Which when the Lord God heard, without delay To judgment he proceeded on the accus'd Serpent; though brute, unable to transfer The guilt on him, who made him instrument Of mischief, and polluted from the end Of his creation; justly then accurs'd, As vitiated in nature: (more to know Concern'd not man, since he no further knew) Nor alter'd his offence; yet God at last
To Satan, first in Sin, his doom applied, Though in mysterious terms, judg'd as then best: And on the serpent thus his curse let fall:
Because thou hast done this, thou art accurs'd Above all cattle, each beast of the field; Upon thy belly groveling thou shalt go, And dust shalt eat all the days of thy life. Between thee and the woman I will put Enmity, and between thine and her seed;
Her seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his heel. » So spake this oracle, then verified
When Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve,
Saw Satan fall, like lightning, down from heaven, Prince of the air; then, rising from his grave, Spoil'd principalities and powers, triumph'd In open show; and, with ascension bright, Captivity led captive through the air, The realm itself of Satan, long usurp'd; Whom he shall tread at last under our feet; Ev'n he, who now foretold his fatal bruise; And to the woman thus his sentence turn'd: Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply
By thy conception; children thou shalt bring
Ciò udito Iddio Signore, senza indugio A dar sentenza ei procedè sul reo Serpente; benchè bruto, a trar non atto Colpa su lui che fecelo stromento
Di misfare e corruppel dal suo fine Natio; fu a dritto maladetto allora Qual guasto in sua natura: (il più sapere Vano era all' uom dell' altre cose ignaro) Nè il fallo gli scemava; alfine Iddio
Al primo reo Satan lanciò condanna Benchè in arcano dir, qual me' gli piacque, E si scagliò il suo maledire al serpe:
« Poichè tu festi ciò, sei maladetto Su tutte belve ed animai del campo, Sul petto tuo ti striscerai tu, e terra Ciberai tutti i di della tua vita.
Inimistà porrò fra te e la donna,
Fra il tuo e il suo seme; schiaccerà il tuo capo Ella e farai tu insidie al suo calcagno.
L'oracol si parlò, compiuto quando Gesù di Maria figlio, altra Eva, vide Qual folgore dal ciel tomar Satano Prence dell' aria; e da sua tomba surto Spogliati regi e posse, in magna pompa Trionfo e con chiaro ascenso in l'aere Captivitade trascinò captiva, Regno usurpato a lungo da Satano. Alfine ei fia dal nostro piè calpesto, Per lui che il danno or suo fatal predisse; Quindi alla donna proferi sentenza:
«Di molto io crescerò gli affanni tuoi Ne' tuoi concetti; nel dolore i figli
In sorrow forth; and to thy husband's will Thine shall submit; he over thee shall rule. »
On Adam last thus judgment he pronounc'd: «Because thou hast hearken'd to the voice of thy wife, And eaten of the tree, concerning which I charg'd thee, saying, thou shalt not eat thereof; Curs'd is the ground for thy sake; thou in sorrow Shalt eat thereof, all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles it shall bring thee forth Unbid; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, Till thou return unto the ground; for thou Out of the ground wast taken, (know thy birth,) For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return. »
So judg'd he man, both judge and saviour sent; And the instant stroke of death, denounc'd that day, Remov'd far off: then pitying how they stood Before him naked to the air, that now Must suffer change, disdain'd not to begin Thenceforth the form of servant to assume; As when he wash'd his servants' feet; so now, As father of his family, he clad
Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or slain, Or, as, the snake, with youthful coat repaid; And thought not much to clothe his enemies; Nor he their outward only with the skins Of beasts, but inward nakedness (much more Opprobrious) with his robe of righteousness Arraying, cover'd from his Father's sight. To him with swift ascent he up return'd, Into his blissful bosom reassum'd
In glory, as of old; to him appeas'd,
Partorirai; e di tuo consorte al cenno Serva starai; di te egli fia signore. Sentenza alfin si pronunciò in Adamo: «Perchè la voce udisti di tua donna, E gustasti dell' arbor ch' io vietai Dicendo, tu non dei cibar di questo; Maledetta è la terra in l'opra tua; Fra stenti vi trarrai tua vita intera; Triboli pur germineratti e spine Spontanea; e l'erba ciberai del campo; Nel sudor di tua fronte il pane avrai, Finchè ritorni in terra; chè fuor tratto Di terra fosti, (origin tua conosci) Chè tu se' polve, e fia che torni in polve. »> Si l'uom, Giudice e Salvator mandato Condannò, e morte istante in prima inditta Allontano poscia pietoso ad elli
Che ignudi innanzi a lui si stanno e all'aere Già già alterato, fin d' allor la forma Non isdegnò pigliar di servo; e come Poscia ei lavò a suoi servi i piè; così ora Lor nudità, qual padre a figli suoi, Con pelli ricoprì di belve estinte,
O rifatte, come angue, in giovin spoglio; Anzi degnò vestire i suoi nemici;
Nè sol l' esterne qualità con pelli Di belve, ma lor nuditàde interna Più sozza, di giustizia col suo manto Velando, al guardo di suo padre ascose. Con rapido salir su a lui tornossi, Nel suo beante sen riassunto in gloria Come dapprima; a lui placato il tutto
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All (though all knowing) what had pass'd with man Recounted, mixing intercession sweet.
Meanwhile, ere thus was sinn'd and judg'd on earth, Within the gates of hell sat Sin and Death, In counterview within the gates, that now Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame Far into chaos, since the fiend pass'd through, Sin opening; who thus now to Death began:
O Son! why sit we here, each other viewing Idly, while Satan, our great author, thrives In other worlds, and happier seat provides For us, his offspring dear? it cannot be But that success attends him; if mishap, Ere this he had return'd, with fury driven By his avengers, since to place like this Can fit his punishment, or their revenge. Methinks I feel new strength within me rise, Wings growing, and dominions given me large Beyond this deep, whatever draws me on, Or sympathy, or some connatural force, Powerful at greatest distance to unite, With secret amity, things of like kind, By secretest conveyance. Thou, my shade Inseparable, must with me along : For death from sin no power can separate But, lest the difficulty of passing back Stay his return perhaps over this gulf Impassable, impervious; les us try, (Adventurous work! yet to thy power and mine Not unagreeable,) to found a path
Over this main, from hell to that new world Where Satan now prevails: a monument
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