Eden Lost

From the moment the apple's flesh touched the lips of Eve, the destiny of Man would never be the same again. Though her corrupter, the fallen angel Satan, suffered even now along his vile brethren in Hell, his evil deed was done. Hope, it seemed, was memory as lost as the Paradise in which it once dwelled...

Adam and Eve in agony
Fresco by Masaccio

As the rift between the Earth and Hell remained open, Sin and Death, the offspring of Satan, seized their chance. Soaring into the as yet still ethereal plains of Earth, Sin spread fear, doubt, envy, anger, sloth, hate, want, pride to ravage the World. Death brings down upon the land the scythe of time, undiscriminating, unbiased and even, bestowing his withering sentence upon all living things. Meanwhile, high above on the highest throne, the Almighty was made aware of this blasphemy. But it was the lot of man, his curse for his breaking the oath of God, to inhabit a lesser World now, until the day cometh when all will be purified. When that day arrives both Sin and Death will be hurled headlong to the dark pit from whence they came. "Then heav'n and earth renewed shall be made pure, to sanctity that shall receive no stain: till then the curse pronounced on both sides precedes". The host gathered sang in jubiliation, wonder at the ways of the Lord, and joyful at the promised time when the blight will be lifted and all will be free. At once the Creator set about making the new world. At his command, the blazing Sun moved, so that the Earth might feel heat and cold, from the south resplendent Summer, from the north Winter scarcely tolerable. To the Moon the Lord set in her place. To the winds he turned next, their way to blast the sea, the air and shore to the symphony of thunder.

Far below in Eden, the first man beheld the coming plight with despair. "O miserable of happy! Is this the end of this new glorious world, and me so late the glory of glory?" The curse of death weighed heavily upon his mind, as his thoughts turned to his descendants. "Who of all ages to succeed, but feeling the evil on him brought by me, will curse my head, I'll fare our ancestor impure, for this we may thank Adam". With anger he railed against the Almighty, anger at his fall for another's sin. Woe that he had been made at all, he declared:


                             " Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
                               To mould me man, did I solicit thee
                               From darkness to promote me, or here place
                               In this delicious Garden? "
                                    - ADAM BEWAILS HIS CREATION

Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden
Engraving by John Baptist Medina

The loss of Paradise was his sentence, but to this grave retribution the Most High added endless woes. Adam considered, wondering at the ways of God. It was then that Eve, matriarch of man and companion to Adam from whose rib she once sprung, came to him. "God made thee of choice his own, and of his own to serve him; thy reward was of his grace; thy punishment then justly is at his will", she spake.  Willingly to her fate does Eve submit, filled with guilt and devouring remorse is she. Both broken hearted and dejected, lament that it is better to end all and return to the Earth from whence they came, for what left now but a life a shade of before? But Eve held one last hope:


   " Yet one doubt pursues me still,
      lest all I cannot die,
      Les that pure breath of life, the spirit of man,
      Which God inspired, cannot together perish,
      With this corporeal clod... "
                                                                       - EVE'S HOPE


How can the Almighty sentence his creation to torment without end? Adam sank deeper still:


                              " Me now your curse! Ah, why should all mankind
                                For one man's fault thus guiltless be condemned,
                                If guiltless? But from me what can proceed,
                                But all corrupt, both mind and will depraved,
                                Not to do only but to will the same
                                With me? "
                                        - THE DESTINY OF MAN?


Both ponder as to why the scythe of Death has not already struck them, but Death comes not yet. Divine justice it was which slowed her pace, as today, ordered to pronounce her foul sentence without haste. To Adam's restless state Eve sent soothing words which calmed his soul. She remembered suddenly the curse of God. The Almighty spake of a time when the progeny of the first Man and Woman will exact justice upon the Serpent, and righteous retribution will be done by their own seed. Her lowly and newfound humble words touched the anger of Adam, and some small measure of peace returned to him, not known since Eden. No longer could he find it in his heart to look upon Eve with furious eyes. He had eaten of the accursed orb so as to remain with Eve. In this some hope remained. "Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems to argue in thee something more sublime and excellent...". Firm in his resolve, his will restored, Adam declares it is their duty to rid the world of the corruption which their sin brought to the fore. Terrible may be the path along the road to redemption, and long may it be, but at the end of the road redemption remained still. Hope remained. Woman had been cursed to suffer terrible pain in childbirth, but is not such agony soon recompensed by the result? With sweat, toil and grit must man now earn his bread."What harm?", Adam thought, "idleness had been worse". With terrible remorse the first man and woman accepted their fate, hoping upon hope that one day, after their sufferings and prayers, the heart of the Almighty might be moved to pity, and Paradise regained.

The Messiah intercedes
Painting by William Blake

Their repentance, and prayers of humility winged their way to Heaven more swiftly than the loudest acclamation, dampened by no gale until the throne of the Almighty they reached. But it was not God himself who was moved so at hearing their pleas, but his Son the Messiah. Turning to the Father, he spoke with heartfelt words of the pity he felt for the first man and woman. So the intercession of the Messiah was begun, and the destiny of the World set in motion. Hearing the words of Adam and Eve, he spake them anew, and with enchanting charisma, and the will of the Lord began to move. Allow me to stand for him and interpret for him, the Son said. It was then that he made his startling revelation which turned many an angelic head in Heaven:


                    " All his works on me,
                      Good or not good ingraft; my merit those
                      Shall perfect, and for these my death shall pay.
                      Accept me, and in me from these receive
                      The smell of peace toward mankind, let him live
                      Before thee reconciled, at least his days
                      Numbered, though sad, till death, his doom
                      To better life shall yield him, where with me
                      All my redeemed may dwell in joy and bliss,
                      Made one with me as I with thee am one "
                               - THE MESSIAH INTERCEDES FOR MAN


Upon deaf ears the Great Redeemer's words fell not. With calm serenity the Father relented, "All thy request for man, accepted Son". However, no longer may man dwell in the place called Eden, a Garden too pure for man corrupted now with Satan's malevolent touch. Hope remains, in the words of the Lord:


                   " I at first with two fair gifts
                     Created him endowed, with happiness,
                     And immortality: that fondly lost,
                     This other served but to eternize woe;
                     Till I provided Death; so death becomes
                     His final remedy, and after life
                     Tried in sharp tribulation, and refined
                     By faith and faithful works, to second life,
                     Waked in the renovation of the just,
                     Resigns him up with heav'n and earth renewed... "
                              - WHY MEN DIE


But now came the time for man to enter his new abode, to leave his lost Paradise, but forever no more. With a deafening blast the heralds of Heaven rallied the angelic host to the throne of the Almighty, there to await the will of the Divine...



United Kingdom

Penguin Classics
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(The raw poem in original verse with the commentary at the back)

Oxford World's Classics
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(The raw poem with a commentary on the same page)

United States

Penguin Classics

Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)

(The raw poem in original verse with the commentary at the back)

Oxford World's Classics

Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
The raw poem with a commentary on the same page)

The Wizard's Prophecy

Rome, AD 595. It is one hundred and nineteen years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Much of Europe is in turmoil, overrun by barbarian tribes. Nevertheless, life continues in the Eternal City. Market day arrives, and His Holiness Pope Gregory the Great and his entourage came to admire the array of produce as eagerly as anyone, for in these days the Pope of Rome lived simply, favouring a monastic life. Among the fine crops and exotic fruits on sale that day was the slave market, always the talk of trade. Then something caught the eye of the Pope. A group of young boys, fair haired and skinned, chained together in slavery, awaiting their fate. A strange feeling gripped Gregory, wonder fused with pity...

"Not Angles, but Angels..."
Image taken from a mosaic of Westminster Cathedral,
London

"From what country or nation were they brought?", he asked a companion. Upon enquiring with the slave dealer in a strange foreign tongue, he replied. "They are from the island of Britain, whose inhabitants are of such personal appearance". Pope Gregory, entranced, asked, "are those islanders Christians, or still pagans?". When he discovered that they were pagans, he voiced his anguish, "Alas! What a pity", said he, "that the author of darkness is possessed of men of such fair countenances". "What is the name of that nation?", he asked, more keenly still. "They are called Angles", came the reply, for the land of Britain was at that time overrun with the tribe of the Angles. "Right", said he, "for they have an angelic face, and it becomes such to be co-heirs with the Angels in Heaven. They are not Angles, but Angels". Sensing Divine Providence that day, Pope Gregory turned to a nearby Prior, Augustine was his name, and commanded him to lead a mission to this far away land, and spread the word of Christ, with half a mind to undertake the task himself. The British Isles would never be the same again. But what of the people of Britain, and the destiny of that race? The story begins almost two hundred years earlier...


As the fifth century dawned, much of the known world was plunged into turmoil. For the lives of many, and of their ancestors for many hundreds of years too, the mighty Empire of the Romans was not only the world's greatest power, but civilisation itself. So much so that millions of people who had never even seen the Eternal City, would not have been able to locate the City on a map, who had not a drop of Roman blood in their bodies, called themselves Romans. Now, Rome, which had once seemed a power that would know no end, was on its knees. Plague, Famine, War, Strife and Economic crisis have each destroyed nations. It took all of them combined to bring about the final destruction of the Roman Empire. Yet from the ashes of Rome, her former provinces would arise as new nations, one of them an island far on the boundaries of the Empire - Britannia.


On New Year's Eve AD 406, at a rupture in the frontier of the Western Roman Empire on the River Rhine, a horde of barbarian tribes poured across the border. Vandals, Alans, Alemanni, and a formidable array of tribesman swept into Roman provinces, and the struggling Western Empire desperately tried to stem the inexorable advance. City after city was burned and pillaged, and areas the size of modern countries were laid waste. It was at this time that the Roman province of Britannia was in revolution. As the Romans in Italy were reeling from another invasion of the Visigothic tribes, Northern Europe seemed defenceless, and the people of Britain feared that they would be next. Longing for order, in a world now seemingly in the brink of the Apocalypse, the Britons threw their support behind the Roman general Constantine, thinking with melancholy of the days of Constantine the Great some one hundred years earlier. Constantine moved quickly. Landing on the beaches of northern France, called Gaul in ancient times, Constantine brought with him all the garrisons of Britain. Not one Roman soldier was left behind in Britannia, it was all or nothing for Constantine now. Setting himself up as the new Western Roman Emperor Constantine III, in direct opposition to the true Emperor Honorius, Western Europe rose in all out war. Roman marched on Roman, and Roman blood flowed by the hand of other Romans, and all the while, people died in their thousands, slaughtered by vengeful barbarians. Constantine pushed back the troops loyal to Honorius at first, seizing the province of Hispania (the future Spain), being recognised as joint Emperor with Honorius. But the barbarian advance was relentless. Ravaging the entirety of Gaul, they reached the Pyrenees. At this time, the Saxons landed on the East coast of Britannia. The British people, feeling betrayed by Constantine, abandoned him to his fate, as his eldest son Constans was elevated to power. Constans, who had before taken the life of the cloth, a pious man, was ill-prepared for secular rule. Naive, his brief reign was dominated by the schemings of his chief advisor, Vortigern, who one day overthrew his master and seized the throne of Britain for his own. The surviving brothers of Constans, Aurelius Ambrosius, and Uther Pendragon, fled to Brittany to escape Vortigern's wrath.

Merlin and Vortigern
Image taken from a 13th century Illuminated
Manuscript, now in the British Library

Great was Vortigern's fear of Ambrosius, and Uther in particular, but so too was his fear of the Picts, a fearsome tribe that lurked in the Highlands of Scotland. The fledgling Britain was ill able to repel the Picts alone, and Vortigern turned abroad for aid. Readily answering the usurper's call, a force of Angles, Saxons and Jutes arrived on England's eastern shores, under two brothers, Hengest and Horsa. With his new allies, Vortigern triumphed over the Picts time and again. Though elated at the throwing back of the Picts, more than a few among the Britons began to question the ambitions of these new 'allies'. The King's son, Vortimer, aghast at his father's submissiveness, urged him to restrain the Saxons before the hour grew too late. But Vortigern refused counsel on such matters. So when, one day, cunning Hengest asked the King for permission to invite over to these shores more of his countrymen, to strengthen Vortigern's position further, the naive King eagerly agreed. As Saxons landed in Britain in their thousands, the enraged Vortimer, with the support of the Britons, overthrew his father and determined to rid Britannia forever of foreign invaders. Upon the Saxons he fell, and terrible was his attack. Four times the Saxons stood, and four times they were broken, and even Horsa was slain, yet so too was Vortimer's brother, Catigern. Victory seemed near, but tragedy struck, when Vortimer was slain too. Such woe fell upon Britannia as never before, as the vengeance of the Saxons was terrible indeed. Vortigern, seizing back his throne once more, fled to Cambria, Wales of old, desperate now, for the fate of Britain, and his own, hung in the balance. It was then that his followers urged him to raise a mighty castle, so magnificent that no foe could storm it, so majestic that no eye could behold it without awe. Upon Mount Eryri the first stone was laid, as the King of the Britons summoned to him all the finest craftsman and masons in Britannia. Despair soon fell upon the Britons however, for when they awoke upon the second day, all their hard work had vanished, and the stones had sunk into the land. Once again they tried, and once again all was lost. Vortigern turned to his sages once more, and asked what may be done. The soothsayers and mages present their bade the King seek out a boy who had no father, and that his blood shouls be sprinkled upon the mortar and stones, so that the great citadel should never fall.


All through the land the messengers of the King searched for such a boy, and for an age it seemed a fruitless quest. Then one day horsemen came to the city known as Carmarthen, and saw a young lad playing at the gates. A fight broke out between the lad and another boy over some petty quarrel. "None knoweth what thou art, for never a father hadst thou!", the other boy shouted. At these words, the King's heralds were filled with hope. "What is thy name?" one asked the first boy. "Merlin", replied the lad. It transpired that indeed the boy had a father unknown by all, and his mother, a nun in St. Peter's Church, spoke of a vision she once had before she gave birth to the unfathered boy. Such a thing could only mean a supernatural prodigy of this boy, and when Vortigern heard this, he at once ordered Merlin brought before him without delay.


As he was thrown at the feet of Vortigern, young Merlin asked the King why he had been brought here. "My wizards have declared it unto me as their counsel that I should seek out one that had never a father, that when I shall have sprinkled his blood upon the foundation of the tower my work should stand firm". To which the young lad replied "Bid thy wizards come before me, and I will convict them of having devised a lie". Amazed at the boy's audacity, Vortigern summoned his mages. Merlin denounced them all, mocking their foolish ways. Turning to the King, he urged him to summon his workmen and dig below the tower, and there he would find a great pool of water, the source of such woe. So dig they did, and found the pool, they did. The mages were dumbfounded, and Vortigern impressed. But Merlin was not finished. "Command, O King, that the pool be drained by conduits, and in the bottom thereof shalt thou behold two hollow stones and therein two dragons asleep". When it was found to be thus, all around marvelled greatly at the gift of foresight this young boy had been blessed with, and even then there some who said that Merlin possessed some of the spirit of God.

The Dragon Struggle
Image taken from a 15th century Illuminated Manuscript,
now at Lambeth Palace, London

It was then, as Vortigern looked on, that the two dragons, one red and one white, clambered out of the pool, and when they met, with a terrible roar they fell upon each other. The Earth shuddered and the cavern rang, and fire spouted forth from their jaws, and it seemed the White Dragon would prevail, as the Red Dragon was cast to very shore of the lake. But then, the Scarlet Wyrm turned in defiance, and with renewed vigour threw itself upon the White, forcing him back. King Vortigern, turning to Merlin, enquired as to the meaning of this peculiar spectacle now played out before them. The power of prophecy filled the great wizard, and tears his eyes, as the awesome power of foresight was his once more:



        " Woe unto the Red Dragon, for his extermination draweth nigh; and his caverns
          shall be occupied of the White Dragon that betokeneth the Saxons
          whom thou hast invited hither. But the Red signifieth the race of Britain
          that shall be oppressed of the White. Therefore shall the mountains
          and the valleys thereof be made level plain and the streams of the valleys
          shall flow with blood. The rites of religion shall be done away and the ruin
          of the churches be made manifest. At the last, she that is oppressed shall prevail
          and resist the cruelty of them that come from without. For the Boar of Cornwall
          shall bring succour and shall trample their necks beneath his feet.
          The islands of the Ocean shall be subdued unto his power, and the forests of Gaul
          shall he possess. The house of Romulus shall dread the fierceness of his prowess
          and doubtful shall be his end. Renowned shall he be in the mouth of the peoples... "
                   - THE PROPHECY OF MERLIN


At the sound of these words, a remarkable feeling swept over all who heard it. Heads weary with despair lifted with the fire of fresh hope. The pure of heart were warmed with faith, and the impure with fear. Who was this great saviour, this Boar of Cornwall, who was coming? Word spread throughout the realms of England. Hope came in its stead. Their champion was coming. Alas that not one there knew his name, when all the world does today...



United Kingdom

The Legends of the Kings of Britain
The History of the Kings of Britain (Classics)
(A history of Britain written in the Middle Ages, including the days of King Arthur)

The Ecclesiastical History of the English
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Oxford World's Classics)
(The story of Saxon England, written by the Venerable Bede)

United States

The Legends of the Kings of Britain
The History of the Kings of Britain (Penguin Classics)
(A history of Britain written in the Middle Ages, including the days of King Arthur)

The Ecclesiastical History of the English
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Penguin Classics)
(The story of Saxon England, written by the Venerable Bede)

The War in Heaven

So the Archangel Lucifer revealed his true nature openly at last (for the course of events leading up to this, click here). The loyal angel Abdiel tore through the night to the vault of Heaven, bearing the gravest of news, that one third of the angelic host had declared open rebellion against God’s mastery of the cosmos. Reaching the most high, Abdiel found that word of his grim tidings had already found the ears of God, as his eyes fell upon the angelic host arming itself as though for war. There was acclamation and shouts of joy at his return, as the loyal host had feared the worst. The angels led him forth with applause to the high, and from a golden cloud was heard a voice, the voice of God. God honours Abdiel for his loyalty in the face of the revolted multitude, before commanding his two remaining Archangels who remain loyal:

                                “ Go Michael of celestial armies prince,

                                  And thou in military prowess next,

                                  Gabriel, lead forth to battle these my sons

                                  Invincible, lead forth my armed saints

                                  By thousands and by millions ranged for fight... ”

                                             - GOD  GIVES HIS COMMAND

The sovereign voice of Heaven spoke, and condemned the traitorous legions to be cast into the fiery chaos of Hell. The clouds began to darken, and smoke rose in Heaven and the ethereal trumpets sounded in the sky, as the loyal host drew forth its battle line. Then, on the northern horizon, the fallen angels appeared, bent on winning the Mount of God, and setting the Morning Star upon his immortal throne. Spears bristled, helmets thronged and proud shields bore witness to the coming field of war. Eclipsing all, the Apostate himself rode forth “High in the midst exalted as a god... Idol of majesty divine”. Beholding the Fallen one resplendent in his vast chariot of fire, clad in adamant and gold, Abdiel could bare to stand idle no longer. Stepping forth from the loyal lines, the angel marched alone against Satan, meeting him before each host. Trying once more to dissuade him from his ways, Abdiel rebukes Satan “Fool, not to think how vain against th’ Omnipotent to rise in arms”. Satan strikes back in anger, disgusted that none before him will join him “I see that most through sloth had rather serve, Minist’ring Spirits, trained up in feast and song”. Despairing, Abdiel declares Satan a traitor to God, and condemns him to reign in Hell. Raising his blade, Abdiel lands the first blow. The Fallen Archangel raises his shield of gold, but is forced on to one knee. Shock spreads through the rebel ranks, though soon replaced with impious rage at the exultation in the angelic host. The Archangel Michael sounds his battle horn, blasting through the vastness of Heaven:

Battle is joined in Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Now storming fury rose,

  And clamour such as heard in Heav’n

  Was never; arms on armour clashing bray

  Horrible discord, and the madding wheels

  Of brazen chariots raged dire was the noise

  Of conflict... ”

           - THE WAR BEGINS

St. Michael the Archangel wounds Satan
Painting by Luca Giordano 

All Heaven rang and shook to the sound of the very first war. Millions marched on millions, each alone able to wield the power of the elements. The battle hung in the balance, and Satan “who that day prodigious power had shown, and met in arms no equal”, smote battalion after battalion of fighting Seraphim, finding at last the Archangel Michael within his grasp. Michael denounces Satan for disturbing the blessed peace of Heaven, and giving birth to misery. Satan swears to conquer the field of Heaven, Heaven which under the tyranny of God would only become true Hell. Words failing them both now, they circle each other and duel, their blazing shields as though suns in the sky. But the fiery sword of Michael was blessed by God, that no force may resist its edge. Michael breaks Satan’s blade, driving the point into the Traitor’s flesh, and Satan first knew pain. Nectarous humour spat forth from the wound, staining his armour, as Satan gnashed in pain and anger to find himself not matchless. Fallen angels rush to his side and bear him on their shields to his chariot to recover. Meanwhile, Moloch, Adramelech and Asmodai, all powerful among the rebel host, are conquered by the Archangels Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael, and the fallen armies fall back in rout.

Falling back to their encampment for the night, the rebel angels hold council. Nisroch, a former prince of Heaven, laments the sensation of pain, one never felt before that day, deplored as the worst of evils. Satan urges more violent battle, and in his malice, conceives a terrible new weapon – gunpowder. All looked on in admiration at the Traitor’s craft, and their hope revives. Satan curses mankind to one day discover his dread contraption:

                                        “ In future days, if malice should abound,

                                          Someone intent on mischief, or inspired

                                          With dev’lish machination might devise

                                          Like instrument to plague the sons of men... ”

                                                          - SATAN CURSES MANKIND

The next day, the Heavenly host watches as the rebel host advances, in slow but firm order. Zophiel warns his loyalist comrades to hold firm in face of Satan’s devilry, as an ominous feeling grips his side. At last, suddenly revealed, Satan was heard commanding aloud his fallen brethren to stand proud and visible, opening fire. Fire and smoke engulf the plain, and the ground trembles at the unholy barrage. Devastation abounds in the heavenly ranks, as they too discover the feeling of pain. Satan beheld their plight, delighting at his work, as Belial too joins his master in scoffing at this army of God. Hearing the taunts, the loyal Seraphim cast aside their weapons, and tear up the mountains themselves and hurl them upon the Fallen ones. Some are trapped, other cry out in pain, though they cannot die, yet Satan’s infernal machines are destroyed. Enraged, the betrayers imitate, and launch the very stuff of Heaven in defiance.

The Messiah casts the Fallen angels from Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Thus would Heaven have been ruined utterly, had God himself not decided to intervene, resigned to forgo His pledge of free will. Turning to his Son, he transfers upon him all his power and bids him know mastery of Heaven and Hell, and drive out the accursed angels from incorruptible Heaven. As the banner of the Messiah rises in the angelic ranks, the Son of God rides forth, bestriding His brilliant chariot, framed with the glory of Heaven, as thunder breaks the sky around, Victory seated eagle winged at His right hand. Ten thousand thousand saints follow in his wake, and bear down upon the Satanic forces. Their spirit restored and fired anew, the host of Heaven bore down upon the Traitor’s legions, “God’s indignation on these Godless poured”. Full of wrath bent on His enemies, the Messiah crashed into the impious ranks, all but the throne of God itself shaking. Grasping ten thousand bolts of flaming thunder, He blasts the rebel angels through the crystal walls of Heaven, hurling them and their dread commander headlong into a fall to the fiery pit of Hell:

The rebel host falls into the Pit of Hell
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Nine days they fell; fell Chaos roared,

  And felt tenfold confusion in their fall

  Through his wide anarchy, so huge a rout

  Encumbered him with ruin: Hell at last

  Yawning received them whole,

  And on them closed... ”

            - THE TRAITORS FALL TO HELL

So the order of the world, and birth of good and of evil, was born. The blissful paradise and peace of Heaven lay tattered and broken, reeling in shock at the audacious revolution of the Morning Star. Once the greatest of all the Archangels of Heaven now lay in the Pit of Fire with his impious kin, defeated and broken. Or so it seemed. Though condemned to eternal damnation, however broken down they might be, they were immortal and could not die. Where steel and sword had failed, other designs now emerged in Satan's dark thoughts. Heaven was too strong to be sieged again, for now. The rule of God must be weakened first, he thought. A dark smile broke the Morning Star's face as he realised God's propensity for boundless compassion was both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. Scheming anew, the fallen angels began to plan a new war to drive the Most High from the Heavenly Mount, though this time, Satan's target was no angel nor heavenly deity, but a new creation - Man.

Paradise Lost, a true classic of the English language, deserves to be read and its story told. Perhaps you too will be inspired by Milton's words, and pick up a copy. You will not regret it. Copies are easily found for a mere couple of pounds at Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

The Fall

           

The Angelic Host rejoices
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Here all ye angels, progeny of Light,

  Thrones, Princedoms, Virtues, Powers,

  Hear my decree, which ever shall stand.

  This day I have begot whom I declare

  My only Son, and on this holy hill

  Him have anointed, whom ye now behold

  At my right hand; your head I him appoint;

  And by myself have sworn to him shall bow

  All knees in Heav’n,

  And shall confess him Lord. ”

       - GOD COMMANDS THE ANGELS

And so unto the angelic host God gave his command. Rejoice abounded in the heavenly choirs it seemed, as the winged Seraphim greeted the news of the Son of God. All seemed well, but all was not well. For within the crowds on high was one who fell silent of praise, one who did not greet this command with joy at all... We look today to the story of Lucifer’s fall from grace, turning once more to the pages of Paradise Lost (for the first post on this, please click here), and read of the beginning of Evil.

Raphael tells the story of Lucifer
Engraving by Gustave Doré

Some time after Satan (the name Lucifer assumed after his rebellion against God) was hurled to the Pit of Hell, God sent down to the Garden of Eden one of the most trusted of Archangels, Raphael, to bear a message to Adam and Eve. After sharing joyous company and dining, Adam questions the angel of the Lord as to his coming. With a heavy heart, Raphael tells them that God has sent him to warn them of their Enemy, whose ever present threat of deceit and trickery pervades the Blessed Paradise of Eden. Little do they know that Satan himself has already broken into the Garden, and even now torments Eve with nightmares. Sighing, the Archangel sets the scene, of a time before the World and Man were created. Raphael speaks of the ecstasy in Heaven at the announcement of the arrival of the Son of God, and the honouring of the Messiah, how the angels danced and sang and made merry at the wondrous tidings. Until that day, highest in the favour of the Most High and the bright Morning Star, Lucifer was the shining prodigy of the celestial plains. If there was any imperfection within that which seemed perfect, it was that He bore within his frame that most terrible of vices – pride. The command to bow before the new and young Son of God, so honoured by the Almighty, Lucifer - whose name “Is heard no more in Heav’n” -  could not bear the sight.  Deepest malice, envy and rage radiated from his dark mind. As midnight fell on the Heavens, “he resolved with all his legions to dislodge, and leave unworshipped, unobeyed the throne supreme”.

Awakening, Satan turns to his lieutenant and bids him summon all loyal angels under their banners to his side. Satan’s dark thoughts go not unnoticed within the wisdom of the Almighty, who warns his Son “such a foe is rising, who intends to erect his throne equal to ours”. But Satan, “far advanced on winged speed”, flies to his palace in Heaven, raised on a Mount in imitation of that Mount upon which the Messiah was declared. He calls to him the summoned angels, feigning council to appraise the new Son of God. Speaking of bowing before the Son of God, Satan dares to question God’s command:

                                          “ But what if better counsels might erect

                                            Our minds and teach us to cast off this yoke?

                                            Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend

                                            The supple knee? Ye will not if I trust

                                            To know ye right, or if ye know yourselves

                                            Natives and sons of Heav’n possessed before  

                                            By none, and if not equal all, yet free... ”

                                                   - SATAN REFUSES TO BOW TO MAN

Divided were the angels who stood before the Morning Star, some falling to his heresy, others shocked:

Abdiel rebukes Satan
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ Thus far his bold discourse without control

  Had audience, when among the Seraphim

 Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored

 The Deity, and divine commands obeyed,

 Stood up, and in a flame of zeal severe

 The current of his fury thus opposed.

 ‘Oh argument blasphemous, false and proud!

 Words which no ear ever to hear in Heav’n

 Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate

 In place thyself so high above thy peers'...”

      - ABDIEL DEPLORES SATAN

Abdiel orders Satan to bow before the Will of God at once, and pray for the mercy of forgiveness for his impious words. Dismayed and enraged that no other rises to second his order, Abdiel turns to the Fallen Angel, who rejoices in the power of his words. The loyal angel reminds Satan that God created all things, even him. Eyes burning with malice, Satan’s heresy goes deeper still, as he questions the very authority of God himself:

                                           “ Who saw when this Creation was?

                                              Remember’st thou thy making,

                                              While the Maker gave thee being?

                                              We know no time when we were not as now...

                                              Our puissance is our own, our own right hand

                                              Shall teach us highest deeds...”

                                                         - SATAN RENOUNCES GOD

His words echoed with impassioned applause around the vault of Heav’n, as the rebellion is proclaimed. Abdiel looks on in horror to see such betrayal in the faultless plains of Heaven. Turning to the Morning Star one last time, he declares him a traitor to God, warning him of the Almighty’s wrath:

Satan rouses the rebel angels to War
Engraving by Gustave Doré

“ O alienate from God, O Spirit accursed,

  Forsaken of all good; I see thy fall

  Determined, and thy hapless crew involved

  In this perfidious fraud, contagion spread

  Both of thy crime and punishment: henceforth

  No more be troubled how to quit the yoke

  Of God’s Messiah; those indulgent laws

  Will not be now vouchsafed, other decrees

  Against thee are gone forth without recall;

  That golden sceptre which thou didst reject

  Is now an iron rod to bruise and break

  Thy disobedience...”

            - ABDIEL UNVEILS SATAN'S TREACHERY

Alone among the faithless, faithful only was Abdiel, “unmoved, unshaken, unseduced and unterrified”. Taking to flight, and jeered at by the treacherous legions, the angel fled at once, desperately bearing word of the rebellion of the greatest of the Archangels to the Most High. Through the unyielding expanse of the Heavens, the lone angel sped, yet not far behind marched the traitor legions. War was declared in Heaven...

Thus was Lucifer re'christened' Satan ('The Adversary') and Evil was first born. Act One of Satan's rebellion was complete. The time for words was now over, and now He dared to lead a war to dethrone God himself from Heaven. The gripping account of the First Traitor will be continued next time, as the celestial plains of Heaven witness the First War. Here Milton really gets into his stride, as the tension in Paradise Lost begins to build to a new height. Herein lies the beginning of suffering, that curse which Satan lays upon mankind, one already underway within the First Woman, even as Raphael tells his story...


                                      For Part Two, please click here...

Paradise Lost is a rite of passage. With nothing else like it written in the English language, it occupies a special place in literature, and indeed theology. I strongly recommend anyone to give it a read - you will not be disappointed. It is available in many translations, all available cheaply and easily on Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

"Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven"

Satan (from the Hebrew הַשָׂטָן meaning ‘the Adversary’) is for all of us, whether faithful or not, the supreme embodiment of evil. Many names we know Him by; Lucifer, the Enemy, the Antichrist, Samael, the Fallen One and the Devil are a few of the more well known. Yet by whatever name we call him, to all He is evil incarnate. Unsurprisingly, our shared culture is awash with imagery and legend about the First Traitor. The greatest epic written in the English language, Paradise Lost, takes as its focus the tale of Satan, and the temptation of Adam and Eve which cursed humanity forever (known as the Fall of Man). Almost four hundred years old, John Milton’s great work easily eclipses Shakespeare as the first among English authors in my eyes. Now we look to the opening of the story, a story which takes as its purpose ‘to justify the ways of God to men’, and turn to an infamous speech epitomised by the oft quoted line ‘Better to Reign in Hell than Serve in Heaven’.

Satan is thrown down from Heaven
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ He trusted to have equalled the Most High,

If he opposed; and with ambitious aim

Against the throne and monarchy of God,

Raised impious war in Heav’n and battle proud

With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power

Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky

With hideous ruin and combustion down

To bottomless perdition, there to dwell... ”

         - SATAN IS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN

Once the brightest, most beautiful and greatest of all the Archangels of Heaven, Lucifer (from the Latin lux meaning ‘light’ and fero meaning ‘bringer’, giving one of Lucifer’s other names – the Morning Star) as he was then known possessed but one weakness. Gravest of all the sins was Pride, and Lucifer had dared to lead an open war against God himself for control of Heaven. Fully one third of the angelic host sided with the Morning Star, and the War in Heaven was begun. The loyalist angels, lead by the Archangel Michael, had the power and blessing of God and triumphed over the Fallen Ones. The Archangel Michael himself cast Satan (as Lucifer became known after his betrayal) from Heaven, as God condemned the Morning Star and his followers to Hell. Why, you wonder, did Lucifer rebel against God? This I will explain in a future post, as Milton too opens his work in media res (in the middle of action) and leaves us in wonder. You will be most surprised at how curiously compelling Satan’s motivation was...

Satan awoke in the Lake of Fire, and was overcome with lamentation for his loss of Heaven, his own Paradise Lost. Surrounded with the Darkness of the Pit and the sulphurous Inferno, what many do not realise is that Hell was as much a torment for Satan as it was for sinners. Satan turned and saw Beelzebub, his second in command, stir. He too is grieved at their lot, banished from the plains of Heaven where they as angels belong. Beelzebub rages against God, ‘Who now triumphs, and in th’ excess of joy, sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heav’n’. Then Satan consoles him, and soothes his lieutenant:





The Melancholy of Satan
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ Fall’n Cherub, to be weak is miserable

Doing or suffering: but of this be sure,

To do aught good never will be our task,

But ever to do ill our sole delight,

As being contrary to his high will

Whom we resist. If then his Providence

Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,

Our labour must be to pervert that end... ”

                - SATAN COMFORTS BEELZEBUB

Satan pledges that now they must seek to ease their suffering, and ‘overcome this dire calamity, what reinforcement we may gain from hope, if not what resolution from despair’. Invigored, Beelzebub rises from the Lake of Fire. Other Fallen Angels awake, and begin to rise at the words of their accursed prince:

                                “ Is this the region, the soil, the clime,

                                  Said then the lost Archangel, this the seat

                                  That we must change for Heav’n, this mournful gloom

                                   For that celestial light?... Farewell happy fields

                                  Where joy forever dwells: hail horrors,

                                   Hail Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell... ”

                                                              - SATAN MOURNS THE LOSS OF HEAVEN

Transfixed by the Morning Star’s words, the tragedy of Satan is unveiled at the most famous of his exhortations:

                                “ The mind is its own place, and in itself

                                   Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.

                                   What matter where, if I be still the same,

                                   And what should I be, all but less than he

                                   Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least

                                   We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built

                                   Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:

                                   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 Heav’n. ”

                                                            - SATAN CONSOLES HIS FOLLOWERS

For the Classicists among you, perhaps you may notice an echo of Achilles’ lamentation here, when Odysseus spies his ghost in the Underworld? Achilles tells Odysseus that he would rather be a servant in a poor man’s house on Earth than a king of kings down in Hades. Now Satan calls to his Fallen legions and, in droves, his faithful angels emerge from the Pit. Many names we hear, and some described:

                                “ First Moloch, horrid king besmeared with blood

                                  Of human sacrifice, and parent’s tears,

                                  Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud

                                  Their children’s cries unheard,

                                  that passed through fire to his grim idol. ”

                                                           - THE FALLEN ANGELS RALLY TO THEIR LEADER

Azazel unfurls Satan’s banner, thousands more rise into the air, and ‘with them rose a forest huge of spears: and thronging helms appeared, and serried shields in thick array of depth immeasurable’. Standing above them all was their dread Commander, brightness still clinging to the Morning Star. Yet in the Fallen One’s face:

Satan calls forth His defeated Legions
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

“ Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care

Sat on his faded cheek, but under the brows

Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride

Waiting revenge: cruel his eye, but cast

Signs of remorse and passion to behold

The fellows of his crime... ”

      - SORROW BREAKS THE FACE OF THE MORNING STAR

Satan fires the passion of his legions, praising their valour, and willing them on to rise again, ‘For this infernal pit shall never hold celestial spirits in bondage’. The Legions scream their approval at His words, drawing:

                             “ Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs

                               Of mighty Cherubim; the sudden blaze

                               Far round illuminated Hell: highly they raged

                              Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms

                              Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war,

                              Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav’n. ”

                                                 - THE FALLEN ANGELS SCREAM IN DEFIANCE UNTO GOD

But how did this come to pass? What was it that caused God’s greatest creation to Fall? How did He rally so many to his cause? This is only the beginning of Paradise Lost. In future posts, we shall return to this great work, and discover how the pride of one being caused so much pain and anguish, not among the angelic host alone, but also in man.

Paradise Lost is widely regarded as 'England's epic', written in English by an English poet. It is indeed questionable why England's national writer is Shakespeare next to Paradise Lost, which is a rival for Dante's Divine Comedy (which I will certainly be looking at in future posts). It is available in many texts, all available easily and at a fantastic deal at Amazon:

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

United States

Penguin Classics:
Paradise Lost (Penguin Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)

Oxford World's Classics:
Paradise Lost (Oxford World's Classics)
(Paradise Lost is written in English, so text choice is personal preference)