PARADISE LOST.
Picture I.—A Sketch.
Satan risen from the Flood, Beelzebub rising.
Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool
His mighty stature; on each hand the flames
Driv'n backward slope their pointing spires, and roll'd
In billows, leave i' th' midst a horrid vale.
——Him follow'd his next mate,
Both glorying to have 'scap'd the Stygian flood
As Gods—— Book I. v. 221, 238.
In the possession of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Picture II.
Satan calling up his Legions.
——On the beach
Of that enflamed sea he stood, and call'd
His legions, Angel forms, who lay entranc'd
Thick as autumnal leaves, that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa.——
He call'd so loud, that all the hollow deep
Of Hell resounded.——
Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n.
They heard, and were abash'd, and up they sprung——
Book I. v. 299, 314, 330.
In the possession of His Grace the Duke of Wellington.
Picture III.—A Sketch.
Satan haranguing his Host.
He spake: and to confirm his words, out flew
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim.—— Book I. v. 663.
Picture IV.
Figures from a simile in allusion to the contracted form of the Spirits assembled in the new-raised Hall of Pandæmonium, illustrated by a simile from
——Fairy elves,
Whose midnight revels by a forest side
Or fountain some belated peasant sees,
Or dreams he sees, while over head the moon
Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth
Wheels her pale course, they on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund music charm his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Book I. v. 781.
Picture V.
Satan encount'ring Death, Sin interposing.
——And now great deeds
Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung,
Had not the snaky Sorceress that sat
Fast by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key,
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.
——She finish'd, and the subtle Fiend his lore
Soon learn'd, now milder.——
Book II. v. 722, 815.
In the possession of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Picture VI.
The Birth of Sin.
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swam
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide,
Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
Then shining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I sprung.——
Book II. v. 752.
In the possession of Samuel Cartwright, Esq.
Picture VII.
Sin pursued by Death.
——I fled, and cry'd out Death;
I fled, but he pursued——
——And swifter far
Me overtook.—— Book II. v. 787.
In the possession of John Knowles, Esq.
Picture VIII.
Lapland Orgies, the Hell-hounds round Sin compared to those that
——follow the night-hag, when call'd
In secret, riding through the air she comes,
Lur'd with the smell of infant blood, to dance
With Lapland witches, while the lab'ring moon
Eclipses at their charms.—— Book II. v. 662.
In the possession of John Knowles, Esq.
Picture IX.
Satan's ascent from Hell.
——At last his sail-broad vans
He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke
Uplifted spurns the ground.—— Book II. v. 927.
In the possession of Sir Thomas Lawrence.
Picture X.
A Gryphon pursuing an Arimaspian.
A comparison of Satan's exertions to force his way through the realm of Chaos.
As when a Gryphon through the wilderness
With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth
Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd
The guarded gold: so eagerly the Fiend——
Book II. v. 943.
In the possession of John Knowles, Esq.
Picture XI.
Satan bursts from Chaos.
He ceas'd; and Satan stay'd not to reply,
But——
Springs upward like a pyramid of fire.
Book II. v. 1010.
In the possession of the Countess of Guilford.
Picture XII.
Ulysses between Scylla and Charybdis.
An exemplification of Satan straitened in his passage to Light.
——Harder beset
Than when Ulysses on the larboard shunn'd
Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steer'd
So he with difficulty and labour hard
Mov'd on, with difficulty and labour he.
Book II. v. 1019.
In the possession of the Countess of Guilford.
Picture XIII.
Adam and Eve first discovered by Satan.
Under a tuft of shade that on a green
Stood whisp'ring soft, by a fresh fountain side
They sat them down.
Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles
Wanted, nor youthful dalliance as beseems
Fair couple, link'd in happy nuptial league,
Alone as they——
——aside the 'Spirit' turn'd
For envy, yet with jealous leer malign
Ey'd them askance.—— Book IV. v. 325, 337, 502.
Picture XIV.
Satan surprised at the ear of Eve,
starting from the touch of Ithuriel's Spear.
Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear
Touch'd lightly;——
——up he starts
Discovered and surpris'd. As when a spark
Lights on a heap of nitrous powder,——
——the smutty grain
With sudden blaze diffus'd inflames the air:
So started up in his own shape the Fiend.
Back stept those two fair Angels half amaz'd
So sudden to behold the grisly king.
Book IV. v. 810.
In the possession of John Angerstein, Esq.
Picture XV.—A Sketch.
Satan discovering his fate in the Scale aloft,
flying from Gabriel and the Angelic Squadron.
——On th' other side Satan alarm'd
Collecting all his might dilated stood.——
——The Fiend look'd up, and knew
His mounted scale aloft: nor more; but fled
Murm'ring, and with him fled the shades of night.
Book IV. v. 985, 1013.
Picture XVI.
The Dream of Eve, fancying to have tasted the fruit from the Tree of interdicted Knowledge, with
One shap'd and wing'd like one of those from Heaven.
——Forthwith up to the clouds
With him I flew, and underneath beheld
The earth outstretch'd immense——
——Suddenly
My guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down,
And fell asleep;—— Book V. v. 55, 86, 90.
In the possession of Wm. Young Ottley, Esq.
Picture XVII.
The creation of Eve, as related by Adam.
Abstract as in a trance methought I saw,
Though sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shape
Still glorious before whom awake I stood;
Who stooping open'd my left side, and took
From thence a rib——
Under his forming hands a creature grew,
——So lovely fair,
That what seem'd fair in all the world, seem'd now
Mean, or in her summ'd up.——
Book VIII. v. 462, 470.
Picture XVIII.
Eve, new created, led to Adam.
——On she came,
Led by her heav'nly Maker,——
And guided by his voice,——
Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her eye,
I overjoy'd could not forbear aloud.
This turn has made amends.——
Book VIII. v. 484.
In the possession of John Angerstein, Esq.
Picture XIX.
Eve at the forbidden Tree.
——Her rash hand in evil hour
Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat;
——Back to the thicket slunk
The guilty serpent.—— Book IX. v. 780.
Picture XX.
Adam resolved to share the fate of Eve; the Guardian Angels leaving the Garden.
——if death
Consort with thee, death is to me as life;
Our state cannot be sever'd, we are one,
One flesh; to lose thee were to lose myself.
So Adam, and thus Eve to him reply'd.
O glorious trial of exceeding love,
Illustrious evidence, example high!
So saying, she embrac'd him, and for joy
Tenderly wept——
Up into Heav'n from Paradise in haste
Th' angelic guards ascended, mute and sad
For Man——
Book IX. v. 953, 958, 990.—Book X. v. 17.
Picture XXI.
Eve, after the Sentence and departure of the Judge,
despairing, supported by Adam.
——With swift ascent he up return'd.
She ended here, or vehement despair
Broke off the rest; so much of death her thoughts
Had entertain'd, as dy'd her cheeks with pale.
But Adam with such counsel nothing sway'd,
To better hopes his more attentive mind
Lab'ring had raised.—— Book X. v. 224, 1007.
Picture XXII.
Death and Sin bridging the 'waste' of Chaos,
and met by Satan on his return from Earth.
——The aggregated soil
Death with his mace petrific, cold and dry,
As with a trident smote,——
——and the mole immense wrought on
Over the foaming deep high arch'd, a bridge
Of length prodigious.——
——when behold
Satan in likeness of an Angel bright——
——Sin, his fair
Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke:
O Parent, these are thy magnific deeds.
Book X. v. 293, 300, 326, 352.
In the possession of the Countess of Guilford.
Picture XXIII.
Satan discovered on his Throne, after his return from Earth.
——Down a while
He sat, and round about him saw unseen:
At last as from a cloud his fulgent head
And shape star-bright appear'd——
——all amaz'd
At that so sudden blaze the Stygian throng
Bent their aspect——
——loud was th' acclaim:
Forth rush'd in haste the great consulting peers,
Rais'd from their dark Divan.——
Book X. v. 447, 452, 455.
Picture XXIV.
The Vision of the Lazar-house.
——Immediately a place
Before his eyes appear'd, sad, noisome, dark,
A lazar-house it seem'd, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseas'd, all maladies.
Demoniac phrenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy.
Marasmus——
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans;
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook, but delay'd to strike, though oft invok'd.
Book XI. v. 477, 485.
In the possession of the Countess of Guilford.
Picture XXV.
The Vision of the Deluge.
——the thicken'd sky
Like a dark ceiling stood; down rush'd the rain
Impetuous——
——Sea cover'd sea,
Sea without shore——
How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold
The end of all thy offspring——
Depopulation! Book XI. v. 742, 754.
In the possession of John Angerstein, Esq.
Picture XXVI.
The Vision of Noah.
——from his ark
The ancient sire descends with all his train;
Then with uplifted hands, and eyes devout,
Grateful to Heav'n, over his head beholds
A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow.
Book XI. v. 861.
In the Church at Luton, Bedfordshire.
Picture XXVII.
The dismission of Adam and Eve from Paradise.
In either hand the hast'ning Angel caught
Our ling'ring parents, and to th' eastern gate
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain; then disappear'd.
They looking back, all th' eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming brand, the gate
With dreadful faces throng'd and fiery arms:
Some natural tears they dropt.—— Book XII. v. 637.