Into a lower world, to this obscure And wild! How shall we breathe in other air, Whom thus the Angel interrupted mild: Lament not, Eve, but patiently resign What justly thou hast lost; nor set thy heart, 285 290 295 Celestial, whether among the Thrones, or named Of them the high'st, for such of shape may seem Prince above princes, gently hast thou told Thy message, which might else in telling wound, And in performing end us. What besides Of sorrow, and dejection, and despair, 300 Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring, Departure from this happy place, our sweet 305 Inhospitable' appear and desolate ; Nor knowing us nor known: and if by prayer Of Him who all things can, I would not cease To weary him with my assiduous cries. 310 No more avails than breath against the wind, Blown stifling back on him that breathes it forth: Therefore to his great bidding I submit. This most afflicts me, that departing hence, 315 His blessed count'nance. Here I could frequent With worship place by place where he vouchsafed Presence divine, and to my sons relate, On this mount he appear'd; under this tree 320 I heard; here with him at this fountain talk'd. So many grateful altars I would rear Of grassy turf, and pile up every stone Of lustre from the brook, in' memory 325 Or monument to ages, and thereon Offer sweet-smelling gums, and fruits, and flow'rs. 330 336 To whom thus Michael, with regard benign: Adam, thou know'st Heav'n his, and all the Earth, Not this rock only'. His omnipresence fills Land, sea, and air, and every kind that lives, Fomented by his virtual pow'r and warm'd. All th' earth he gave thee to possess and rule: No despicable gift: surmise not then His presence to these narrow bounds confined Of Paradise or Eden. This had been 340 345 350 Perhaps thy capital seat, from whence had spread 356 360 By moderation either state to bear, Prosperous or adverse: so shalt thou lead Thy mortal passage when it comes. Ascend This hill. Let Eve (for I have drench'd her eyes) 368 Here sleep below, while thou to foresight wak'st; 37C Thou lead'st me', and to the hand of Heav'n submit, However chast'ning, to the evil turn My obvious breast, arming to overcome By suff'ring, and earn rest from labour won, 375 If so I may attain. So both ascend In the visions of God. It was a hill Of Paradise the highest, from whose top The hemisphere of earth in clearest ken Stretch'd out to th' amplest reach of prospect lay. To shew him all earth's kingdoms and their glory. His eye might there command wherever stood 38A Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne, 381. Matt. iv. 8. 396 395 387. There is here another instance of Milton's supposed affectation of learning. I do not conceive either this, or any of the other passages mentioned, to be so. To a mere cursory or idle reader it may seem a dry geographical catalogue, but it should be observed, that the countries mentioned recall by their names some of the most brilliant passages of history, and thus fill the page with the gorgeousness and magnificence of olden tradition. An observation hence occurs, which must at once strike the reader, that fully to enjoy Milton in all his excellences, much various knowledge is necessary. The simplest account we could here give of the several countries mentioned in these lines would Occupy too large a space for the size of the work, and would certainly not aid the reader in understanding better than at first the various allusions the passage presents. And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm On Europe thence, and where Rome was to sway 401 The world. In spirit perhaps he also saw 406 Which that false fruit, that promised clearer sight, Had bred; then purged with euphrasy and rue 415 So deep the pow'r of these ingredients pierced, E'en to the inmost seat of mental sight, That Adam, now enforced to close his eyes, Sunk down, and all his spirits became entranced; But him the gentle Angel by the hand 421 Soon raised, and his attention thus recall'd: Th' effects which thy original crime hath wrought In some to spring from thee, who never touch'd 425 Rustic, of grassy sord. Thither anon A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought 430 First fruits; the green ear and the yellow sheaf, 435 414. Euphrasy, the herb called in English eye-bright.-Rue is still regarded as possessing some remarkable virtues. 420. Dan. x. 8. the idea in which seems to be copied here. 433. Sord or sward. Milton agrees with the best commentaors in the filling up of this passage, which is principally taken frou. Scripture. Choicest and best; then sacrificing, laid The inwards and their fat, with incense strow'd, Is piety thus and pure devotion paid? T'whom Michael thus (he also moved) reply'd: These two are brethren, Adam, and to come 415 Out of thy loins. Th' unjust the just hath slain, 455 To whom thus Michael: Death thou hast seen 460 46 476 In meats and drinks, which on the earth shall bring Shall bring on men. Immediately a place 458. Heb. xi. 4. 477. The invention of the poet is finely exercised in the 470 |