Yet thence his lustful ies he enlargd [ 415 ]
Even to that Hill of sdal, by the Grove
Of Moloicide, lust hard by hate;
Till good Josiah drove them theo Hell.
With these came they, who from the b flood
Of old Euphrates to the Brook that parts [ 420 ]
Egypt from Syrian ground, had general Names
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth, those male,
These Feminine. For Spirits when they please
either Sex assume, or both; so soft
And unpounded is thir Essence pure, [ 425 ]
Not tid or manacld with joynt or limb,
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh; but in what shape they choose
Dilated or denst, bright or obscure,
execute thir aerie purposes, [ 430 ]
And works of love or enmity fulfill.
For those the Race of Israel oft forsook
Thir living strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous Altar, bowing lowly down
To bestial Gods; for which thir heads as low [ 435 ]
Bowd down in Battel, sunk before the Spear
Of despicable foes. With these in troop
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenis calld
Astarte, Queen of Heavn, with crest Horns;
To whose bright Image nightly by the Moon [ 440 ]
Sidonian Virgins paid thir Vows and Songs,
In Sion also not unsung, where stood
Her Temple on th offensive Mountain, built
By that uxorious King, whose heart though large,
Beguild by fair Idolatresses, fell [ 445 ]
To Idols foul. Thammuz came behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allurd
The Syrian Damsels to lament his fate
In amorous dittyes all a Summers day,
While smooth Adonis from his native Rock [ 450 ]
Ran purple to the Sea, supposd with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wouhe Love-tale
Ied Sions daughters with like heat,
Whose wanton passions in the sacred Porch
Ezekiel saw, when by the Vision led [ 455 ]
His eye survayd the dark Idolatries
Of alienated Judah. came one
Who mournd in ear, when the Captive Ark
Maimd his brute Image, head and hands lopt off
In his own Temple, on the grunsel edge, [ 460 ]