falsities and lies the greatest part Of mankind they corrupted to forsake God their Creator, and the invisible Glory of Him that made them to transform Oft to the image of a brute, adorned With gay religions, full of pomp and gold, And devils to adore for deities: Then were they known to men by various names, And various idols through the heathen world. Say, Muse, their names then known. Who first, who last, Roused from the slumber, on that fiery couch, At their great emperor's call, as next in worth Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof. The chief were those, who, from the pit of Hell, Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix Their seats long after next the seat of God, Their altars by His altar; gods adored Among the nations round; and durst abide Jehovah thundering out of Sion, throned Between the cherubim; yea, often placed