Accuse not nature, she hath done her part;
Do thou but thine, and be not diffident
Of wisdom, she deserts thee not, if thou
Dismiss not her, when most thou need'st her nigh,
By attributing overmuch to things

565

Less excellent, as thou thyself perceiv'st.

For what admir'st thou, what transports thee so?
An outside? fair no doubt, and worthy well
Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love,
Not thy subjection: weigh with her thyself;
Then value: oft times nothing profits more
Than self-esteem, grounded on just and right
Well manag'd: of that skill the more thou know'st,
The more she will acknowledge thee her head,
And to realities yield all her shows;
Made so adorn for thy delight the more,

So awful, that with honour thou may'st love
Thy mate, who sees when thou art seen least wise.
But if the sense of touch whereby mankind
Is propagated seem such dear delight
Beyond all other, think the same vouchsaf'd
To cattle and each beast; which would not be
To them made common and divulg'd, if aught
Therein enjoy'd were worthy to subdue
The soul of man, or passion in him move.
What higher in her society thou find'st
Attractive, human, rational, love still:
In loving thou dost well, in passion not,

576 adorn] v. Spens. F. Qu. iii. xii. 20.

'Without adorne of gold, or silver bright.' Bowle,
35

VOL. I.

570

575

580

585

Wherein true love consists not: love refines

The thoughts, and heart enlarges; hath his seat 500
In reason, and is judicious; is the scale

By which to heavenly love thou may'st ascend,
Not sunk in carnal pleasure; for which cause
Among the beasts no mate for thee was found.
To whom thus half abash'd Adam reply'd.
Neither her outside form'd so fair, nor aught
In procreation common to all kinds,
(Though higher of the genial bed by far
And with mysterious reverence I deem,)
So much delights me, as those graceful acts,
Those thousand decencies that daily flow
From all her words and actions, mix'd with love
And sweet compliance, which declare unfeign'd
Union of mind, or in us both one soul;
Harmony to behold in wedded pair

More grateful than harmonious sound to the ear.
Yet these subject not; I to thee disclose
What inward thence I feel, not therefore foil'd,
Who meet with various objects, from the sense
Variously representing; yet still free
Approve the best, and follow what I approve.
To love thou blam'st me not, for love thou say'st
Leads up to heaven, is both the way and guide;
Bear with me then, if lawful what I ask :
Love not the heavenly spirits, and how their love 615

595

600

605

610

598 genial bed] Genialis Lectuli.' Arnob. lib. iv. c. 20. Apuleius de Asino. 'Fœdus thori genialis.' v. Orellium ad Arnob. vol. ii. p. 219.

Express they? by looks only? or do they mix
Irradiance, virtual or immediate touch?

To whom the angel with a smile that glow'd
Celestial rosy red, love's proper hue,
Answer'd. Let it suffice thee that thou know'st 620
Us happy, and without love no happiness.
Whatever pure thou in the body enjoy'st,
(And pure thou wert created,) we enjoy
In eminence, and obstacle find none
Of membrane, joint, or limb, exclusive bars:
Easier than air with air, if spirits embrace,
Total they mix, union of pure with
Desiring; nor restrain'd conveyance need
As flesh to mix with flesh, or soul with soul.
But I can now no more; the parting sun
Beyond the earth's green Cape and Verdant Isles,
Hesperean sets, my signal to depart.

pure

630

1

Be strong, live happy, and love! but first of all
Him whom to love is to obey, and keep

625

His great command; take heed lest passion sway
Thy judgment to do aught, which else free will 636
Would not admit; thine and of all thy sons

The weal or woe in thee is plac'd; beware!
I in thy persevering shall rejoice,

And all the blest: stand fast; to stand or fall 640

631 green Cape] See Lisle's Du Bartas, p. 94.

"Thrusts out the Cape of Fesse, the green Cape and the white.'

637 admit] Used in the Latin sense, as in Ter. Heaut. act v. sc. ii. 'Quid ego tantum sceleris admisi miser?' Newton.

Free in thine own arbitrement it lies;
Perfect within, no outward aid require,
And all temptation to transgress repel.

So saying, he arose; whom Adam thus
Follow'd with benediction. Since to part,
Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger,
Sent from whose sov'reign goodness I adore.
Gentle to me and affable hath been
Thy condescension, and shall be honour'd ever
With grateful memory: thou to mankind
Be good and friendly still, and oft return.

So parted they, the angel up to heaven
From the thick shade, and Adam to his bower.

641 Free] See Dante Il Purgat. c. xxvii. v. 127.

'Non aspettar mio dir più, nè mio cenno.

Libero, dritto, e sano è tuo arbitrio ;
E fallo fora non fare a suo senno.'

645

—ἡ μὲν ἔπειτα

Εις ἅλα ἆλτο βαθεῖαν ἀπ' αἰγλήεντος ̓Ολύμπου,
Ζεὺς δὲ ἑὸν πρὸς δῶμα.

650

653 bower] Compare the parting of Jupiter and Thetis in Hom. II. 1. 532.

Todd.

PARADISE LOST.

BOOK IX.

THE ARGUMENT.

SATAN having compassed the earth, with meditated guile returns as a mist by night into Paradise, and enters into the serpent sleeping. Adam and Eve in the morning go forth to their labours, which Eve proposes to divide in several places, each labouring apart: Adam consents not, alleging the danger, lest that enemy, of whom they were forewarned, should attempt her found alone: Eve, loth to be thought not circumspect or firm enough, urges her going apart, the rather desirous to make trial of her strength: Adam at last yields: the serpent finds her alone; his subtle approach, first gazing, then speaking, with much flattery extolling Eve above all other creatures. Eve, wondering to hear the serpent speak, asks how he attained to human speech and such understanding not till now; the serpent answers, that by tasting of a certain tree in the garden he attained both to speech and reason, till then void of both: Eve requires him to bring her to that tree, and finds it to be the Tree of Knowledge forbidden; the serpent, now grown bolder, with many wiles and arguments induces her at length to eat: she, pleased with the taste, deliberates a while whether to impart thereof to Adam, or not; at last brings him of the fruit, relates what persuaded her to eat thereof: Adam at first amazed, but perceiving her lost, resolves, through vehemence of love, to perish with her, and extenuating the trespass eats also of the fruit: the effects thereof in them both: they seek to cover their nakedness: then fall to variance and accusation of one another.

No more of talk where GoD or angel guest With man, as with his friend, familiar used