Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/100

94 Not so on man; him, through their malice fallen, Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom So strictly, but much more to pity incline. No sooner did thy dear and only Son Perceive thee purposed not to doom frail Man So strictly, but much more to pity inclined, He, to appease thy wrath and end the strife Of mercy and justice in thy face discerned, Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat Second to thee, offered himself to die For Man's offence. Oh, unexampled love, Love nowhere to be found less than Divine! Hail, Son of God, Saviour of men! thy name Shall be the copious matter of my song Henceforth, and never shall my harp thy praise Forget, nor from the Father's praise disjoin."
 * Thus they in Heaven, above the starry sphere,

Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent. Meanwhile upon the firm opacous globe Of this round World, whose first convex divides The luminous inferior orbs enclosed From Chaos and the inroad of Darkness old, Satan alighted walks. A globe far off It seemed, now seems a boundless continent, Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night Starless exposed, and ever-threatening storms Of Chaos blustering round, inclement sky;