Paradise Lost Book 1 Quotes

Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav'n.

Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell.

Pandemonium, the high capital Of Satan and his peers.

From morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,- A summer's day; and with the setting sun Dropp'd from the Zenith like a falling star.

Earth felt the wound; and Nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe That all was lost.

The work under our labour grows, Luxurious by restraint.

For neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible, except to God alone.

His spear, to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills to be the mast Of some great ammiral were but a wand, He walk'd with to support uneasy steps Over the burning marle.

Among unequals what society Can sort, what harmony, or true delight?

So glistered the dire Snake , and into fraud Led Eve, our credulous mother, to the Tree Of Prohibition, root of all our woe.

Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.

Th' imperial ensign, which full high advanc'd Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind.

Farewell happy fields, Where joy forever dwells: Hail, horrors, hail.

And out of good still to find means of evil.

United thoughts and counsels, equal hope And hazard in the glorious enterprise.

In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds On half the nations, and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs.

A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, As one great furnace, flamed; yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Serv'd only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all; but torture without end.

Where peace And rest can never dwell, hope never comes, That comes to all.

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit/Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste/Brought death into the world, and all our woe,/With loss of Eden, till one greater Man/Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,/Sing heavenly muse

What reinforcement we may gain from hope; If not, what resolution from despair.

Yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible.

What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support, That to the height of this great argument I may assert eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. 1 Paradise Lost. Book i. Line 22.

All is not lost, the unconquerable will, and study of revenge, immortal hate, and the courage never to submit or yield.

Unless an age too late, or cold Climate, or years, damp my intended wing.

Smiles from reason flow, To brute deny'd, and are of love the food.

He scarce had ceased when the superior fiend Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield Ethereal temper, massy, large and round, Behind him cast; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening from the top of Fésolè, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe.

Should God create another Eve, and I Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no no, I feel The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh, Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.

As in an organ from one blast of wind To many a row of pipes the soundboard breathes.

Revenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.

Better to reign in hell than serve in heav'n.

Fairy elves, Whose midnight revels by a forest side Or fountain some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon Sits arbitress.

And, re-assembling our afflicted powers, consult how we may henceforth most offend.

Awake, arise or be for ever fall’n.

Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High over-arch'd imbower.

Spirits when they please Can either sex assume, or both.

Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose, like an exhalation.

Here we may reign secure; and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell: Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.

And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.

For Spirits when they please Can either sex assume, or both; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure, Not tied or manacled with joint or limb, Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, Can execute their airy purposes, And works of love or enmity fulfil.

To adore the conqueror, who now beholds Cherub and seraph rolling in the flood.

Let none admire that riches grow in hell; that soil may best deserve the precious bane.