"
The battle begins:
"Now storming fury rose,
And clamor such as heard in heav'n till now
Was never; arms on armor clashing brayed {p. 248}
Horrible discord, and the madding wheels
Of brazen chariots raged; dire was the noise
Of conflict; overhead the dismal _hiss_
Of fiery darts in _flaming volleys flew_,
And, flying, vaulted either host with fire. . . .
Army 'gainst army, numberless to raise
_Dreadful combustion_ warring and disturb
Though not destroy, their happy native seat.
. . . Sometimes on firm ground
A standing fight, then _soaring on main wing_
Tormented all the air, _all air seemed then_
Conflicting fire."
Michael, the archangel, denounces Satan as an unknown being a
stranger:
"Author of evil, _unknown till thy revolt_,
_Unnamed_ in heaven . . . how hast thou disturbed
Heav'n's blessed peace, and into nature brought
Misery, uncreated till the crime
Of thy rebellion! . . . But think not here
To trouble holy rest; heav'n casts thee out
From all her confines: heav'n, the seat of bliss,
Brooks not the works of violence and war.
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