Paradise Lost - Book VIII

No more of talk where God or Angel Guest     With Man, as with his Friend, familiar usd     To sit indulgent, and with him partake     Rural repast, permitting him the while     Venial discourse unblamd: I now must change     Those Notes to Tragic; foul distrust, and breach     Disloyal on the part of Man, revolt     And disobedience: On the part of Heavn     Now alienated, distance and distaste,     Anger and just rebuke, and judgement givn,     That brought into this World a world of woe,     Sinne and her shadow Death, and Miserie     Deaths Harbinger: Sad task, yet argument     Not less but more Heroic then the wrauth     Of stern Achilles on his Foe pursud     Thrice Fugitive about Troy Wall; or rage     Of Turnus for Lavinia disespousd,     Or Neptuns ire or Junos, that so long     Perplexd the Greek and Cythereas Son;     If answerable style I can obtaine     Of my Celestial Patroness, who deignes     Her nightly visitation unimplord,     And dictates to me slumbring, or inspires     Easie my unpremeditated Verse:     Since first this subject for Heroic Song     Pleasd me long choosing, and beginning late;     Not sedulous by Nature to indite     Warrs, hitherto the onely Argument     Heroic deemd, chief maistrie to dissect     With long and tedious havoc fabld Knights     In Battels feignd; the better fortitude     Of Patience and Heroic Martyrdom     Unsung; or to describe Races and Games,     Or tilting Furniture, emblazond Shields,     Impreses quaint, Caparisons and Steeds;     Bases and tinsel Trappings, gorgious Knights     At Joust and Torneament; then marshald Feast     Servd up in Hall with Sewers, and Seneshals;     The skill of Artifice or Office mean,     Not that which justly gives Heroic name     To Person or to Poem. Mee of these     Nor skilld nor studious, higher Argument     Remaines, sufficient of it self to raise     That name, unless an age too late, or cold     Climat, or Years damp my intended wing     Deprest, and much they may, if all be mine,     Not Hers who brings it nightly to my Ear.     The Sun was sunk, and after him the Starr     Of Hesperus, whose Office is to bring     Twilight upon the Earth, short Arbiter     Twixt Day and Night, and now from end to end     Nights Hemisphere had veild the Horizon round:     When Satan who late fled before the threats     Of Gabriel out of Eden, now improvd     In meditated fraud and malice, bent     On mans destruction, maugre what might hap     Of heavier on himself, fearless returnd.     By Night he fled, and at Midnight returnd     From compassing the Earth, cautious of day,     Since Uriel Regent of the Sun descrid     His entrance, and forewarnd the Cherubim     That kept thir watch; thence full of anguish drivn,     The space of seven continud Nights he rode     With darkness, thrice the Equinoctial Line     He circld, four times crossd the Carr of Night     From Pole to Pole, traversing each Colure;     On the eighth returnd, and on the Coast averse     From entrance or Cherubic Watch, by stealth     Found unsuspected way. There was a place,     Now not, though Sin, not Time, first wraught the change,     Where Tigris at the foot of Paradise     Into a Gulf shot under ground, till part     Rose up a Fountain by the Tree of Life;     In with the River sunk, and with it rose     Satan involvd in rising Mist, then sought     Where to lie hid; Sea he had searcht and Land     From Eden over Pontus, and the Poole     Motis, up beyond the River Ob;     Downward as farr Antartic; and in length     West from Orantes to the Ocean barrd     At Darien, thence to the Land where flowes     Ganges and Indus: thus the Orb he roamd     With narrow search; and with inspection deep     Considerd every Creature, which of all     Most opportune might serve his Wiles, and found     The Serpent suttlest Beast of all the Field.     Him after long debate, irresolute     Of thoughts revolvd, his final sentence chose     Fit Vessel, fittest Imp of fraud, in whom     To enter, and his dark suggestions hide     From sharpest sight: for in the wilie Snake,     Whatever sleights none would suspicious mark,     As from his wit and native suttletie     Proceeding, which in other Beasts observd     Doubt might beget of Diabolic powr     Active within beyond the sense of brute.     Thus he resolvd, but first from inward griefe     His bursting passion into plaints thus pourd:     O Earth, how like to Heavn, if not preferrd     More justly, Seat worthier of Gods, as built     With second thoughts, reforming what was old!     For what God after better worse would build?     Terrestrial Heavn, danct round by other Heavns     That shine, yet bear thir bright officious Lamps,     Light above Light, for thee alone, as seems,     In thee concentring all thir precious beams     Of sacred influence: As God in Heavn     Is Center, yet extends to all, so thou     Centring receavst from all those Orbs; in thee,     Not in themselves, all thir known vertue appeers     Productive in Herb, Plant, and nobler birth     Of Creatures animate with gradual life     Of Growth, Sense, Reason, all summd up in Man.     With what delight could I have walkt thee round     If I could joy in aught, sweet interchange     Of Hill and Vallie, Rivers, Woods and Plaines,     Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forrest crownd,     Rocks, Dens, and Caves; but I in none of these     Find place or refuge; and the more I see     Pleasures about me, so much more I feel     Torment within me, as from the hateful siege     Of contraries; all good to me becomes     Bane, and in Heavn much worse would be my state.     But neither here seek I, no nor in Heavn     To dwell, unless by maistring Heavns Supreame;     Nor hope to be my self less miserable     By what I seek, but others to make such     As I though thereby worse to me redound:     For onely in destroying I finde ease     To my relentless thoughts; and him destroyd,     Or won to what may work his utter loss,     For whom all this was made, all this will soon     Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe,     In wo then; that destruction wide may range:     To mee shall be the glorie sole among     The infernal Powers, in one day to have marrd     What he Almightie styld, six Nights and Days     Continud making, and who knows how long     Before had bin contriving, though perhaps     Not longer then since I in one Night freed     From servitude inglorious welnigh half     Th Angelic Name, and thinner left the throng     Of his adorers: hee to be avengd,     And to repaire his numbers thus impaird,     Whether such vertue spent of old now faild     More Angels to Create, if they at least     Are his Created or to spite us more,     Determind to advance into our room     A Creature formd of Earth, and him endow,     Exalted from so base original,     With Heavnly spoils, our spoils: What he decreed     He effected; Man he made, and for him built     Magnificent this World, and Earth his seat,     Him Lord pronouncd, and, O indignitie!     Subjected to his service Angel wings,     And flaming Ministers to watch and tend     Thir earthlie Charge: Of these the vigilance     I dread, and to elude, thus wrapt in mist     Of midnight vapor glide obscure, and prie     In every Bush and Brake, where hap may finde     The Serpent sleeping, in whose mazie foulds     To hide me, and the dark intent I bring.     O foul descent! that I who erst contended     With Gods to sit the highest, am now constraind     Into a Beast, and mixt with bestial slime,     This essence to incarnate and imbrute,     That to the hight of Deitie aspird;     But what will not Ambition and Revenge     Descend to? who aspires must down as low     As high he soard, obnoxious first or last     To basest things. Revenge, at first though sweet,     Bitter ere long back on it self recoiles;     Let it; I reck not, so it light well aimd,     Since higher I fall short, on him who next     Provokes my envie, this new Favorite     Of Heavn, this Man of Clay, Son of despite,     Whom us the more to spite his Maker raisd     From dust: spite then with spite is best repaid.     So saying, through each Thicket Danck or Drie,     Like a black mist low creeping, he held on     His midnight search, where soonest he might finde     The Serpent: him fast sleeping soon he found     In Labyrinth of many a round self-rowld,     His head the midst, well stord with suttle wiles:     Not yet in horrid Shade or dismal Den,     Not nocent yet, but on the grassie Herbe     Fearless unfeard he slept: in at his Mouth     The Devil enterd, and his brutal sense,     In heart or head, possessing soon inspird     With act intelligential; but his sleep     Disturbd not, waiting close th approach of Morn.     Now whenas sacred Light began to dawne     In Eden on the humid Flours, that breathd     Thir morning Incense, when all things that breath,     From th Earths great Altar send up silent praise     To the Creator, and his Nostrils fill     With gratefull Smell, forth came the human pair     And joynd thir vocal Worship to the Quire     Of Creatures wanting voice, that done, partake     The season, prime for sweetest Sents and Aires:     Then commune how that day they best may ply     Thir growing work: for much thir work outgrew     The hands dispatch of two Gardning so wide.     And Eve first to her Husband thus began.     Adam, well may we labour still to dress     This Garden, still to tend Plant, Herb and Flour.     Our pleasant task enjoynd, but till more hands     Aid us, the work under our labour grows,     Luxurious by restraint; what we by day     Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind,     One night or two with wanton growth derides     Tending to wilde. Thou therefore now advise     Or hear what to my mind first thoughts present,     Let us divide our labours, thou where choice     Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind     The Woodbine round this Arbour, or direct     The clasping Ivie where to climb, while I     In yonder Spring of Roses intermixt     With Myrtle, find what to redress till Noon:     For while so near each other thus all day     Our task we choose, what wonder if no near     Looks intervene and smiles, or object new     Casual discourse draw on, which intermits     Our dayes work brought to little, though begun     Early, and th hour of Supper comes unearnd.     To whom mild answer Adam thus returnd.     Sole Eve, Associate sole, to me beyond     Compare above all living Creatures deare,     Well hast thou motiond, well thy thoughts imployd     How we might best fulfill the work which here     God hath assignd us, nor of me shalt pass     Unpraisd: for nothing lovelier can be found     In woman, then to studie houshold good,     And good workes in her Husband to promote.     Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposd     Labour, as to debarr us when we need     Refreshment, whether food, or talk between,     Food of the mind, or this sweet intercourse     Of looks and smiles, for smiles from Reason flow,     To brute denid, and are of Love the food,     Love not the lowest end of human life.     For not to irksom toile, but to delight     He made us, and delight to Reason joynd.     These paths and Bowers doubt not but our joynt     Will keep from Wilderness with ease, as wide     As we need walk, till younger hands ere long     Assist us: But if much converse perhaps     Thee satiate, to short absence I could yeild.     For solitude somtimes is best societie,     And short retirement urges sweet returne.     But other doubt possesses me, least harm     Befall thee severd from me; for thou knowst     What hath bin warnd us, what malicious Foe     Envying our happiness, and of his own     Despairing, seeks to work us woe and shame     By sly assault; and somwhere nigh at hand     Watches, no doubt, with greedy hope to find     His wish and best advantage, us asunder,     Hopeless to circumvent us joynd, where each     To other speedie aide might lend at need;     Whether his first design be to withdraw     Our fealtie from God, or to disturb     Conjugal Love, then which perhaps no bliss     Enjoyd by us excites his envie more;     Or this, or worse, leave not the faithful side     That gave thee being, still shades thee and protects.     The Wife, where danger or dishonour lurks,     Safest and seemliest by her Husband staies,     Who guards her, or with her the worst endures.     To whom the Virgin Majestie of Eve,     As one who loves, and some unkindness meets,     With sweet austeer composure thus replyd.     Ofspring of Heavn and Earth, and all Earths Lord,     That such an enemie we have, who seeks     Our ruin, both by thee informd I learne,     And from the parting Angel over-heard     As in a shadie nook I stood behind,     Just then returnd at shut of Evening Flours.     But that thou shouldst my firmness therefore doubt     To God or thee, because we have a foe     May tempt it, I expected not to hear.     His violence thou fearst not, being such,     As wee, not capable of death or paine,     Can either not receave, or can repell.     His fraud is then thy fear, which plain inferrs     Thy equal fear that my firm Faith and Love     Can by his fraud be shakn or seduct;     Thoughts, which how found they harbour in thy Brest,     Adam, misthought of her to thee so dear?     To whom with healing words Adam replyd.     Daughter of God and Man, immortal Eve,     For such thou art, from sin and blame entire:     Not diffident of thee do I dissuade     Thy absence from my sight, but to avoid     Th attempt it self, intended by our Foe.     For hee who tempts, though in vain, at least asperses     The tempted with dishonour foul, supposd     Not incorruptible of Faith, not prooff     Against temptation: thou thy self with scorne     And anger wouldst resent the offerd wrong,     Though ineffectual found: misdeem not then,     If such affront I labour to avert     From thee alone, which on us both at once     The Enemie, though bold, will hardly dare,     Or daring, first on mee th assault shall light.     Nor thou his malice and false guile contemn;     Suttle he needs must be, who could seduce     Angels, nor think superfluous others aid.     I from the influence of thy looks receave     Access in every Vertue, in thy sight     More wise, more watchful, stronger, if need were     Of outward strength; while shame, thou looking on,     Shame to be overcome or over-reacht     Would utmost vigor raise, and raisd unite.     Why shouldst not thou like sense within thee feel     When I am present, and thy trial choose     With me, best witness of thy Vertue trid.     So spake domestick Adam in his care     And Matrimonial Love, but Eve, who thought     Less attributed to her Faith sincere,     Thus her reply with accent sweet renewd.     If this be our condition, thus to dwell     In narrow circuit straitnd by a Foe,     Suttle or violent, we not endud     Single with like defence, wherever met,     How are we happie, still in fear of harm?     But harm precedes not sin: onely our Foe     Tempting affronts us with his foul esteem     Of our integritie: his foul esteeme     Sticks no dishonor on our Front, but turns     Foul on himself; then wherfore shund or feard     By us? who rather double honour gaine     From his surmise provd false, finde peace within,     Favour from Heavn, our witness from th event.     And what is Faith, Love, Vertue unassaid     Alone, without exterior help sustaind?     Let us not then suspect our happie State     Left so imperfet by the Maker wise,     As not secure to single or combind.     Fraile is our happiness, if this be so,     And Eden were no Eden thus exposd.     To whom thus Adam fervently replid.     O Woman, best are all things as the will     Of God ordaind them, his creating hand     Nothing imperfet or deficient left     Of all that he Created, much less Man,     Or ought that might his happie State secure,     Secure from outward force; within himself     The danger lies, yet lies within his power:     Against his will he can receave no harme.     But God left free the Will, for what obeyes     Reason, is free, and Reason he made right,     But bid her well beware, and still erect,     Least by some faire appeering good surprisd     She dictate false, and missinforme the Will     To do what God expresly hath forbid.     Not then mistrust, but tender love enjoynes,     That I should mind thee oft, and mind thou me.     Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve,     Since Reason not impossibly may meet     Some specious object by the Foe subornd,     And fall into deception unaware,     Not keeping strictest watch, as she was warnd.     Seek not temptation then, which to avoide     Were better, and most likelie if from mee     Thou sever not; Trial will come unsought.     Wouldst thou approve thy constancie, approve     First thy obedience; th other who can know,     Not seeing thee attempted, who attest?     But if thou think, trial unsought may finde     Us both securer then thus warnd thou seemst,     Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more;     Go in thy native innocence, relie     On what thou hast of vertue, summon all,     For God towards thee hath done his part, do thine.     So spake the Patriarch of Mankinde, but Eve     Persisted, yet submiss, though last, replid.     With thy permission then, and thus forewarnd     Chiefly by what thy own last reasoning words     Touchd onely, that our trial, when least sought,     May finde us both perhaps farr less prepard,     The willinger I goe, nor much expect     A Foe so proud will first the weaker seek;     So bent, the more shall shame him his repulse.     Thus saying, from her Husbands hand her hand     Soft she withdrew, and like a Wood-Nymph light     Oread or Dryad, or of Delias Traine,     Betook her to the Groves, but Delias self     In gate surpassd and Goddess-like deport,     Though not as shee with Bow and Quiver armd,     But with such Gardning Tools as Art yet rude,     Guiltless of fire had formd, or Angels brought,     To Pales, or Pomona, thus adornd,     Likest she seemd, Pomona when she fled     Vertumnus, or to Ceres in her Prime,     Yet Virgin of Proserpina from Jove.     Her long with ardent look his Eye pursud     Delighted, but desiring more her stay.     Oft he to her his charge of quick returne,     Repeated, shee to him as oft engagd     To be returnd by Noon amid the Bowre,     And all things in best order to invite     Noontide repast, or Afternoons repose.     O much deceavd, much failing, hapless Eve,     Of thy presumd return! event perverse!     Thou never from that houre in Paradise     Foundst either sweet repast, or found repose;     Such ambush hid among sweet Flours and Shades     Waited with hellish rancor imminent     To intercept thy way, or send thee back     Despoild of Innocence, of Faith, of Bliss.     For now, and since first break of dawne the Fiend,     Meer Serpent in appearance, forth was come,     And on his Quest, where likeliest he might finde     The onely two of Mankinde, but in them     The whole included Race, his purposd prey.     In Bowre and Field he sought, where any tuft     Of Grove or Garden-Plot more pleasant lay,     Thir tendance or Plantation for delight,     By Fountain or by shadie Rivulet     He sought them both, but wishd his hap might find     Eve separate, he wishd, but not with hope     Of what so seldom chancd, when to his wish,     Beyond his hope, Eve separate he spies,     Veild in a Cloud of Fragrance, where she stood,     Half spid, so thick the Roses bushing round     About her glowd, oft stooping to support     Each Flour of slender stalk, whose head though gay     Carnation, Purple, Azure, or spect with Gold,     Hung drooping unsustaind, them she upstaies     Gently with Mirtle band, mindless the while,     Her self, though fairest unsupported Flour,     From her best prop so farr, and storm so nigh.     Neererhe drew, and many a walk traversd     Of stateliest Covert, Cedar, Pine, or Palme,     Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen     Among thick-wovn Arborets and Flours     Imborderd on each Bank, the hand of Eve:     Spot more delicious then those Gardens feignd     Or of revivd Adonis, or renownd     Alcinous, host of old Laertes Son,     Or that, not Mystic, where the Sapient King     Held dalliance with his faire Egyptian Spouse.     Much hee the Place admird, the Person more.     As one who long in populous City pent,     Where Houses thick and Sewers annoy the Aire,     Forth issuing on a Summers Morn, to breathe     Among the pleasant Villages and Farmes     Adjoynd, from each thing met conceaves delight,     The smell of Grain, or tedded Grass, or Kine,     Or Dairie, each rural sight, each rural sound;     If chance with Nymphlike step fair Virgin pass,     What pleasing seemd, for her now pleases more,     She most, and in her look summs all Delight.     Such Pleasure took the Serpent to behold     This Flourie Plat, the sweet recess of Eve     Thus earlie, thus alone; her Heavnly forme     Angelic, but more soft, and Feminine,     Her graceful Innocence, her every Aire     Of gesture or lest action overawd     His Malice, and with rapine sweet bereavd     His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought:     That space the Evil one abstracted stood     From his own evil, and for the time remaind     Stupidly good, of enmitie disarmd,     Of guile, of hate, of envie, of revenge;     But the hot Hell that alwayes in him burnes,     Though in mid Heavn, soon ended his delight,     And tortures him now more, the more he sees     Of pleasure not for him ordaind: then soon     Fierce hate he recollects, and all his thoughts     Of mischief, gratulating, thus excites.     Thoughts, whither have he led me, with what sweet     Compulsion thus transported to forget     What hither brought us, hate, not love, nor hope     Of Paradise for Hell, hope here to taste     Of pleasure, but all pleasure to destroy,     Save what is in destroying, other joy     To me is lost. Then let me not let pass     Occasion which now smiles, behold alone     The Woman, opportune to all attempts,     Her Husband, for I view far round, not nigh,     Whose higher intellectual more I shun,     And strength, of courage hautie, and of limb     Heroic built, though of terrestrial mould,     Foe not informidable, exempt from wound,     I not; so much hath Hell debasd, and paine     Infeebld me, to what I was in Heavn.     Shee fair, divinely fair, fit Love for Gods,     Not terrible, though terrour be in Love     And beautie, not approacht by stronger hate,     Hate stronger, under shew of Love well feignd,     The way which to her ruin now I tend.     So spake the Enemie of Mankind, enclosd     In Serpent, Inmate bad, and toward Eve     Addressd his way, not with indented wave,     Prone on the ground, as since, but on his reare,     Circular base of rising foulds, that tourd     Fould above fould a surging Maze, his Head     Crested aloft, and Carbuncle his Eyes;     With burnisht Neck of verdant Gold, erect     Amidst his circling Spires, that on the grass     Floted redundant: pleasing was his shape,     And lovely, never since of Serpent kind     Lovelier, not those that in Illyria changd     Hermione and Cadmus, or the God     In Epidaurus; nor to which transformd     Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline was seen,     Hee with Olympias, this with her who bore     Scipio the highth of Rome. With tract oblique     At first, as one who sought access, but feard     To interrupt, side-long he works his way.     As when a Ship by skilful Stearsman wrought     Nigh Rivers mouth or Foreland, where the Wind     Veres oft, as oft so steers, and shifts her Saile;     So varied hee, and of his tortuous Traine     Curld many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve,     To lure her Eye; shee busied heard the sound     Of rusling Leaves, but minded not, as usd     To such disport before her through the Field,     From every Beast, more duteous at her call,     Then at Circean call the Herd disguisd.     Hee boulder now, uncalld before her stood;     But as in gaze admiring: Oft he bowd     His turret Crest, and sleek enameld Neck,     Fawning, and lickd the ground whereon she trod.     His gentle dumb expression turnd at length     The Eye of Eve to mark his play; he glad     Of her attention gaind, with Serpent Tongue     Organic, or impulse of vocal Air,     His fraudulent temptation thus began.     Wonder not, sovran Mistress, if perhaps     Thou canst, who art sole Wonder, much less arm     Thy looks, the Heavn of mildness, with disdain,     Displeasd that I approach thee thus, and gaze     Insatiate, I thus single; nor have feard     Thy awful brow, more awful thus retird.     Fairest resemblance of thy Maker faire,     Thee all living things gaze on, all things thine     By gift, and thy Celestial Beautie adore     With ravishment beheld, there best beheld     Where universally admird; but here     In this enclosure wild, these Beasts among,     Beholders rude, and shallow to discerne     Half what in thee is fair, one man except,     Who sees thee? (and what is one?) who shouldst be seen     A Goddess among Gods, adord and servd     By Angels numberless, thy daily Train.     So glozd the Tempter, and his Proem tund;     Into the Heart of Eve his words made way,     Though at the voice much marveling; at length     Not unamazd she thus in answer spake.     What may this mean? Language of Man pronounct     By Tongue of Brute, and human sense exprest?     The first at lest of these I thought denid     To Beasts, whom God on their Creation-Day     Created mute to all articulat sound;     The latter I demurre, for in thir looks     Much reason, and in thir actions oft appeers.     Thee, Serpent, suttlest beast of all the field     I knew, but not with human voice endud;     Redouble then this miracle, and say,     How camst thou speakable of mute, and how     To me so friendly grown above the rest     Of brutal kind, that daily are in sight?     Say, for such wonder claims attention due.     To whom the guileful Tempter thus replyd.     Empress of this fair World, resplendent Eve,     Easie to mee it is to tell thee all     What thou commandst, and right thou shouldst be obeyd:     I was at first as other Beasts that graze     The trodden Herb, of abject thoughts and low,     As was my food, nor aught but food discernd     Or Sex, and apprehended nothing high:     Till on a day roaving the field, I chancd     A goodly Tree farr distant to behold     Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mixt,     Ruddie and Gold: I nearer drew to gaze;     When from the boughes a savorie odour blown,     Grateful to appetite, more pleasd my sense     Then smell of sweetest Fenel, or the Teats     Of Ewe or Goat dropping with Milk at Eevn,     Unsuckt of Lamb or Kid, that tend thir play.     To satisfie the sharp desire I had     Of tasting those fair Apples, I resolvd     Not to deferr; hunger and thirst at once,     Powerful perswaders, quicknd at the scent     Of that alluring fruit, urgd me so keene.     About the Mossie Trunk I wound me soon,     For high from ground the branches would require     Thy utmost reach or Adams: Round the Tree     All other Beasts that saw, with like desire     Longing and envying stood, but could not reach.     Amid the Tree now got, where plentie hung     Tempting so nigh, to pluck and eat my fill     I spard not, for such pleasure till that hour     At Feed or Fountain never had I found.     Sated at length, ere long I might perceave     Strange alteration in me, to degree     Of Reason in my inward Powers, and Speech     Wanted not long, though to this shape retaind.     Thenceforth to Speculations high or deep     I turnd my thoughts, and with capacious mind     Considerd all things visible in Heavn,     Or Earth, or Middle, all things fair and good;     But all that fair and good in thy Divine     Semblance, and in thy Beauties heavnly Ray     United I beheld; no Fair to thine     Equivalent or second, which compeld     Mee thus, though importune perhaps, to come     And gaze, and worship thee of right declard     Sovran of Creatures, universal Dame.     So talkd the spirited sly Snake; and Eve     Yet more amazd unwarie thus replyd.     Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt     The vertue of that Fruit, in thee first provd:     But say, where grows the Tree, from hence how far?     For many are the Trees of God that grow     In Paradise, and various, yet unknown     To us, in such abundance lies our choice,     As leaves a greater store of Fruit untoucht,     Still hanging incorruptible, till men     Grow up to thir provision, and more hands     Help to disburden Nature of her Bearth.     To whom the wilie Adder, blithe and glad.     Empress, the way is readie, and not long,     Beyond a row of Myrtles, on a Flat,     Fast by a Fountain, one small Thicket past     Of blowing Myrrh and Balme; if thou accept     My conduct, I can bring thee thither soon.     Lead then, said Eve. Hee leading swiftly rowld     In tangles, and make intricate seem strait,     To mischief swift. Hope elevates, and joy     Brightns his Crest, as when a wandring Fire     Compact of unctuous vapor, which the Night     Condenses, and the cold invirons round,     Kindld through agitation to a Flame,     Which oft, they say, some evil Spirit attends,     Hovering and blazing with delusive Light,     Misleads th amazd Night-wanderer from his way     To Boggs and Mires, and oft through Pond or Poole,     There swallowd up and lost, from succour farr.     So glisterd the dire Snake and into fraud     Led Eve our credulous Mother, to the Tree     Of prohibition, root of all our woe;     Which when she saw, thus to her guide she spake.     Serpent, we might have spard our coming hither,     Fruitless to me, though Fruit be here to excess,     The credit of whose vertue rest with thee,     Wondrous indeed, if cause of such effects.     But of this Tree we may not taste nor touch;     God so commanded, and left that Command     Sole Daughter of his voice; the rest, we live     Law to our selves, our Reason is our Law.     To whom the Tempter guilefully replid.     Indeed? hath God then said that of the Fruit     Of all these Garden Trees ye shall not eate,     Yet Lords declard of all in Earth or Aire?     To whom thus Eve yet sinless. Of the Fruit     Of each Tree in the Garden we may eate,     But of the Fruit of this fair Tree amidst     The Garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eate     Thereof, nor shall ye touch it, least ye die.     She scarse had said, though brief, when now more bold     The Tempter, but with shew of Zeale and Love     To Man, and indignation at his wrong,     New part puts on, and as to passion movd,     Fluctuats disturbd, yet comely, and in act     Raisd, as of som great matter to begin.     As when of old som Orator renound     In Athens or free Rome, where Eloquence     Flourishd, since mute, to som great cause addrest,     Stood in himself collected, while each part,     Motion, each act won audience ere the tongue,     Somtimes in highth began, as no delay     Of Preface brooking through his Zeal of Right.     So standing, moving, or to highth upgrown     The Tempter all impassiond thus began.     O Sacred, Wise, and Wisdom-giving Plant,     Mother of Science, Now I feel thy Power     Within me cleere, not onely to discerne     Things in thir Causes, but to trace the wayes     Of highest Agents, deemd however wise.     Queen of this Universe, doe not believe     Those rigid threats of Death; ye shall not Die:     How should ye? by the Fruit? it gives you Life     To Knowledge? By the Threatner, look on mee,     Mee who have touchd and tasted, yet both live,     And life more perfet have attaind then Fate     Meant mee, by ventring higher then my Lot.     Shall that be shut to Man, which to the Beast     Is open? or will God incense his ire     For such a pretty Trespass, and not praise     Rather your dauntless vertue, whom the pain     Of Death denounct, whatever thing Death be,     Deterrd not from atchieving what might leade     To happier life, knowledge of Good and Evil;     Of good, how just? of evil, if what is evil     Be real, why not known, since easier shunnd?     God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just;     Not just, not God; not feard then, nor obeid:     Your feare it self of Death removes the feare.     Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe,     Why but to keep ye low and ignorant,     His worshippers; he knows that in the day     Ye Eate thereof, your Eyes that seem so cleere,     Yet are but dim, shall perfetly be then     Opnd and cleerd, and ye shall be as Gods,     Knowing both Good and Evil as they know.     That ye should be as Gods, since I as Man,     Internal Man, is but proportion meet,     I of brute human, yee of human Gods.     So ye shalt die perhaps, by putting off     Human, to put on Gods, death to be wisht,     Though threatnd, which no worse then this can bring     And what are Gods that Man may not become     As they, participating God-like food?     The Gods are first, and that advantage use     On our belief, that all from them proceeds,     I question it, for this fair Earth I see,     Warmd by the Sun, producing every kind,     Them nothing: If they all things, who enclosd     Knowledge of Good and Evil in this Tree,     That whoso eats thereof, forthwith attains     Wisdom without their leave? and wherein lies     Th offence, that Man should thus attain to know?     What can your knowledge hurt him, or this Tree     Impart against his will if all be his?     Or is it envie, and can envie dwell     In heavnly brests? these, these and many more     Causes import your need of this fair Fruit.     Goddess humane, reach then, and freely taste.     He ended, and his words replete with guile     Into her heart too easie entrance won:     Fixt on the Fruit she gazd, which to behold     Might tempt alone, and in her ears the sound     Yet rung of his perswasive words, impregnd     With Reason, to her seeming, and with Truth;     Meanwhile the hour of Noon drew on, and wakd     An eager appetite, raisd by the smell     So savorie of that Fruit, which with desire,     Inclinable now grown to touch or taste,     Sollicited her longing eye; yet first     Pausing a while, thus to her self she musd.     Great are thy Vertues, doubtless, best of Fruits,     Though kept from Man, and worthy to be admird,     Whose taste, too long forborn, at first assay     Gave elocution to the mute, and taught     The Tongue not made for Speech to speak thy praise:     Thy praise hee also who forbids thy use,     Conceales not from us, naming thee the Tree     Of Knowledge, knowledge both of good and evil;     Forbids us then to taste, but his forbidding     Commends thee more, while it inferrs the good     By thee communicated, and our want:     For good unknown, sure is not had, or had     And yet unknown, is as not had at all.     In plain then, what forbids he but to know,     Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise?     Such prohibitions binde not. But if Death     Bind us with after-bands, what profits then     Our inward freedom? In the day we eate     Of this fair Fruit, our doom is, we shall die.     How dies the Serpent? hee hath eatn and lives,     And knows, and speaks, and reasons, and discernes,     Irrational till then. For us alone     Was death invented? or to us denid     This intellectual food, for beasts reservd?     For Beasts it seems: yet that one Beast which first     Hath tasted, envies not, but brings with joy     The good befalln him, Author unsuspect,     Friendly to man, farr from deceit or guile.     What fear I then, rather what know to feare     Under this ignorance of Good and Evil,     Of God or Death, of Law or Penaltie?     Here grows the Cure of all, this Fruit Divine,     Fair to the Eye, inviting to the Taste,     Of vertue to make wise: what hinders then     To reach, and feed at once both Bodie and Mind?     So saying, her rash hand in evil hour     Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluckd, she eat:     Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat     Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe,     That all was lost. Back to the Thicket slunk     The guiltie Serpent, and well might, for Eve     Intent now wholly on her taste, naught else     Regarded, such delight till then, as seemd,     In Fruit she never tasted, whether true     Or fansied so, through expectation high     Of knowledg, nor was God-head from her thought.     Greedily she ingorgd without restraint,     And knew not eating Death: Satiate at length,     And hightnd as with Wine, jocond and boon,     Thus to her self she pleasingly began.     O Sovran, vertuous, precious of all Trees     In Paradise, of operation blest     To Sapience, hitherto obscurd, infamd,     And thy fair Fruit let hang, as to no end     Created; but henceforth my early care,     Not without Song, each Morning, and due praise     Shall tend thee, and the fertil burden ease     Of thy full branches offerd free to all;     Till dieted by thee I grow mature     In knowledge, as the Gods who all things know;     Though others envie what they cannot give;     For had the gift bin theirs, it had not here     Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe,     Best guide; not following thee, I had remaind     In ignorance, thou opnst Wisdoms way,     And givst access, though secret she retire.     And I perhaps am secret; Heavn is high,     High and remote to see from thence distinct     Each thing on Earth; and other care perhaps     May have diverted from continual watch     Our great Forbidder, safe with all his Spies     About him. But to Adam in what sort     Shall I appeer? shall I to him make known     As yet my change, and give him to partake     Full happiness with mee, or rather not,     But keep the odds of Knowledge in my power     Without Copartner? so to add what wants     In Femal Sex, the more to draw his Love,     And render me more equal, and perhaps     A thing not undesireable, somtime     Superior; for inferior who is free?     This may be well: but what if God have seen,     And Death ensue? then I shall be no more,     And Adam wedded to another Eve,     Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct;     A death to think. Confirmd then I resolve,     Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe:     So dear I love him, that with him all deaths     I could endure; without him live no life.     So saying, from the Tree her step she turnd,     But first low Reverence don, as to the power     That dwelt within, whose presence had infusd     Into the plant sciential sap, derivd     From Nectar, drink of Gods. Adam the while     Waiting desirous her return, had wove     Of choicest Flours a Garland to adorne     Her Tresses, and her rural labours crown     As Reapers oft are wont thir Harvest Queen.     Great joy he promisd to his thoughts, and new     Solace in her return, so long delayd;     Yet oft his heart, divine of somthing ill,     Misgave him; hee the faultring measure felt;     And forth to meet her went, the way she took     That Morn when first they parted; by the Tree     Of Knowledge he must pass, there he her met,     Scarse from the Tree returning; in her hand     A bough of fairest fruit that downie smild,     New gatherd, and ambrosial smell diffusd.     To him she hasted, in her face excuse     Came Prologue, and Apologie to prompt,     Which with bland words at will she thus addrest.     Hast thou not wonderd, Adam, at my stay?     Thee I have misst, and thought it long, deprivd     Thy presence, agonie of love till now     Not felt, nor shall be twice, for never more     Mean I to trie, what rash untrid I sought,     The paine of absence from thy sight. But strange     Hath bin the cause, and wonderful to heare:     This Tree is not as we are told, a Tree     Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown     Opning the way, but of Divine effect     To open Eyes, and make them Gods who taste;     And hath bin tasted such; the Serpent wise,     Or not restraind as wee, or not obeying,     Hath eatn of the fruit, and is become,     Not dead, as we are threatnd, but thenceforth     Endud with human voice and human sense,     Reasoning to admiration, and with mee     Perswasively hath so prevaild, that I     Have also tasted, and have also found     Th effects to correspond, opener mine Eyes,     Dimm erst, dilated Spirits, ampler Heart,     And growing up to Godhead; which for thee     Chiefly I sought, without thee can despise.     For bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss,     Tedious, unshard with thee, and odious soon.     Thou therefore also taste, that equal Lot     May joyne us, equal Joy, as equal Love;     Least thou not tasting, different degree     Disjoyne us, and I then too late renounce     Deitie for thee, when Fate will not permit.     Thus Eve with Countnance blithe her storie told;     But in her Cheek distemper flushing glowd.     On th other side, Adam, soon as he heard     The fatal Trespass don by Eve, amazd,     Astonied stood and Blank, while horror chill     Ran through his veins, and all his joynts relaxd;     From his slack hand the Garland wreathd for Eve     Down dropd, and all the faded Roses shed:     Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length     First to himself he inward silence broke.     O fairest of Creation, last and best     Of all Gods Works, Creature in whom excelld     Whatever can to fight or thought be found,     Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet!     How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost,     Defact, deflourd, and now to Death devote?     Rather how hast thou yeelded to transgress     The strict forbiddance, how to violate     The sacred Fruit forbiddn! som cursed fraud     Of Enemie hath beguild thee, yet unknown,     And mee with thee hath ruind, for with thee     Certain my resolution is to Die;     How can I live without thee, how forgoe     Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joynd,     To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn?     Should God create another Eve, and I     Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee     Would never from my heart; no no, I feel     The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,     Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State     Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.     So having said, as one from sad dismay     Recomforted, and after thoughts disturbd     Submitting to what seemd remediless,     Thus in calme mood his Words to Eve he turnd.     Bold deed thou hast presumd, adventrous Eve,     And peril great provokt, who thus hast dard     Had it bin onely coveting to Eye     That sacred Fruit, sacred to abstinence,     Much more to taste it under banne to touch.     But past who can recall, or don undoe?     Not God omnipotent, for Fate, yet so     Perhaps thou shalt not Die, perhaps the Fact     Is not so hainous now, foretasted Fruit,     Profand first by the Serpent, by him first     Made common and unhallowd: ere one tastes;     Nor yet on him found deadly; he yet lives,     Lives, as thou saidst, and gaines to live as Man     Higher degree of Life, inducement strong     To us, as likely tasting to attaine     Proportional ascent, which cannot be     But to be Gods, or Angels Demi-gods.     Nor can I think that God, Creator wise,     Though threatning, will in earnest so destroy     Us his prime Creatures, dignifid so high,     Set over all his Works, which in our Fall,     For us created, needs with us must faile,     Dependent made; so God shall uncreate,     Be frustrate, do, undo, and labour loose,     Not well conceavd of God, who though his Power     Creation could repeate, yet would be loath     Us to abolish, least the Adversary     Triumph and say; Fickle their State whom God     Most Favors, who can please him long? Mee first     He ruind, now Mankind; whom will he next?     Matter of scorne, not to be given the Foe.     However I with thee have fixt my Lot,     Certain to undergoe like doom, if Death     Consort with thee, Death is to mee as Life;     So forcible within my heart I feel     The Bond of Nature draw me to my owne,     My own in thee, for what thou art is mine;     Our State cannot be severd, we are one,     One Flesh; to loose thee were to loose my self.     So Adam, and thus Eve to him replid.     O glorious trial of exceeding Love,     Illustrious evidence, example high!     Ingaging me to emulate, but short     Of thy perfection, how shall I attaine,     Adam, from whose deare side I boast me sprung,     And gladly of our Union heare thee speak,     One Heart, one Soul in both; whereof good prooff     This day affords, declaring thee resolvd,     Rather then Death or aught then Death more dread     Shall separate us, linkt in Love so deare,     To undergoe with mee one Guilt, one Crime,     If any be, of tasting this fair Fruit,     Whose vertue, for of good still good proceeds,     Direct, or by occasion hath presented     This happie trial of thy Love, which else     So eminently never had bin known.     Were it I thought Death menact would ensue     This my attempt, I would sustain alone     The worst, and not perswade thee, rather die     Deserted, then oblige thee with a fact     Pernicious to thy Peace, chiefly assurd     Remarkably so late of thy so true,     So faithful Love unequald; but I feel     Farr otherwise th event, not Death, but Life     Augmented, opnd Eyes, new Hopes, new Joyes,     Taste so Divine, that what of sweet before     Hath toucht my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh.     On my experience, Adam, freely taste,     And fear of Death deliver to the Windes.     So saying, she embracd him, and for joy     Tenderly wept, much won that he his Love     Had so enobld, as of choice to incurr     Divine displeasure for her sake, or Death.     In recompence (for such compliance bad     Such recompence best merits) from the bough     She gave him of that fair enticing Fruit     With liberal hand: he scrupld not to eat     Against his better knowledge, not deceavd,     But fondly overcome with Femal charm.     Earth trembld from her entrails, as again     In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan,     Skie lowrd, and muttering Thunder, som sad drops     Wept at compleating of the mortal Sin     Original; while Adam took no thought,     Eating his fill, nor Eve to iterate     Her former trespass feard, the more to soothe     Him with her lovd societie, that now     As with new Wine intoxicated both     They swim in mirth, and fansie that they feel     Divinitie within them breeding wings     Wherewith to scorn the Earth: but that false Fruit     Farr other operation first displaid,     Carnal desire enflaming, hee on Eve     Began to cast lascivious Eyes, she him     As wantonly repaid; in Lust they burne:     Till Adam thus gan Eve to dalliance move.     Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste,     And elegant, of Sapience no small part,     Since to each meaning savour we apply,     And Palate call judicious; I the praise     Yeild thee, so well this day thou hast purveyd.     Much pleasure we have lost, while we abstaind     From this delightful Fruit, nor known till now     True relish, tasting; if such pleasure be     In things to us forbidden, it might be wishd,     For this one Tree had bin forbidden ten.     But come, so well refresht, now let us play,     As meet is, after such delicious Fare;     For never did thy Beautie since the day     I saw thee first and wedded thee, adornd     With all perfections, so enflame my sense     With ardor to enjoy thee, fairer now     Then ever, bountie of this vertuous Tree.     So said he, and forbore not glance or toy     Of amorous intent, well understood     Of Eve, whose Eye darted contagious Fire.     Her hand he seisd, and to a shadie bank,     Thick overhead with verdant roof imbowrd     He led her nothing loath; Flours were the Couch,     Pansies, and Violets, and Asphodel,     And Hyacinth, Earths freshest softest lap.     There they thir fill of Love and Loves disport     Took largely, of thir mutual guilt the Seale,     The solace of thir sin, till dewie sleep     Oppressd them, wearied with thir amorous play.     Soon as the force of that fallacious Fruit,     That with exhilerating vapour bland     About thir spirits had plaid, and inmost powers     Made erre, was now exhald, and grosser sleep     Bred of unkindly fumes, with conscious dreams     Encumberd, now had left them, up they rose     As from unrest, and each the other viewing,     Soon found thir Eyes how opnd, and thir minds     How darknd; innocence, that as a veile     Had shadowd them from knowing ill, was gon,     Just confidence, and native righteousness,     And honour from about them, naked left     To guiltie shame hee coverd, but his Robe     Uncoverd more. So rose the Danite strong     Herculean Samson from the Harlot-lap     Of Philistean Dalilah, and wakd     Shorn of his strength, They destitute and bare     Of all thir vertue: silent, and in face     Confounded long they sate, as struckn mute,     Till Adam, though not less then Eve abasht,     At length gave utterance to these words constraind.     O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give care     To that false Worm, of whomsoever taught     To counterfet Mans voice, true in our Fall,     False in our promisd Rising; since our Eyes     Opnd we find indeed, and find we know     Both Good and Evil, Good lost and Evil got,     Bad Fruit of Knowledge, if this be to know,     Which leaves us naked thus, of Honour void,     Of Innocence, of Faith, of Puritie,     Our wonted Ornaments now soild and staind,     And in our Faces evident the signes     Of foul concupiscence; whence evil store;     Even shame, the last of evils; of the first     Be sure then. How shall I behold the face     Henceforth of God or Angel, earst with joy     And rapture so oft beheld? those heavnly shapes     Will dazle now this earthly, with thir blaze     Insufferably bright. O might I here     In solitude live savage, in some glad     Obscurd, where highest Woods impenetrable     To Starr or Sun-light, spread thir umbrage broad,     And brown as Evening: Cover me ye Pines,     Ye Cedars, with innumerable boughs     Hide me, where I may never see them more.     But let us now, as in bad plight, devise     What best may for the present serve to hide     The Parts of each from other, that seem most     To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen,     Some Tree whose broad smooth Leaves together sowd,     And girded on our loyns, may cover round     Those middle parts, that this new commer, Shame,     There sit not, and reproach us as unclean.     So counseld hee, and both together went     Into the thickest Wood, there soon they chose     The Figtree, not that kind for Fruit renownd,     But such as at this day to Indians known     In Malabar or Decan spreds her Armes     Braunching so broad and long, that in the ground     The bended Twigs take root, and Daughters grow     About the Mother Tree, a Pillard shade     High overarcht, and echoing Walks between;     There oft the Indian Herdsman shunning heate     Shelters in coole, and tends his pasturing Herds     At Loopholes cut through thickest shade: Those Leaves     They gatherd, broad as Amazonian Targe,     And with what skill they had, together sowd,     To gird thir waste, vain Covering if to hide     Thir guilt and dreaded shame; O how unlike     To that first naked Glorie. Such of late     Columbus found th American to girt     With featherd Cincture, naked else and wilde     Among the Trees on Iles and woodie Shores.     Thus fenct, and as they thought, thir shame in part     Coverd, but not at rest or ease of Mind,     They sate them down to weep, nor onely Teares     Raind at thir Eyes, but high Winds worse within     Began to rise, high Passions, Anger, Hate,     Mistrust, Suspicion, Discord, and shook sore     Thir inward State of Mind, calme Region once     And full of Peace, now tost and turbulent:     For Understanding ruld not, and the Will     Heard not her lore, both in subjection now     To sensual Appetite, who from beneathe     Usurping over sovran Reason claimd     Superior sway: From thus distemperd brest,     Adam, estrangd in look and alterd stile,     Speech intermitted thus to Eve renewd.     Would thou hadst hearknd to my words, and staid     With me, as I besought thee, when that strange     Desire of wandring this unhappie Morn,     I know not whence possessd thee; we had then     Remaind still happie, not as now, despoild     Of all our good, shamd, naked, miserable.     Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve     The Faith they owe; when earnestly they seek     Such proof, conclude, they then begin to faile.     To whom soon movd with touch of blame thus Eve.     What words have past thy Lips, Adam severe,     Imputst thou that to my default, or will     Of wandering, as thou callst it, which who knows     But might as ill have happnd thou being by,     Or to thy self perhaps: hadst thou bin there,     Or bere th attempt, thou couldst not have discernd     Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake;     No ground of enmitie between us known,     Why hee should mean me ill, or seek to harme.     Was I to have never parted from thy side?     As good have grown there still a liveless Rib.     Being as I am, why didst not thou the Head     Command me absolutely not to go,     Going into such danger as thou saidst?     Too facil then thou didst not much gainsay,     Nay, didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss.     Hadst thou bin firm and fixt in thy dissent,     Neither had I transgressd, nor thou with mee.     To whom then first incenst Adam replid.     Is this the Love, is the recompence     Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, exprest     Immutable when thou wert lost, not I,     Who might have livd and joyd immortal bliss,     Yet willingly chose rather Death with thee:     And am I now upbraided, as the cause     Of thy transgressing? not enough severe,     It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more?     I warnd thee, I admonishd thee, foretold     The danger, and the lurking Enemie     That lay in wait; beyond this had bin force,     And force upon free Will hath here no place.     But confidence then bore thee on, secure     Either to meet no danger, or to finde     Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps     I also errd in overmuch admiring     What seemd in thee so perfet, that I thought     No evil durst attempt thee, but I rue     That errour now, which is become my crime,     And thou th accuser. Thus it shall befall     Him who to worth in Women overtrusting     Lets her Will rule; restraint she will not brook,     And left to her self, if evil thence ensue,     Shee first his weak indulgence will accuse.     Thus they in mutual accusation spent     The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning     And of thir vain contest appeerd no end.