Paradise Lost, Book I Paragraph 3: Lucifer talks to Beelzebub

Orignal:





If thou beest he; But O how fall'n! how chang'd
From him, who in the happy Realms of Light [ 85 ]
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst out-shine
Myriads though bright: If he Whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the Glorious Enterprize,
Joynd with me once, now misery hath joynd [ 90 ]
In equal ruin: into what Pit thou seest
From what highth fall'n, so much the stronger prov'd
He with his Thunder: and till then who knew
The force of those dire Arms? yet not for those,
Nor what the Potent Victor in his rage [ 95 ]
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though chang'd in outward lustre; that fixt mind
And high disdain, from sence of injur'd merit,
That with the mightiest rais'd me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along [ 100 ]
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost power with adverse power oppos'd
In dubious Battel on the Plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost? [ 105 ]
All is not lost; the unconquerable Will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?
That Glory never shall his wrath or might [ 110 ]
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deifie his power,
Who from the terrour of this Arm so late
Doubted his Empire, that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy and shame beneath [ 115 ]
This downfall; since by Fate the strength of Gods
And this Empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In Arms not worse, in foresight much advanc't,
We may with more successful hope resolve [ 120 ]
To wage by force or guile eternal Warr
Irreconcileable, to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heav'n.


My Transliteration:

If you are Beelzebub but Oh, how fallen, how changed from yourself!  In the happy Realms of Light, you dressed in transcendence!  You did outshine myriads’ angels of heaven as bright as they  were!  Then, I spoke of mutual defiance, of thoughts united and counsels aimed in the hope, through hazardous, in a Glorious Enterprise against YHWH to you.  Now I see misery joined in balanced ruin. This!  A grave as deep as heaven is high, to prove YHWH with his unassailable Voice is more potent?  Did we know the strength of his dire Arms?  To me it matters not.  Though they also change me in Outward Light, my mind   with mighty disdain fixed, from my sense of injury and perspective of rebel angles who also hate  God's Tyranny.  They preferred Lucifer against God's absolute power on the fields of Heaven's War, which tumults shook.  His throne, but we have lost that field, and so what? Lost, not us, we possess our unconquerable Will  and our long study of revenge, infinite hate, and the courage never to submit or yield. Is there anything else we cannot achieve?  They will never extort my Glory from YHWH.  To live on my knees for His sake, for His Exaltation because I fear His Arms, that Hypocrite?  Neither can my eternal substance fail!   We have lost nothing in Arms, in our campaign, and with experience we may gain the advantage, either by force, or by subtlety an everlasting battle with YHWH.  He, who now is triumphant and take with Him all the excessive Joys of Heaven . . .

Paradise Lost Book 1: The Revolt of Lucifer

Original Paragraph 2

Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view
Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State, Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off [ 30 ]
From thir Creator, and transgress his Will
For one restraint, Lords of the World besides?
Who first seduc'd them to that foul revolt? Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd [ 35 ]
The Mother of Mankind, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High, [ 40 ]
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie [ 45 ]
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms. Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night [ 50 ]
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquisht, rowling in the fiery Gulfe
Confounded though immortal: But his doom Reserv'd him to more wrath; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain [ 55 ]
Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay Mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate:
At once as far as Angels kenn he views
The dismal Situation waste and wilde, [ 60 ]
A Dungeon horrible, on all sides round
As one great Furnace flam'd, yet from those flames
No light, but rather darkness visible
Serv'd onely to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace [ 65 ]
And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
That comes to all; but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed
With ever-burning Sulphur unconsum'd:
Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd [ 70 ]
For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordain'd
In utter darkness, and thir portion set
As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n
As from the Center thrice to th' utmost Pole.
O how unlike the place from whence they fell! [ 75 ]
There the companions of his fall, o'rewhelm'd
With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and weltring by his side
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and nam'd [ 80 ]
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
Breaking the horrid silence thus began.


My Plain English Translation:
 
The muse speaks, for neither heaven, nor the secluded space of hell hides anything from her view.  First comprehend what action moved mankind's grandparents from happy innocence. The first couple was favored by Adonai and the heavenly beings.  How did they fracture His desire for one domain, to remain lords of the world? Who first seduced them to such treasonous insurrection?

Cunningly, the Deceiver, whose lust for retribution and wrong done to him as he perceived, conjured in the form of a slithering beast, corrupted the wife of Adam.   It was that Evil One, whose double dealing deceitfulness disguised his malice with seductive songs, phantasms and dreams, charming the ear of Eve.  Into her heart he wove his sorcery, weakening her resolve and bending her to his will.

The Adversary, by such devices of vanity, won to his pride, one third the multitude of heavenly beings—the enamored angels, by whose aid aspiring he stood in opposition to Adonai.  This Dragon means to set himself in glory above his peers and hopes to equal the most High, outranking all if he overthrows Adonai.  To such a lofty goal against the throne and monarchy of the Highest, the Ancient Serpent raised tumult in heaven and battled recklessly with arrogance all who opposed him.

For his warring efforts, The Prince of the Power of the Air along with his legions, was hurled headlong from his insubstantial scorching skies, bleeding ruination and burning down in searing flame to bottomless destruction.  For nine days and nights they fell, and nine more lay vanquisht upon the insubstantial deep, yet remain immortal.   This hell they found is wreathed in a fire which gives no light—Leviathan’s fate for challenging Adonai to arms. They live enchained, each to every infernal guest a host and to each a slave.

The Conquered Star with his slithering crew crashed into suffocating gulfs of a limitless abyss.   Like a tempest they are tossed and confounded.  Now, this drowning downfall stored in them more hatred.  The Liar’s lost pleasure and its memory of paradise torment him.  O, what light left him and to his eye was equally gone!  And everyone equal in that situation! 

Upon that horrible dungeon each fissure swallows their acrimonious gaze with bottomless fire. Winnowing staggering suffering, and dismayed by inflexible pride and steadfast malevolence his legions wallow.

At once as far as angels see, the Man of Sin perceives his dismal station, a wasted and ruinous plot. That native scene serves only to discover oceans of devastation, a region of suffering and repulsive shadows, where peace and restfulness shall never dwell.  Hopes that always come, never comes to them at all. But rather agony without end still urges more agony onward forever.

This flaming inferno fed with sulfur ever-burning inconsumable and rotten smoke: such circumstances they had decreed themselves, rebellious. Around their sepulcher ordained with black lightlessness: a separation leveled and as far removed from Adonai and the beings of heaven as from Saturn three times to the edge of the universe.  Oh how utterly unlike the place from where they fell!

The companions of Abaddon, overwhelmed with hurricanes and tornadoes of tempestuous fire, the Devil is discerning.  Weltering by his side is one next to himself in power, and only less in crime from serving another; long after known in Palestine and worshiped in the Promised Land as Beelzebub. To whom the God of this Age, and thereafter in heaven called Satan, with strong venom breaking the vacuous echo he thus spoke:



phantasm:  illusions and false figures and ideas

vanity:  the image the self, also emptiness

tumult: extreme noise, disturbance or other disorder

insubstantial: lacking any supporting feature

vacuum:  area devoid of matter, also a degree of exhaustion in such a space

angel's kenned:  to see or perceive an idea, to recognize

sepulcher: grave

weltering: tossed and heaved as in waves

Beelzebub:  second greatest Devil, in demonology, one of the seven Princes of Hell

Satan:  Lord of the Demons, who's name means adversary in Hebrew

vacuous echo:  time and sound so quiet it is deafening

Paradise Lost: The Rhetoric of Religious Truth

 

 

Robert L. Scott states that rhetoric is not empty, fancy language, but it is in fact, epistemic.  His argument claims truth is not an objective fact or set of facts, but that truth is based on the situation nearby. Scott goes as far as stating that if a man believes in an ultimate truth and argues it, he is only fooling himself.  He convinces himself of one argument among many possible options. Ultimately, we compare truth with experiences, and rhetoric is necessary to give meaning to individual circumstances.

A dream, while asleep is always true in the context of the sleeper and the dream.  How many of us have been fully convinced of the truth of a dream, only to awake to different reality? 

The great critic of literature and the bible, who was also a poet and artist had this to say: 

Once I saw a Devil in a flame of fire, who arose before an Angel that sat on a cloud, and the Devil uttered these words:

'The worship of God is: Honoring his gifts in other men, each according to his genius, and loving the greatest men best: those who envy or calumniate great men hate God; for there is no other God.'

The Angel hearing this became almost blue but mastering himself he grew yellow, & at last white, pink, & smiling, and then replied:

‘Thou Idolater, is not God One? & is not he visible in Jesus Christ? and has not Jesus Christ given his sanction to the law of ten commandments, and are not all other men fools, sinners, & nothings?'

The Devil answer'd: 'bray a fool in a morter with wheat, yet shall not his folly be beaten out of him; if Jesus Christ is the greatest man, you ought to love him in the greatest degree; now hear how he has given his sanction to the law of ten commandments: did he not mock at the Sabbath  and so mock the Sabbaths God? murder those who were murder'd because of him? turn away the law from the woman taken in adultery? steal the labor of others to support him? bear false witness when he omitted making a defense before Pilate? covet when he pray'd for his disciples, and when he bid them shake off the dust of their feet against such as refused to lodge them? I tell you, no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments. Jesus was all virtue, and acted from impulse, not from rules.'

                                                                  --William Blake

                                       The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

 

I am reworking Milton's Paradise Lost.  What follows is the first paragraph of Book I, more tuned to the modern ear, I think.  The imagery in one paragraph alone of Paradise Lost astounds the reader.   Paradise Lost ranks among the great works of world literature and in my opinion, the greatest poem ever written.  I believe the master work can be remolded and maintain its original essence or energy, truth, and beauty.  Also included are my own interpretations of certain images, and their corresponding word definition.  I have deviated from a strict Judeo-Christian interpretation of Paradise Lost, as I believe Milton was one of the first Western writers to recognize the similarity among diverse spiritual archetypes.  The original, which is in the public domain, appears first.  I have also preserved the archaic forms of you and yours (thou and thy).  For comparison, I have also used the modern pronouns.

  Of Mans 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 Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top

  Of OREB, or of SINAI, didst inspire

  That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,

  In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth

  Rose out of CHAOS: Or if SION Hill

  Delight thee more, and SILOA'S Brook that flow'd

  Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence

  Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,

  That with no middle flight intends to soar

  Above th' AONIAN Mount, while it pursues

  Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.

  And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer

  Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,

  Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first

  Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread

  Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss

  And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark

  Illumine, what is low raise and support;

  That to the highth of this great Argument

  I may assert th' Eternal Providence,

  And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Of mankind's first insurrection and the impact of that forbidden tree, whose mortal tastes brought death into the world, and all suffering with the loss of Eden, until a greater man restores us and regains the joyous heart. Sing, Urania of the secret Summit of Oreb, and of Sinai.  What caused the Guardian, who first taught the Hebrews, in the beginning how the heavens and earth rose out of chaos. Or if Zion Hill delights thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flowed fast by the oracle of YHWH.  Therefore, I invoke thy aid to my mighty song that with no common flight intends to soar above the Aeonian Mountain.  While it pursues things not attempted yet in prose or poetry, and mostly thou oh Muse that does promote before all temples the upright heart and pure, instruct me.   Thou understand, that thou from the beginning of time were there, and with mighty wings,  outspread dove-like thou sat speculating on the infinite abyss and made it meaningful. What conceals me, to explain, what is base raise and support; that to the height of this compelling argument I may assert, divines government, and justify the ways of YHWH to men.

Of mankind's first insurrection and the impact of that forbidden tree, whose mortal tastes brought death into the world, and all suffering with the loss of Eden, until a greater man restores us and regains the joyous heart. Sing, Urania of the secret Summit of Oreb, and of Sinai.  What caused the Guardian, who first taught the Hebrews, in the beginning how the heavens and earth rose out of chaos. Or if Zion Hill delights you more, and Siloa's Brook that flowed fast by the oracle of YHWH.  Therefore, I invoke your aid to my mighty song that with no common flight intends to soar above the Aeonian Mountain.  While it pursues things not attempted yet in prose or poetry, and mostly you oh Muse that does promote before all temples the upright heart and pure, instruct me.   You understand, that you from the beginning of time were there, and with mighty wings, outspread dove-like you sat speculating on the infinite abyss and made it meaningful. What conceals me, to explain, what is base raise and support; that to the height of this compelling argument I may assert, divines government, and justify the ways of YHWH to men.

Thou:  you

Thy:  your

Thee:  used as a singular form of “you” when it is the object of a verb or preposition.

  "I take thee at thy word..."  Romeo and Juliet

First insurrection:  first conflict with power

Forbidden tree:   knowledge

Mortal tastes:  malevolent usages

Eden: state of innocence

Greater man:  anointed, enlightened self, savior,shepard, Jesus

Urania:  muse of astronomical arts and science

Summit of Oreb, and of Sinai:  God meeting Man, Oreb means raven

The Guardian:  the Sun-Image-Deity--solar events are the foundation of much religion, astrology and astronomy, Jesus  

The Hebrews:  the Jewish people

Zion Hill: city of God

Siloa's Brook: healing water, especially for the eyes

Oracle:  a speaker of a revelation

YHWH:  To Be--God sometime pronounced Yahweh and Jehovah.

Aeonian Mountain: home of the Muse/Muses

Muse:  personification of an area of skill or study, usually as a woman

from the beginning of time:  Proverbs 8:2 through 8:31

She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors.

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:

While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:

When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:

When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:

Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.*

Abyss:  space, the universe

Chaos:  matter, the material world/worlds

God created a female companion from the beginning of time.  In many ancient traditions God was married or had a female companion.  It is even in the Bible, but many modern American Churches have re-written Proverbs 8 in a male pronoun, and have justified it by saying it was really a personification of Jesus.  However, it is clear that Wisdom is personified as a Woman, in the original texts, something modern Christians cannot answer, except with simple denial.  

The problem here is obvious. Proverbs 8 clearly describes a creation story.  A creation story that doesn't match the story of the first book of Genesis   There were very real reasons why translating the Bible into English was punishable by death centuries ago.

 

Works Cited:

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/blake_ma.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhetoric

 

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_1/index.shtml

 

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+8&version=KJV

 
Scott, Robert L. 1967. On Viewing Rhetoric as Epistemic. Central States Speech Journal (Original publication)