y of almighty
power; and invests with becoming majesty all the acts of the Creator,
who, when He finished His great work, saw that all was entirely good.

Shortly after the creation of the new universe, Satan, having escaped
from Hell, plunged into the abyss of Chaos, and, after a long and
arduous journey upwards, in which he had to fight his way through the
surging elements that raged around him like a tempestuous sea, he
reached the upper confines of this region where less confusion
prevailed, and where a glimmering dawn of light penetrated its darkness
and gloom, indicating that the limit of the empire of Chaos and ancient
Night had been reached by the adventurous fiend. Pursuing his way with
greater ease, he leisurely beholds the sight which is opening to his
eyes--a sight rendered more glorious by his long sojourn in darkness. He
sees:--

Far off the empyreal Heaven, extended wide
In circuit, undetermined square or round,
With opal towers and battlements adorned
Of living sapphire, once his native seat,
And, fast by, hanging in a golden chain,
This pendent World, in bigness as a star
Of smallest magnitude close by the Moon.--ii. 1047-53.

He gazes upon his native Heaven where once he dwelt, and observes the
pendent world in quest of which he journeyed hither--hung by a golden
chain from the Empyrean and no larger than a star of the smallest
magnitude when close by the Moon. In this passage Milton does not allude
to the Earth, which was invisible, but to the entire starry heavens--the
newly created universe reclaimed from Chaos, which, when contrasted with
the Empyrean, appeared in size no larger than the minutest star when
compared with the full moon. Pursuing his journey, the new universe as
it is approached expands into a globe of vast dimensions; its convex
surface--round which the chaotic elements in stormy aspect
lowered--seemed a boundless continent, dark, desolate, and starless,
except on the side next to the wall of Heaven, which though far-distant
afforded it some illumination by its reflected light. Satan, having
alighted on this convex shell which enclosed the universe, wandered long
over its bleak and dismal surface, until his attention was attracted by
a gleam of light which appeared through an opening at its zenith right
underneath the Empyrean. Thither he directed his steps, and perceived a
structure resembling a staircase, or ladder, which formed the only means
of co