From the beginning; that posterity,
Inform'd by thee, might know : if else thou seek'st
Aught, not surpassing human measure, say.

▸ souvenir, dès le commencement, afin que la » postérité, instruite par toi, le pût apprendre. » Si tu as à rechercher quelque autre chose ne » surpassant pas l'intelligence humaine : parle. »

THE ARGUMENT.

ADAM inquires concerning celestial motions; is doubtfully answered, and exhorted to search rather things more worthy of knowledge: Adam assents; and, still desirous to detain Raphael, relates to him what he remembered since his own creation; his placing in Paradise; his talk with God concerning solitude and fit society; his first meeting and nuptials vith Eve; his discourse with the angel thereupon; who, after admonitions repeated, departs.

ARGUMENT.

ADAM s'enquiert des mouvemens célestes; il reçoit une réponse douteuse, et est exhorté à chercher de préférence des choses plus dignes d'être connues. Adam y consent; mais désirant encore retenir Raphaël, il lui raconte les choses dont il se souvient, depuis sa propre création; sa translation dans le Paradis; son entretien avec Dieu touchant la solitude et une société convenable; sa première rencontre et ses noces avec Ève. Son discours là-dessus avec l'Ange, qui part après des admonitions répétées.

BOOK VIII.

HE angel ended, and in Adam's ear
So charming left his voice, that he awhile
Thought him still speaking, still stood fix'd to hear;
Then, as new-waked, thus gratefully replied :

"What thanks sufficient, or what recompense
Equal, have I to render thee, divine
Historian, who thus largely hast allay'd
The thirst I had of knowledge, and vouchsafed
This friendly condescension to relate
Things else by me unsearchable; now heard
With wonder, but delight, and, as is due,
With glory attributed to the high
Creator? Something yet of doubt remains,
Which only thy solution can resolve.

When I behold this goodly frame, this world,
Of heaven and earth consisting, and compute
Their magnitudes; this earth, a spot, a grain,
An atom, with the firmament compared