Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
Th’ infernal serpent: he it was whose guile,
Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host
Of rebel angels; by whose aid, aspiring
To set himself in glory ’bove his peers,
He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
If He opposed; and, with ambition’s aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God,