Paradise Regained - The Second Book

Mean while the new-baptizd, who yet remaind     At Jordan with the Baptist, and had seen     Him whom they heard so late expresly calld     Jesus Messiah Son of God declard,     And on that high Authority had believd,     And with him talkt, and with him lodgd, I mean     Andrew and Simon, famous after known     With others though in Holy Writ not namd,     Now missing him thir joy so lately found,     So lately found, and so abruptly gone,     Began to doubt, and doubted many days,     And as the days increasd, increasd thir doubt:     Sometimes they thought he might be only shewn,     And for a time caught up to God, as once     Moses was in the Mount, and missing long;     And the great Thisbite who on fiery wheels     Rode up to Heaven, yet once again to come.     Therefore as those young Prophets then with care     Sought lost Eliah, so in each place these     Nigh to Bethabara; in Jerico     The City of Palms, non, and Salem Old,     Machrus and each Town or City walld     On this side the broad lake Genezaret,     Or in Perea, but returnd in vain.     Then on the bank of Jordan, by a Creek:     Where winds with Reeds, and Osiers whispring play     Plain Fishermen, no greater men them call,     Close in a Cottage low together got     Thir unexpected loss and plaints out breathd.     Alas, from what high hope to what relapse     Unlookd for are we falln, our eyes beheld     Messiah certainly now come, so long     Expected of our Fathers; we have heard     His words, his wisdom full of grace and truth,     Now, now, for sure, deliverance is at hand,     The Kingdom shall to Israel be restord:     Thus we rejoycd, but soon our joy is turnd     Into perplexity and new amaze:     For whither is he gone, what accident     Hath rapt him from us? will he now retire     After appearance, and again prolong     Our expectation? God of Israel,     Send thy Messiah forth, the time is come;     Behold the Kings of the Earth how they oppress     Thy chosen, to what highth thir powr unjust     They have exalted, and behind them cast     All fear of thee, arise and vindicate     Thy Glory, free thy people from thir yoke,     But let us wait; thus far he hath performd,     Sent his Anointed, and to us reveald him,     By his great Prophet, pointed at and shown,     In publick, and with him we have conversd;     Let us be glad of this, and all our fears     Lay on his Providence; he will not fail     Nor will withdraw him now, nor will recall,     Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence,     Soon we shall see our hope, our joy return.     Thus they out of their plaints new hope resume     To find whom at the first they found unsought:     But to his Mother Mary, when she saw     Others returnd from Baptism, not her Son,     Nor left at Jordan, tydings of him none;     Within her brest, though calm; her brest though pure,     Motherly cares and fears got head, and raisd     Some troubld thoughts, which she in sighs thus clad.     O what avails me now that honour high     To have conceivd of God, or that salute     Hale highly favourd, among women blest;     While I to sorrows am no less advanct,     And fears as eminent, above the lot     Of other women, by the birth I bore,     In such a season born when scarce a Shed     Could be obtaind to shelter him or me     From the bleak air; a Stable was our warmth,     A Manger his, yet soon enforct to flye     Thence into Egypt, till the Murdrous King     Were dead, who sought his life, and missing filld     With Infant blood the streets of Bethlehem;     From Egypt home returnd, in Nazareth     Hath been our dwelling many years, his life     Private, unactive, calm, contemplative,     Little suspicious to any King; but now     Full grown to Man, acknowledgd, as I hear,     By John the Baptist, and in publick shown,     Son ownd from Heaven by his Fathers voice;     I lookt for some great change; to Honour? no,     But trouble, as old Simeon plain fore-told,     That to the fall and rising he should be     Of many in Israel, and to a sign     Spoken against, that through my very Soul     A sword shall pierce, this is my favourd lot,     My Exaltation to Afflictions high;     Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest;     I will not argue that, nor will repine.     But where delays he now? some great intent     Conceals him: when twelve years he scarce had seen,     I lost him, but so found, as well I saw     He could not lose himself; but went about     His Fathers business; what he meant I musd,     Since understand; much more his absence now     Thus long to some great purpose he obscures.     But I to wait with patience am inurd;     My heart hath been a store-house long of things     And sayings laid up, portending strange events.     Thus Mary pondering oft, and oft to mind     Recalling what remarkably had passd     Since first her Salutation heard, with thoughts     Meekly composd awaited the fulfilling:     The while her Son tracing the Desert wild,     Sole but with holiest Meditations fed,     Into himself descended, and at once     All his great work to come before him set;     How to begin, how to accomplish best     His end of being on Earth, and mission high:     For Satan with slye preface to return     Had left him vacant, and with speed was gon     Up to the middle Region of thick Air,     Where all his Potentates in Council sate;     There without sign of boast, or sign of joy,     Sollicitous and blank he thus began.     Princes, Heavens antient Sons, thereal Thrones,     Demonian Spirits now, from the Element     Each of his reign allotted, rightlier calld,     Powers of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth beneath,     So may we hold our place and these mild seats     Without new trouble; such an Enemy     Is risn to invade us, who no less     Threatns then our expulsion down to Hell;     I, as I undertook, and with the vote     Consenting in full frequence was impowrd,     Have found him, viewd him, tasted him, but find     Far other labour to be undergon     Then when I dealt with Adam first of Men,     Though Adam by his Wives allurement fell,     However to this Man inferior far,     If he be Man by Mothers side at least,     With more then humane gifts from Heaven adornd,     Perfections absolute, Graces divine,     And amplitude of mind to greatest Deeds.     Therefore I am returnd, lest confidence     Of my success with Eve in Paradise     Deceive ye to perswasion over-sure     Of like succeeding here; I summon all     Rather to be in readiness, with hand     Or counsel to assist; lest I who erst     Thought none my equal, now be over-matchd.     So spake the old Serpent doubting, and from all     With clamour was assurd thir utmost aid     At his command; when from amidst them rose     Belial the dissolutest Spirit that fell,     The sensuallest, and after Asmodai     The fleshliest Incubus, and thus advisd.     Set women in his eye and in his walk,     Among daughters of men the fairest found;     Many are in each Region passing fair     As the noon Skie; more like to Goddesses     Then Mortal Creatures, graceful and discreet,     Expert in amorous Arts, enchanting tongues     Perswasive, Virgin majesty with mild     And sweet allayd, yet terrible to approach,     Skilld to retire, and in retiring draw     Hearts after them tangld in Amorous Nets.     Such object hath the power to softn and tame     Severest temper, smooth the ruggedst brow,     Enerve, and with voluptuous hope dissolve,     Draw out with credulous desire, and lead     At will the manliest, resolutest brest,     As the Magnetic hardest Iron draws.     Women, when nothing else, beguild the heart     Of wisest Solomon, and made him build,     And made him bow to the Gods of his Wives.     To whom quick answer Satan thus returnd.     Belial, in much uneven scale thou weighst     All others by thy self; because of old     Thou thy self doatst on womankind, admiring     Thir shape, thir colour, and attractive grace,     None are, thou thinkst, but taken with such toys.     Before the Flood thou with thy lusty Crew,     False titld Sons of God, roaming the Earth     Cast wanton eyes on the daughters of men,     And coupld with them, and begot a race.     Have we not seen, or by relation heard,     In Courts and Regal Chambers how thou lurkst,     In Wood or Grove by mossie Fountain side,     In Valley or Green Meadow to way-lay     Some beauty rare, Calisto, Clymene,     Daphne, or Semele, Antiopa,     Or Amymone, Syrinx, many more     Too long, then layst thy scapes on names adord,     Apollo, Neptune, Jupiter, or Pan,     Satyr, or Fawn, or Silvan? But these haunts     Delight not all; among the Sons of Men,     How many have with a smile made small account     Of beauty and her lures, easily scornd     All her assaults, on worthier things intent?     Remember that Pellean Conquerour,     A youth, how all the Beauties of the East     He slightly viewd, and slightly over-passd;     How hee sirnamd of Africa dismissd     In his prime youth the fair Iberian maid.     For Solomon he livd at ease, and full     Of honour, wealth, high fare, aimd not beyond     Higher design then to enjoy his State;     Thence to the bait of Women lay exposd;     But he whom we attempt is wiser far     Then Solomon, of more exalted mind,     Made and set wholly on the accomplishment     Of greatest things; what woman will you find,     Though of this Age the wonder and the fame,     On whom his leisure will vouchsafe an eye     Of fond desire? or should she confident,     As sitting Queen adord on Beauties Throne,     Descend with all her winning charms begirt     To enamour, as the Zone of Venus once     Wrought that effect on Jove, so Fables tell;     How would one look from his Majestick brow     Seated as on the top of Vertues hill,     Discountnance her despisd, and put to rout     All her array; her female pride deject,     Or turn to reverent awe? for Beauty stands     In the admiration only of weak minds     Led captive; cease to admire, and all her Plumes     Fall flat and shrink into a trivial toy,     At every sudden slighting quite abasht:     Therefore with manlier objects we must try     His constancy, with such as have more shew     Of worth, of honour, glory, and popular praise;     Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreckd;     Or that which only seems to satisfie     Lawful desires of Nature, not beyond;     And now I know he hungers where no food     Is to be found, in the wide Wilderness;     The rest commit to me, I shall let pass     No advantage, and his strength as oft assay.     He ceasd, and heard thir grant in loud acclaim;     Then forthwith to him takes a chosen band     Of Spirits likest to himself in guile     To be at hand, and at his beck appear,     If cause were to unfold some active Scene     Of various persons each to know his part;     Then to the Desert takes with these his flight;     Where still from shade to shade the Son of God     After forty days fasting had remaind,     Now hungring first, and to himself thus said.     Where will this end? four times ten days I have passd     Wandring this woody maze, and humane food     Nor tasted, nor had appetite; that Fast     To Vertue I impute not, or count part     Of what I suffer here; if Nature need not,     Or God support Nature without repast     Though needing, what praise is it to endure?     But now I feel I hunger, which declares,     Nature hath need of what she asks; yet God     Can satisfie that need some other way,     Though hunger still remain: so it remain     Without this bodies wasting, I content me,     And from the sting of Famine fear no harm,     Nor mind it, fed with better thoughts that feed     Mee hungring more to do my Fathers will.     It was the hour of night, when thus the Son     Commund in silent walk, then laid him down     Under the hospitable covert nigh     Of Trees thick interwoven; there he slept,     And dreamd, as appetite is wont to dream,     Of meats and drinks, Natures refreshment sweet;     Him thought, he by the Brook of Cherith stood     And saw the Ravens with their horny beaks     Food to Elijah bringing Even and Morn,     Though ravenous, taught to abstain from what they brought:     He saw the Prophet also how he fled     Into the Desert, and how there he slept     Under a Juniper; then how awakt,     He found his Supper on the coals prepard,     And by the Angel was bid rise and eat,     And eat the second time after repose,     The strength whereof sufficd him forty days;     Sometimes that with Elijah he partook,     Or as a guest with Daniel at his pulse.     Thus wore out night, and now the Herald Lark     Left his ground-nest, high towring to descry     The morns approach, and greet her with his Song:     As lightly from his grassy Couch up rose     Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream,     Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting wakd.     Up to a hill anon his steps he reard,     From whose high top to ken the prospect round,     If Cottage were in view, Sheep-cote or Herd;     But Cottage, Herd or Sheep-cote none he saw,     Only in a bottom saw a pleasant Grove,     With chaunt of tuneful Birds resounding loud;     Thither he bent his way, determind there     To rest at noon, and entrd soon the shade     High rooft and walks beneath, and alleys brown     That opend in the midst a woody Scene,     Natures own work it seemd (Nature taught Art)     And to a Superstitious eye the haunt     Of Wood-Gods and Wood-Nymphs; he viewd it round,     When suddenly a man before him stood,     Not rustic as before, but seemlier clad,     As one in City, or Court, or Palace bred,     And with fair speech these words to him addressd.     With granted leave officious I return,     But much more wonder that the Son of God     In this wild solitude so long should bide     Of all things destitute, and well I know,     Not without hunger. Others of some note,     As story tells, have trod this Wilderness;     The Fugitive Bond-woman with her Son     Out cast Nebaioth, yet found he relief     By a providing Angel; all the race     Of Israel here had famishd, had not God     Raind from Heaven Manna, and that Prophet bold     Native of Thebes wandring here was fed     Twice by a voice inviting him to eat.     Of thee these forty days none hath regard,     Forty and more deserted here indeed.     To whom thus Jesus; what concludst thou hence?     They all had need, I as thou seest have none.     How hast thou hunger then? Satan replyd,     Tell me if Food were now before thee set,     Wouldst thou not eat? Thereafter as I like     The giver, answerd Jesus. Why should that     Cause thy refusal, said the subtle Fiend,     Hast thou not right to all Created things,     Owe not all Creatures by just right to thee     Duty and Service, nor to stay till bid,     But tender all their power? nor mention I     Meats by the Law unclean, or offerd first     To Idols, those young Daniel could refuse;     Nor profferd by an Enemy, though who     Would scruple that, with want opprest? behold     Nature ashamd, or better to express,     Troubld that thou shouldst hunger, hath purveyd     From all the Elements her choicest store     To treat thee as beseems, and as her Lord     With honour, only deign to sit and eat.     He spake no dream, for as his words had end,     Our Saviour lifting up his eyes beheld     In ample space under the broadest shade     A Table richly spred, in regal mode,     With dishes pilld, and meats of noblest sort     And savour, Beasts of chase, or Fowl of game,     In pastry built, or from the spit, or boyld,     Gris-amber-steamd; all Fish from Sea or Shore,     Freshet, or purling Brook, of shell or fin,     And exquisitest name, for which was draind     Pontus and Lucrine Bay, and Afric Coast.     Alas how simple, to these Cates compard,     Was that crude Apple that diverted Eve!     And at a stately side-board by the wine     That fragrant smell diffusd, in order stood     Tall stripling youths rich clad, of fairer hew     Then Ganymed or Hylas, distant more     Under the Trees now tripd, now solemn stood     Nymphs of Dianas train, and Naiades     With fruits and flowers from Amaltheas horn,     And Ladies of th Hesperides, that seemd     Fairer then feignd of old, or fabld since     Of Fairy Damsels met in Forest wide     By Knights of Logres, or of Lyones,     Lancelot or Pelleas, or Pellenore,     And all the while Harmonious Airs were heard     Of chiming strings, or charming pipes and winds     Of gentlest gale Arabian odors fannd     From their soft wings, and Floras earliest smells.     Such was the Splendour, and the Tempter now     His invitation earnestly renewd.     What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat?     These are not Fruits forbidden, no interdict     Defends the touching of these viands pure,     Thir taste no knowledge works, at least of evil,     But life preserves, destroys lifes enemy,     Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.     All these are Spirits of Air, and Woods, and Springs,     Thy gentle Ministers, who come to pay     Thee homage, and acknowledge thee thir Lord:     What doubtst thou Son of God? sit down and eat.     To whom thus Jesus temperately replyd:     Saidst thou not that to all things I had right?     And who withholds my powr that right to use?     Shall I receive by gift what of my own,     When and where likes me best, I can command?     I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou,     Command a Table in this Wilderness,     And call swift flights of Angels ministrant     Arrayd in Glory on my cup to attend:     Why shouldst thou then obtrude this diligence,     In vain, where no acceptance it can find,     And with my hunger what has thou to do?     Thy pompous Delicacies I contemn,     And count thy specious gifts no gifts but guiles.     To whom thus answerd Satan malecontent:     That I have also power to give thou seest,     If of that powr I bring thee voluntary     What I might have bestowd on whom I pleasd,     And rather opportunely in this place     Chose to impart to thy apparent need,     Why shouldst thou not accept it? but I see     What I can do or offer is suspect;     Of these things others quickly will dispose     Whose pains have earnd the far fet spoil. With that     Both Table and Provision vanishd quite     With sound of Harpies wings, and Talons heard;     Only the importune Tempter still remaind,     And with these words his temptation pursud.     By hunger, that each other Creature tames,     Thou art not to be harmd, therefore not movd;     Thy temperance invincible besides,     For no allurement yields to appetite,     And all thy heart is set on high designs,     High actions; but wherewith to be atchievd?     Great acts require great means of enterprise,     Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,     A Carpenter thy Father known, thy self     Bred up in poverty and streights at home;     Lost in a Desert here and hunger-bit:     Which way or from what hope dost thou aspire     To greatness? whence Authority derivst,     What Followers, what Retinue canst thou gain,     Or at thy heels the dizzy Multitude,     Longer then thou canst feed them on thy cost?     Money brings Honour, Friends, Conquest, and Realms;     What raisd Antipater the Edomite,     And his Son Herod placd on Judas Throne;     (Thy throne) but gold that got him puissant friends?     Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive,     Get Riches first, get Wealth, and Treasure heap,     Not difficult, if thou hearken to me,     Riches are mine, Fortune is in my hand;     They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain,     While Virtue, Valour, Wisdom sit in want.     To whom thus Jesus patiently replyd;     Yet Wealth without these three is impotent,     To gain dominion or to keep it gaind.     Witness those antient Empires of the Earth,     In highth of all thir flowing wealth dissolvd:     But men endud with these have oft attaind     In lowest poverty to highest deeds;     Gideon and Jephtha, and the Shepherd lad,     Whose off-spring on the Throne of Juda sat     So many Ages, and shall yet regain     That seat, and reign in Israel without end.     Among the Heathen, (for throughout the World     To me is not unknown what hath been done     Worthy of Memorial) canst thou not remember     Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?     For I esteem those names of men so poor     Who could do mighty things, and could contemn     Riches though offerd from the hand of Kings.     And what in me seems wanting, but that I     May also in this poverty as soon     Accomplish what they did, perhaps and more?     Extol not Riches then, the toyl of Fools,     The wise mans cumbrance if not snare, more apt     To slacken Virtue, and abate her edge,     Then prompt her to do aught may merit praise.     What if with like aversion I reject     Riches and Realms; yet not for that a Crown,     Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns,     Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights     To him who wears the Regal Diadem,     When on his shoulders each mans burden lies;     For therein stands the office of a King,     His Honour, Vertue, Merit and chief Praise,     That for the Publick all this weight he bears.     Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules     Passions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King;     Which every wise and vertuous man attains:     And who attains not, ill aspires to rule     Cities of men or head-strong Multitudes,     Subject himself to Anarchy within,     Or lawless passions in him which he serves.     But to guide Nations in the way of truth     By saving Doctrine, and from errour lead     To know, and knowing worship God aright,     Is yet more Kingly, this attracts the Soul,     Governs the inner man, the nobler part,     That other ore the body only reigns,     And oft by force, which to a generous mind     So reigning can be no sincere delight.     Besides to give a Kingdom hath been thought     Greater and nobler done, and to lay down     Far more magnanimous, then to assume.     Riches are needless then, both for themselves,     And for thy reason why they should be sought,     To gain a Scepter, oftest better misst.