Till warn'd, or by experience taught, she learn,
That, not to know at large of things remote
From use, obscure and subtle; but, to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
Is the prime wisdom. What is more, is fume,
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence :

And renders us, in things that most concern,
Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek.
Therefore from this high pitch let us descend
A lower flight, and speak of things at hand
Useful; whence, haply, mention may arise
Of something not unseasonable to ask,
By sufferance, and thy wonted favor, deign'd.
Thee I have heard relating what was done

Ere
my remembrance: now, hear me relate
My story, which perhaps thou hast not heard;
And day is not yet spent: till then thou seest
How subtly to detain thee I devise;
Inviting thee to hear while I relate;
Fond! were it not in hope of thy reply.
For, while I sit with thee, I seem in heaven;
And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear
Than fruits of palm-tree pleasantest to thirst
And hunger both, from labor, at the hour
Of sweet repast: they satiate, and soon fill,
Though pleasant; but thy words, with grace divine
Imbued, bring to their sweetness no satiety."

To whom thus Raphael answer'd heavenly meek:
"Nor are thy lips ungraceful, Sire of men!
Nor tongue ineloquent; for God on thee
Abundantly his gifts hath also pour'd
Inward and outward both, his image fair.
Speaking, or mute, all comeliness and grace
Attend thee; and each word, each motion, form.

Nor less think we in heaven of thee on earth
Than of our fellow-servant, and inquire
Gladly into the ways of God with man :
For God, we see, hath honor'd thee, and set
On man his equal love. Say therefore on;
For I that day was absent, as befel,
Bound on a voyage uncouth and obscure,
Far on excursion toward the gates of hell;
Squared in full legion (such command we had),
To see that none thence issued forth a spy,
Or enemy, while God was in his work:
Lest he, incensed at such eruption bold,
Destruction with creation might have mix'd.
Not that they durst without his leave attempt;
But us he sends upon his high behests
For state, as Sovran King; and to inure
Our prompt obedience. Fast we found, fast shut,
The dismal gates, and barricadoed strong;
But long ere our approaching heard within
Noise, other than the sound of dance or song,
Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage.
Glad we return'd up to the coasts of light
Ere sabbath-evening: so we had in charge.
But thy relation now; for I attend,

[mine."

Pleased with thy words no less than thou with So spake the godlike Power, and thus our sire: "For man to tell how human life began

Is hard; for who himself beginning knew?
Desire with thee still longer to converse
Induced me. As new waked from soundest sleep,
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid,
In balmy sweat; which with his beams the sun
Soon dried, and on the reeking moisture fed.
Straight toward heaven my wondering eyes I turn'd,

And gazed awhile the ample sky; till, raised
By quick instinctive motion, up I sprung,
As thitherward endeavouring, and upright
Stood on my feet: about me round I saw
Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains,
And liquid lapse of murmuring streams: by these,
Creatures that lived and moved, and walk'd, or flew;
Birds on the branches warbling; all things smiled;
With fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflow'd.
Myself I then perused, and limb by limb
Survey'd, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran
With supple joints, as lively vigor led:

But who I was, or where, or from what cause,
Knew not to speak I tried, and forthwith spake:
My tongue obey'd, and readily could name
Whate'er I saw. Thou Sun! (said I,) fair light,
And thou enlighten'd Earth! so fresh and gay,
Ye Hills, and Dales! ye Rivers, Woods, and
Plains!

And ye
that live and move, fair Creatures! tell,
Tell, if ye saw, how I came thus, how here ?-
Not of myself;-

-by some great Maker then,

In goodness and in power pre-eminent.

Tell me, how may I know him, how adore,
From whom I have that thus I move and live;
And feel that I am happier than I know.-
While thus I call'd, and stray'd I knew not whither,
From where I first drew air, and first beheld
This happy light; when, answer none return'd,
On a green shady bank, profuse of flowers,
Pensive I sat me down. There gentle sleep
First found me, and with soft oppression seized
My drowsied sense, untroubled, though I thought
I then was passing to my former state

Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve:
When suddenly stood at my head a dream,
Whose inward apparition gently moved
My fancy to believe I yet had being,

And lived. One came, methought, of shape divine,
And said, 'Thy mansion wants thee, Adam! rise,
First Man! of men innumerable ordain'd
First Father! call'd by thee, I come thy guide
To the garden of bliss, thy seat prepared.'
So saying, by the hand he took me raised,
And over fields and waters, as in air
Smooth-sliding without step, last led me up
A woody mountain; whose high top was plain,
A circuit wide, inclosed, with goodliest trees
Planted, with walks, and bowers; that what I saw
Of earth before scarce pleasant seem'd. Each tree
Loaden with fairest fruit that hung to the' eye
Tempting, stirr'd in me sudden appetite

To pluck and eat; whereat I waked, and found
Before mine eyes all real, as the dream
Had lively shadow'd. Here had new begun
My wandering, had not he, who was my guide
Up hither, from among the trees appear'd,
Presence Divine. Rejoicing, but with awe,
In adoration at his feet I fell

6

[I am,' Submiss: He rear'd me, and Whom thou sought'st Said mildly, Author of all this thou seest Above, or round about thee, or beneath. This Paradise I give thee, count it thine To till and keep, and of the fruit to eat. Of every tree that in the garden grows Eat freely with glad heart; fear here no dearth : But of the tree whose operation brings Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set

The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith,
Amid the garden by the tree of life,

Remember what I warn thee, shun to taste;
And shun the bitter consequence: for know,
The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole command
Transgress'd, inevitably thou shalt die,

From that day mortal; and this happy state
Shalt lose, expell'd from hence into a world
Of woe and sorrow.' Sternly he pronounced
The rigid interdiction, which resounds

Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice
Not to incur; but soon his clear aspéct
Return'd, and gracious purpose thus renew'd:
'Not only these fair bounds, but all the earth
To thee and to thy race I give: as lords
Possess it, and all things that therein live,
Or live in sea, or air; beast, fish, and fowl.
In sign whereof, each bird and beast behold
After their kinds : I bring them to receive
From thee their names, and pay thee fealty
With low subjection: understand the same
Of fish within their watery residence,

Not hither summon'd, since they cannot change
Their element, to draw the thinner air.’

As thus he spake, each bird and beast behold
Approaching two and two; these cowering low
With blandishment; each bird stoop'd on his wing.
I named them, as they pass'd, and understood
Their nature, with such knowledge God endued
My sudden apprehension. But in these
I found not what methought I wanted still;
And to the heavenly Vision thus presumed :

O, by what name, for thou above all these,

Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher,