and cold mists from the earth;
Till Angels and weak men twelve years should govern o'er the strong;
And
then their end should come, when France receiv'd the Demon's light.
Stiff shudderings shook the heav'nly thrones! France, Spain, and Italy
In terror view'd the bands of Albion,
and the ancient Guardians,
Fainting upon the elements, smitten with their own plagues!
They slow advance
to shut the five gates of their law-built Heaven,
Fillèd with blasting fancies and with mildews of despair,
With
fierce disease and lust, unable to stem the fires of Orc,
But the five gates were consum'd, and their bolts
and hinges melted;
And the fierce flames burnt round the heavens, and round the abodes of men.