Explanation:
“Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,
Said then the lost archangel, this the seat
That we must change for heaven, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light? Be it so, since he
Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid
What shall be right: furthest from him is best,
Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme
Above his equals.”
(Lines 242-249)

Answer: These lines are taken from ‘Paradise Lost’ Book I, of John Milton, the most distinguished epic poet of England in the seventeenth century. Viewing the soil and climate of hell which is different from that of heaven, Satan welcomes this habitation and thinks it wise to live far away from God.

Satan utters these words with deep regret and with a sense of nostalgia. He views the region, the soil and the climate of hell and finds that if they have to live here they have undergone a tremendous reversal of fortune. Hell is an abode of ‘mournful gloom’. Heaven, where they lived and from where they were thrown out as a result of their impious war against God, was a realm of ‘celestial light’. But they have no option in the matter. God has vanquished them and has become the sole ruler of Heaven. He can dictate His own terms to them. What he says and bids are right. He is, however, superior to Satan and other rebel angels not because He has a better mind but because He has greater force. This is how Satan evades his humiliating position, created by his sad overthrow from Heaven. He makes a virtue of necessity when he says that the farthest from God is best. In fact, nearness to God is impossible for him owing to his rebellious nature. He is a symbol of evil. His character is infernal. Hell is, therefore, the most suitable place for him. He cannot draw, close to God and share His grace because he can not incline himself towards good.