Sole partner and sole part of all these joys, Dearer thy self then all; needs must the power That made us, and for us this ample World Be infinitely good, and of his good As liberal and free as infinite, That raised us from the dust and placed us here In all this happiness, who at his hand Have nothing merited, nor can perform Aught whereof he hath need, he who requires From us no other service then to keep This one, this easy charge, of all the Trees In Paradise that bear delicious fruit So various, not to taste that only Tree Of knowledge, planted by the Tree of Life, So near grows Death to Life, what ere Death is, Some dreadful thing no doubt; for well thou know God hath pronounced it death to taste that Tree, The only sign of our obedience left Among so many signs of power and rule Conferred upon us, and Dominion given Over all other Creatures that possess Earth, Air, and Sea. Then let us not think hard One easy prohibition, who enjoy Free leave so large to all things else, and choice Unlimited of manifold delights: But let us ever praise him, and extol His bounty, following our delightful task To prune these growing Plants, and tend these Flours, Which were it toilsome, yet with thee were sweet. Return fair Eve, Whom fliest thou? whom thou fliest, of him thou art, His flesh, his bone; to give thee being I lent Out of my side to thee, nearest my heart Substantial Life, to have thee by my side Henceforth an individual solace dear; Part of my Soul I seek thee, and thee claim My other half: Fair Consort, the hour Of night, and all things now retired to rest Mind us of like repose, since God hath set Labour and rest, as day and night to men Successive, and the timely dew of sleep Now falling with soft slumbrous weight inclines Our eye-lids; other Creatures all day long Rove idle unemployed, and less need rest; Man hath his daily work of body or mind Appointed, which declares his Dignity, A nd the regard of Heaven on all his ways; While other Animals unactive range, And of their doings God takes no account. To morrow ere fresh Morning streak the East With first approach of light, we must be risen, And at our pleasant labour, to reform Yon flowery Arbors, yonder Allies green, Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown, That mock our scant manuring, and require More hands then ours to lop their wanton growth: Those Blossoms also, and those dropping Gumms, That lie bestrowne unsightly and unsmooth, Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease; Mean while, as Nature wills, Night bids us rest. Daughter of God and Man, accomplished Eve, Those have their course to finish, round the Earth, By morrow Evening, and from Land to Land In order, though to Nations yet unborn, Ministering light prepared, they set and rise; Least total darkness should by Night regain Her old possession, and extinguish life In Nature and all things, which these soft fires Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat Of various influence foment and warm, Temper or nourish, or in part shed down Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow On Earth, made hereby apter to receive Perfection from the Suns more potent Ray. These then, though unbeheld in deep of night, Shine not in vain, nor think, though men were none, That heaven would want spectators, God want praise; Millions of spiritual Creatures walk the Earth Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:. All these with ceaseless praise his works behold Both day and night: how often from the steep Of echoing Hill or Thicket have we heard Celestial voices to the midnight air, Sole, or responsive each to others note Singing their great Creator: oft in bands While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk With Heavenly touch of instrumental sounds In full harmonic number joint, their songs Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven. Awake My fairest, my espoused, my latest found, Heavens last best gift, my ever new delight, Awake, the morning shines, and the fresh field Calls us, we lose the prime, to mark how spring Our tended Plants, how blows the Citron Grove, What drops the Myrrh, and what the balmy Reed, How Nature paints her colours, how the Bee Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet. Best image of my self and dearer half, The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep Affects me equally; nor can I like This uncouth dream, of evil sprung I fear; Yet evil whence? in thee can harbour none, Created pure. But know that in the Soul Are many lesser Faculties that serve Reason as chief; among these Fancy next Her office holds; of all external things, Which the five watchful Senses represent, She forms Imaginations, Aerie shapes, Which Reason joining or disjoining, frames All what we affirm or what deny, and call Our knowledge or opinion; then retires Into her private Cell when Nature rests, Oft in her absence mimic Fancy wakes To imitate her; but misjoining shapes, Wilde work produces oft, and most in dreams, Ill matching words and deeds long past or late. Some such resemblances methinks I find Of our last Evenings talk, in this thy dream, But with addition strange; yet be not sad. Evil into the mind of God or Man May come or go, so unproved, and leave No spot or blame behind: Which gives me hope That what in sleep thou did abhor to dream, Waking thou never wilt consent to do. Be not disheartened then, nor cloud those looks That wont to be more cheerful and serene Then when fair Morning first smiles on the World, And let us to our fresh employments rise Among the Groves, the Fountains, and the Flours That open now their choicest bosomed smells Reserved from night, and kept for thee in store. Haste hither Eve, and worth thy sight behold Eastward among those Trees, what glorious shape Comes this way moving; seems another Morn Risen on mid-noon; some great behest from Heaven To us perhaps he brings, and will voutchsafe This day to be our Guest. But go with speed, And what thy stores contain, bring forth and pour Abundance, fit to honour and receive Our Heavenly stranger; well we may afford Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow From large bestowed, where Nature multiplies Her fertile growth, and by disburd'ning grows More fruitful, which instructs us not to spare. Native of Heaven, for other place None can then Heaven such glorious shape contain; Since by descending from the Thrones above, Those happy places thou has deigned a while To want, and honour these, voutchsafe with us Two only, who yet by soverign gift possess This spacious ground, in yonder shady Bower To rest, and what the Garden choicest bears To sit and taste, till this meridian heat Be over, and the Sun more cool decline. Heavenly stranger, please to taste These bounties which our Nourisher, from whom All perfect good unmeasured out, descends, To us for food and for delight hath cause The Earth to yield; unsavoury food perhaps To spiritual Natures; only this I know, That one Celestial Father gives to all. Inhabitant with God, now know I well Thy favour, in this honour done to man, Under whose lowly roof thou has Vouchsafed To enter, and these earthly fruits to taste, Food not of Angels, yet accepted so, As that more willingly thou could not seem As Heavens high feasts to have fed: yet what compare? O favourable spirit, propitious guest, Well has thou taught the way that might direct Our knowledge, and the scale of Nature set From center to circumference, whereon In contemplation of created things By steps we may ascend to God. But say, What meant that caution joint, if ye be found Obedient? can we want obedience then To him, or possibly his love desert Who formed us from the dust, and placed us here Full to the utmost measure of what bliss Human desires can seek or apprehend? Thy words Attentive, and with more delighted ear, Divine instructor, I have heard, then when Cherubic Songs by night from neighbouring Hills Aerial Music send: nor knew I not To be both will and deed created free; Yet that we never shall forget to love Our maker, and obey him whose command Single, is yet so just, my constant thoughts Assured me, and still assure: though what thou tells Hath past in Heaven, some doubt within me move, But more desire to hear, if thou consent, The full relation, which must needs be strange, Worthy of Sacred silence to be heard; And we have yet large day, for scarce the Sun Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins His other half in the great Zone of Heaven. Great things, and full of wonder in our ears, Far differing from this World, thou has revealed Divine interpreter, by favour sent Down from the Empyrean to forewarn Us timely of what might else have bin our loss, Unknown, which human knowledge could not reach: For which to the infinitely Good we owe Immortal thanks, and his admonishment Receive with solemn purpose to observe Immutably his soverign will, the end Of what we are. But since thou has Vouchsafed Gently for our instruction to impart Things above Earthly thought, which yet concerned Our knowing, as to highest wisdom seemed, Deign to descend now lower, and relate What may no less perhaps avail us known, How first began this Heaven which we behold Distant so high, with moving Fires adorned Innumerable, and this which yields or fills All space, the ambient Air wide interfus'd Embracing round this florid Earth, what cause Moved the Creator in his holy Rest Through all Eternity so late to build In Chaos, and the work begun, how soon Absolved, if unforbid thou may unfold What wee, not to explore the secrets ask Of his Eternal Empire, but the more To magnify his works, the more we know. And the great Light of Day yet wants to run Much of his Race though steep, suspense in Heaven Held by thy voice, thy potent voice he hears, And longer will delay to hear thee tell His Generation, and the rising Birth Of Nature from the unapparent Deep: Or if the Star of Evening and the Moon Haste to thy audience, Night with her will bring Silence, and Sleep listening to thee will watch, Or we can bid his absence, till thy Song End, and dismiss thee ere the Morning shine. What thanks sufficient, or what recompense Equal have I to render thee, Divine Historian, who thus largely has allayed 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 And all her numbered Stars, that seem to roll Spaces incomprehensible (for such Their distance argues and their swift return Diurnal) merely to officiate light Round this opacous Earth, this punctual spot, One day and night; in all their vast survey Useless besides, reasoning I oft admire, How Nature wise and frugal could commit Such disproportions, with superfluous hand So many nobler Bodies to create, Greater so manifold to this one use, For aught appears, and on their Orbs impose Such restless revolution day by day Repeated, while the sedentary Earth, That better might with far less compass move, Served by more noble then her self, attains Her end without least motion, and receives, As Tribute such a sumless journey brought Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light; Speed, to describe whose swiftness Number fails. How fully has thou satisfied me, pure Intelligence of Heaven, Angel serene, And freed from intricacies, taught to live, The easiest way, nor with perplexing thoughts To interrupt the sweet of Life, from which God hath bid dwell far off all anxious cares, And not molest us, unless we our selves Seek them with wandering thoughts, and notions vain. But apt the Mind or Fancy is to roave Unchecked, and of her roving is no end; Till warned, 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 happily mention may arise Of something not unseasonable to ask By sufferance, and thy wonted favour deigned. Thee I have heard relating what was don Ere my remembrance: now hear me relate My Story, which perhaps thou has not heard; And Day is yet not spent; till then thou see 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 Then Fruits of Palm-tree pleasantest to thirst And hunger both, from labour, 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. 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. Strait toward Heaven my wondering Eyes I turned, And gazed a while 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 livd, and moved, and walked, or flew, Birds on the branches warbling; all things smiled, With fragrance and with joy my heart overflowed. My self I then perused, and Limb by Limb Surveyed, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran With supple joints, and lively vigour led: But who I was, or where, or from what cause, Knew not; to speak I tried, and forthwith spake My Tongue obeyed and readily could name What ever I saw. Thou Sun, said I, fair Light, And thou enlightened 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 came I thus, how here? Not of my self; by some great Maker then, In goodness and in power pr??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 then I know. While thus I called, and strayed I knew not whither, From where I first drew Air, and first beheld This happy Light, when answer none returned, On a green shady Bank profuse of Flours Pensive I sate me down; there gentle sleep First found me, and with soft oppression seized My drowsed 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, 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, enclosed, with goodliest Trees Planted, with Walks, and Bowers, that what I saw Of Earth before scarce pleasant seemed. Each Tree Load'n with fairest Fruit that hung to the Eye Tempting, stirred in me sudden appetite To pluck and eat; whereat I waked, and found Before mine Eyes all real, as the dream Had lively shadowed: Here had new begun My wandering, had not he who was my Guide Up hither, from among the Trees appeared Presence Divine. Rejoicing, but with awe In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss: he reared me, and Said mildly, Sternly he pronounced The rigid interdiction, which resounds Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice Not to incur; but soon his clear aspect Returned and gracious purpose thus renewed. As thus he spake, each Bird and Beast behold Approaching two and two, These cowering low With blandishment, each Bird stooped on his wing. I named them, as they passed, and understood Their Nature, with such knowledge God endued My sudden apprehension: but in these I found not what me thought I wanted still; And to the Heavenly vision thus presumed. O by what Name, for thou above all these, Above mankind, or aught then mankind higher, Surpassest far my naming, how may I Adore thee, Author of this Universe, And all this good to man, for whose well being So amply, and with hands so liberal Thou has provided all things: but with me I see not who partakes. In solitude What happiness, who can enjoy alone, Or all enjoying, what contentment find? Thus I presumptuous; and the vision bright, As with a smile more brightened, thus replied. So spake the Universal Lord, and seemed So ordering. I with leave of speech implored, And humble deprecation thus replied. Let not my words offend thee, Heavenly Power, My Maker, be propitious while I speak. has thou not made me here thy substitute, And these inferior far beneath me set? Among unequals what society Can sort, what harmony or true delight? Which must be mutual, in proportion due Given and received; but in disparity The one intense, the other still remiss Cannot well suite with either, but soon prove Tedious alike: Of fellowship I speak Such as I seek, fit to participate All rational delight, wherein the brute Cannot be human consort; they rejoice Each with their kind, Lion with Lioness; So fitly them in pairs thou has combined; Much less can Bird with Beast, or Fish with Foul So well converse, nor with the Ox the Ape; Worse then can Man with Beast, and least of all. Where to the almighty answered, not displeased. He ceased, I lowly answered. To attain The height and depth of thy Eternal ways All human thoughts come short, Supreme of things; Thou in thy self art perfect, and in thee Is no deficiency found; not so is Man, But in degree, the cause of his desire By conversation with his like to help, Or solace his defects. No need that thou Should propagate, already infinite; And through all numbers absolute, though One; But Man by number is to manifest His single imperfection, and beget Like of his like, his Image multiplied, In unity defective, which requires Collateral love, and dearest amity. Thou in thy secrecy although alone, Best with thy self accompanied, seek not Social communication, yet so pleased, Can raise thy Creature to what height thou wilt Of Union or Communion, deified; I by conversing cannot these erect From prone, nor in their ways complacence find. Thus I emboldened spake, and freedom used Permissive, and acceptance found, which gained This answer from the gracious voice Divine. He ended, or I heard no more, for now My earthly by his Heavenly overpowered, Which it had long stood under, strained to the height In that celestial Colloquy sublime, As with an object that excels the sense, Dazzle d and spent, sunk down, and sought repair Of sleep, which instantly fell on me, called By Nature as in aide, and closed mine eyes. Mine eyes he closed, but open left the Cell Of Fancy my internal sight, by which Abstract as in a trance methought I saw, Though sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shape Still glorious before whom awake I stood; Who stooping opened my left side, and took From thence a Rib, with cordial spirits warm, And Life-blood streaming fresh; wide was the wound, But suddenly with flesh filled up and healed: The Rib he formed and fashioned with his hands; Under his forming hands a Creature grew, Manlike, but different Sex, so lovely fair, That what seemed fair in all the World, seemed now Mean, or in her summed up, in her contained And in her looks, which from that time infused Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before, And into all things from her Air inspired The spirit of love and amorous delight. She disappeared, and left me dark, I waked To find her, or for ever to deplore Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure: When out of hope, behold her, not far off, Such as I saw her in my dream, adorned With what all Earth or Heaven could bestow To make her amiable: On she came, Led by her Heavenly Maker, though unseen, And guided by his voice, nor uninformed Of nuptial Sanctity and marriage Rites: Grace was in all her steps, Heaven in her Eye, In every gesture dignity and love. I overjoyed could not forbear aloud. This turn hath made amends; thou has fulfilled Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign, Giver of all things fair, but fairest this Of all thy gifts, nor enviest. I now see Bone of my Bone, Flesh of my Flesh, my Self Before me; Woman is her Name, of Man Extracted; for this cause he shall forgo Father and Mother, and to his Wife adhere; And they shall be one Flesh, one Heart, one Soul. She heard me thus, and though divinely brought, Yet Innocence and Virgin Modesty, Her virtue and the conscience of her worth, That would be wooed, and not unsought be won, Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired, The more desirable, or to say all, Nature her self, though pure of sinful thought, Wrought in her so, that seeing me, she turned; I followed her, she what was Honour knew, And with obsequious Majesty approved My pleaded reason. To the Nuptial Bower I led her blushing like the Morn: all Heaven, And happy Constellations on that hour Shed their selectest influence; the Earth Gave sign of gratulation, and each Hill; Joyous the Birds; fresh Gales and gentle Aires Whispered it to the Woods, and from their wings Flung Rose, flung Odours from the spicy Shrub, Disporting, till the amorous Bird of Night Sung Spousal, and bid haste the Evening Star On his Hill top, to light the bridal Lamp. Thus I have told thee all my State, and brought My Story to the sum of earthly bliss Which I enjoy, and must confess to find In all things else delight indeed, but such As used or not, works in the mind no change, Nor vehement desire, these delicacies I mean of Taste, Sight, Smell, Herbs, Fruits, and Flours, Walks, and the melody of Birds; but here Far otherwise, transported I behold, Transported touch; here passion first I felt, Commotion strange, in all enjoyments else Superior and unmoved, here only weak Against the charm of Beauties powerful glance. Or Nature failed in me, and left some part Not proof enough such Object to sustain, Or from my side subducting, took perhaps More then enough; at least on her bestowed Too much of Ornament, in outward show Elaborate, of inward less exact. For well I understand in the prime end Of Nature her th'inferiour, in the mind And inward Faculties, which most excel, In outward also her resembling less His Image who made both, and less expressing The character of that Dominion given O'er other Creatures; yet when I approach Her loveliness, so absolute she seems And in her self complete, so well to know Her own, that what she wills to do or say, Seems wisest, vertuousest, discreetest, best; All higher knowledge in her presence falls Degraded, Wisdom in discourse with her Looses discountenanced, and like folly shows; Authority and Reason on her wait, As one intended first, not after made Occasionally; and to consummate all, Greatness of mind and nobleness their seat Build in her loveliest, and create an awe About her, as a guard Angelic placed. Neither her out-side formed 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 mixed with Love And sweet compliance, which declare unfeigned Union of Mind, or in us both one Soul; Harmony to behold in wedded pair More grateful then harmonious sound to the ear. Yet these subject not; I to thee disclose What inward thence I feel, not therefore foiled, Who meet with various objects, from the sense Variously representing; yet still free Approve the best, and follow what I approve. To love thou blanket me not, for love thou say 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 Express they, by looks only, or do they mix Irradiance, virtual or immediate touch? Since to part, Go heavenly Guest, Ethereal Messenger, Sent from whose soverign goodness I adore. Gentle to me and affable hath been Thy condescension, and shall be honoured ever With grateful Memory: thou to mankind Be good and friendly still, and oft return. Sole Eve, Associate sole, to me beyond Compare above all living Creatures dear, Well has thou motioned, well thy thoughts employed How we might best fulfil the work which here God hath assigned us, nor of me shalt pass Unprais'd: for nothing lovelier can be found In Woman, then to study household good, And good works in her Husband to promote. Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed Labour, as to debar us when we need Refreshment, whether food, or talk between, Food of the mind, or this sweet intercourse Of looks and smiles, for smiles from Reason flow, To brute denied, and are of Love the food, Love not the lowest end of human life. For not to irksome toil, but to delight He made us, and delight to Reason joined. These paths & Bowers doubt not but our joint hands Will keep from Wilderness with ease, as wide As we need walk, till younger hands ere long Assist us: But if much converse perhaps Thee satiate, to short absence I could yield. For solitude sometimes is best society, And short retirement urges sweet return. But other doubt possesses me, least harm Befall thee severed from me; for thou know What hath bin warned us, what malicious Foe Envying our happiness, and of his own Despairing, seeks to work us woe and shame By sly assault; and somwhere nigh at hand Watches, no doubt, with greedy hope to find His wish and best advantage, us asunder, Hopeless to circumvent us joined, where each To other speedy aide might lend at need; Whether his first design be to withdraw Our fealty from God, or to disturb Conjugal Love, then which perhaps no bliss Enjoyed by us excites his envy more; Or this, or worse, leave not the faithful side That gave thee being, still shades thee and protects. The Wife, where danger or dishonour lurks, Safest and seemliest by her Husband stays, Who guards her, or with her the worst endures. Daughter of God and Man, immortal Eve, For such thou art, from sin and blame entire: Not diffident of thee do I dissuade Thy absence from my sight, but to avoid The attempt it self, intended by our Foe. For he who tempts, though in vain, at least asperses The tempted with dishonour foul, supposed Not incorruptible of Faith, not prooff Against temptation: thou thy self with scorn And anger would resent the offered wrong, Though ineffectual found: misdeem not then, If such affront I labour to avert From thee alone, which on us both at once The Enemy, though bold, will hardly dare, Or daring, first on me th'assault shall light. Nor thou his malice and false guile contemn; Subtle he needs must be, who could seduce Angels, nor think superfluous others aid. I from the influence of thy looks receive Access in every Virtue, in thy sight More wise, more watchful, stronger, if need were Of outward strength; while shame, thou looking on, Shame to be overcome or overreached Would utmost vigour raise, and raised unite. Why should not thou like sense within thee feel When I am present, and thy trial choose With me, best witness of thy Virtue tried. O Woman, best are all things as the will Of God ordained them, his creating hand Nothing imperfect or deficient left Of all that he Created, much less Man, Or aught that might his happy State secure, Secure from outward force; within himself The danger lies, yet lies within his power: Against his will he can receive no harm. But God left free the Will, for what obeys Reason, is free, and Reason he made right, But bid her well beware, and still erect, Least by some fair appearing good surprised She dictate false, and misinform the Will To do what God expressly hath forbid, Not then mistrust, but tender love enjoins, That I should mind thee oft, and mind thou me. Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve, Since Reason not impossibly may meet Some specious object by the Foe suborned, And fall into deception unaware, Not keeping strictest watch, as she was warned. Seek not temptation then, which to avoid Were better, and most likely if from me Thou sever not: Trial will come unsought. Would thou approve thy constancy, approve First thy obedience; the other who can know, Not seeing thee attempted, who attest? But if thou think, trial unsought may find Us both securer then thus warned thou seem, Go; for thy stay, not free, absents thee more; Go in thy native innocence, rely On what thou has of virtue, summon all, For God towards thee hath done his part, do thine. O fairest of Creation, last and best Of all Gods works, Creature in whom excelled Whatever can to sight or thought be formed, Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet! How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost, Defaced, deflowered, and now to Death devote? Rather how has thou yielded to transgress The strict forbiddings, how to violate The sacred Fruit forbidden! some cursed fraud Of Enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown, And me with thee hath ruined, for with thee Certain my resolution is to Die; How can I live without thee, how forgo Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joined, To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn? Should God create another Eve, and I Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no no, I feel The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh, Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. Bold deed thou has presumed, adventurous Eve, And peril great provoked, who thus hath dared Had it been only coveting to Eye That sacred Fruit, sacred to abstinence, Much more to taste it under ban to touch. But past who can recall, or don undo? Not God Omnipotent, nor Fate, yet so Perhaps thou shalt not Die, perhaps the Fact Is not so heinous now, foretasted Fruit, Profaned first by the Serpent, by him first Made common and unhallowed ere our taste; Nor yet on him found deadly, he yet lives, Lives, as thou said, and gains to live as Man Higher degree of Life, inducement strong To us, as likely tasting to attain Proportional ascent, which cannot be But to be Gods, or Angels Demigods. Nor can I think that God, Creator wise, Though threatening, will in earnest so destroy Us his prime Creatures, dignified so high, Set over all his Works, which in our Fall, For us created, needs with us must fail, Dependent made; so God shall uncreate, Be frustrate, do, undo, and labour loose, Not well conceived of God, who though his Power Creation could repeat, yet would be loath Us to abolish, least the Adversary Triumph and say; Matter of scorn, not to be given the Foe, However I with thee have fixed my Lot, Certain to undergo like doom, if Death Consort with thee, Death is to me as Life; So forcible within my beart I feel The Bond of Nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine; Our State cannot be severed, we are one, One Flesh; to loose thee were to loose my self. Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste, And elegant, of Sapience no small part, Since to each meaning savour we apply, And Palate call judicious; I the praise Yield thee, so well this day thou has purveyed. Much pleasure we have lost, while we abstained From this delightful Fruit, nor known till now True relish, tasting; if such pleasure be In things to us forbidden, it might be wished, For this one Tree had bin forbidden ten. But come, so well refreshed, now let us play, As meet is, after such delicious Fare; For never did thy Beauty since the day I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorned With all perfections, so inflame my sense With ardour to enjoy thee, fairer now Then ever, bounty of this virtuous Tree. Eve, in evil hour thou did give ear To that false Worm, of whomsoever taught To counterfeit Mans voice, true in our Fall, False in our promised Rising; since our Eyes Opened we find indeed, and find we know Both Good and Evil, Good lost, and Evil got, Bad Fruit of Knowledge, if this be to know, Which leaves us naked thus, of Honour void, Of Innocence, of Faith, of Purity, Our wonted Ornaments now soiled and stained, And in our Faces evident the signs Of foul concupiscence; whence evil store; Even shame, the last of evils; of the first Be sure then. How shall I behold the face Henceforth of God or Angel, erst with joy And rapture so oft beheld? those heavenly shapes Will dazzle now this earthly, with their blaze Insufferably bright. O might I here In solitude live savage, in some glade Obscured, where highest Woods impenetrable To Star or Sun-light, spread their umbrage broad And brown as Evening: Cover me ye Pines, Ye Cedars, with innumerable boughs Hide me, where I may never see them more. But let us now, as in bad plight, devise What best may from the present serve to hide The Parts of each for other, that seem most To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen, Some Tree whose broad smooth Leaves together sowed, And girded on our loins, may cover round Those middle parts, that this new summer, Shame, There sit not, and reproach us as unclean. Would thou had hearkened to my words, and stayed With me, as I besought thee, when that strange Desire of wandering this unhappy Morn, I know not whence possessed thee; we had then Remained still happy, not as now, despoiled Of all our good, shamed, naked, miserable. Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve The Faith they owe; when earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude, they then begin to fail. Is this the Love, is this the recompense Of mine to thee, ungrateful Eve, expressed Immutable when thou were lost, not I, Who might have lived and joyed immortal bliss, Yet willingly chose rather Death with thee: And am I now upbraided, as the cause Of thy transgressing? not enough severe, It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more? I warned thee, I admonished thee, foretold The danger, and the lurking Enemy That lay in wait; beyond this had bin force, And force upon free will hath here no place. But confidence then bore thee on, secure Either to meet no danger, or to find Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps I also erred in overmuch admiring What seemed in thee so perfect, that I thought No evil dared attempt thee, but I rue That error now, which is become my crime, And thou the Accuser. Thus it shall befall Him who to worth in Women overtrusting Lets her will rule; restraint she will not brook, And left to her self, if evil thence ensue, She first his weak indulgence will accuse. I heard thee in the Garden, and of thy voice Afraid, being naked, hid my self. O Heaven! in evil strait this day I stand Before my judge, either to undergo My self the total Crime, or to accuse My other self, the partner of my life; Whose failing, while her Faith to me remains, I should conceal, and not expose to blame By my complaint; but strict necessity Subdues me, and calamitous constraint Least on my head both sin and punishment, However insupportable, be all Devolved; though should I hold my peace, yet thou Would easily detect what I conceal. This Woman whom thou made to be my help, And gave me as thy perfect gift, so good, So fit, so acceptable, so Divine, That from her hand I could suspect no ill, And what she did, whatever in it self, Her doing seemed to justify the deed; She gave me of the Tree, and I did eat. O miserable of happy! is this the end Of this new glorious World, and me so late The Glory of that Glory, who now become Accursed of blessed, hide me from the face Of God, whom to behold was then my height Of happiness: yet well, if here would end The misery, I deserved it, and would bear My own deservings; but this will not serve; All that I eat or drink, or shall beget, Is propagated curse. O voice once heard Delightfully, Now death to hear! for what can I increase Or multiply, but curses on my head? Who of all Ages to succeed, but feeling The evil on him brought by me, will curse My Head, Ill fare our Ancestor impure, For this we may thank Adam; but his thanks Shall be the execration; so besides Mine own that bide upon me, all from me Shall with a fierce reflux on me redound, On me as on their natural center light Heavy, though in their place. O fleeting joys Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes! Did I request thee, Maker, from my Clay To mould me Man, did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me, or here place In this delicious Garden? as my Will Concurred not to my being, it were but right And equal to reduce me to my dust, Desirous to resign, and render back All I received, unable to perform Thy terms too hard, by which I was to hold The good I sought not. To the loss of that, Sufficient penalty, why has thou added The sense of endless woes? inexplicable Thy justice seems; yet to say truth, too late, I thus contest; then should have been refused Those terms whatever, when they were proposed: Thou did accept them; wilt thou enjoy the good, Then cavil the conditions? and though God Made thee without thy leave, what if thy Son Prove disobedient, and reproved, retort, Wherefore did thou beget me? I sought it not: Would thou admit for his contempt of thee That proud excuse? yet him not thy election, But Natural necessity begot. God made thee of choice his own, and of his own To serve him, thy reward was of his grace, Thy punishment then justly is at his Will. Be it so, for I submit, his doom is fair, That dust I am, and shall to dust return: O welcome hour whenever! why delays His hand to execute what his Decree Fixed on this day? why do I overlive, Why am I mocked with death, and lengthened out To deathless pain? how gladly would I meet Mortality my sentence, and be Earth Insensible, how glad would lay me down As in my Mothers lap? there I should rest And sleep secure; his dreadful voice no more Would Thunder in my ears, no fear of worse To me and to my offspring would torment me With cruel expectation. Yet one doubt Pursues me still, least all I cannot die, Least that pure breath of Life, the Spirit of Man Which God inspired, cannot together perish With this corporeal Clod; then in the Grave, Or in some other dismal place who knows But I shall die a living Death? O thought Horrid, if true! yet why? it was but breath Of Life that sinned; what dies but what had life And sin? the Body properly hath neither. All of me then shall die: let this appease The doubt, since humane reach no further knows. For though the Lord of all be infinite, Is his wrath also? be it, man is not so, But mortal doomed. How can he exercise Wrath without end on Man whom Death must end? Can he make deathless Death? that were to make Strange contradiction, which to God himself Impossible is held, as Argument Of weakness, not of Power. Will he, draw out, For angers sake, finite to infinite In punished man, to satisfy his rigour Satisfied never; that were to extend His Sentence beyond dust and Natures Law, By which all Causes else according still To the reception of their matter act, Not to th'extent of their own Sphere. But say That Death be not one stroke, as I supposed, Bereaving sense, but endless misery From this day onward, which I feel begun Both in me, and without me, and so last To perpetuity; Ay me, that fear Comes thundering back with dreadful revolution On my defenceless head; both Death and I Am found Eternal, and incorporate both, Nor I on my part single, in me all Posterity stands cursed: Fair Patrimony That I must leave ye, Sons; O were I able To waste it all my self, and leave ye none! So disinherited how would ye bless Me now your curse! Ah, why should all mankind For one mans fault thus guiltless be condemned, If guiltless? But from me what can proceed, But all corrupt, both Mind and Will depraved, Not to do only, but to will the same With me? how can they then acquitted stand In sight of God? Him after all Disputes Forced I absolve: all my evasions vain, And reasoning, though through Mazes, lead me still But to my own conviction: first and last On me, me only, as the source and spring Of all corruption, all the blame lights due; So might the wrath. Fond wish! could thou support That burden heavier then the Earth to bear Then all the World much heavier, though divided With that bad Woman? Thus what thou desire And what thou fear, alike destroys all hope Of refuge, and concludes thee miserable Beyond all past example and future, To Satan only like both crime and doom. O Conscience, into what Abyss of fears And horrors has thou driven me; out of which I find no way, from deep to deeper plunged! Out of my sight, thou Serpent, that name best Befits thee with him leagued, thy self as false And hateful; nothing wants, but that thy shape, Like his, and colour Serpentine may show Thy inward fraud, to warn all Creatures from thee Henceforth; least that too heavenly form, pretended To hellish falsehood, snare them. But for thee I had persisted happy, had not thy pride And wandering vanity, when lest was safe, Rejected my forewarning, and disdained Not to be trusted, longing to be seen Though by the Devil himself, him overweening To over-reach, but with the Serpent meeting Fooled and beguiled, by him thou, I by thee, To trust thee from my side, imagined wise, Constant, mature, proof against all assaults, And understood not all was but a show Rather then solid virtue, all but a Rib Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears, More to the part sinister from me drawn, Well if thrown out, as supernumerary To my just number found. O why did God, Creator wise, that peopled highest Heaven With Spirits Masculine, create at last This novelty on Earth, this fair defect Of Nature, and not fill the World at once With Men as Angels without Feminine, Or find some other way to generate Mankind? this mischief had not then befallen, And more that shall befall, innumerable Disturbances on Earth through Female snares, And straight conjunction with this Sex: for either He never shall find out fit Mate, but such As some misfortune brings him, or mistake, Or whom he wishes most shall seldom gain Through her perverseness, but shall see her gained By a far worse, or if she love, withheld By Parents, or his happiest choice too late Shall meet, already linked and Wedlock-bound To a fell Adversary, his hate or shame: Which infinite calamity shall cause To Humane life, and household peace confound. Unwary, and too desirous, as before, So now of what thou know not, who desire The punishment all on thy self; alas, Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain His full wrath whose thou feels as yet lest part, And my displeasure bear so ill. If Prayers Could alter high Decrees, I to that place Would speed before thee, and be louder heard, That on my head all might be visited, Thy frailty and infirmer Sex forgiven, To me committed and by me exposed. But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame Each other, blamed enough elsewhere, but strive In offices of Love, how we may lighten Each others burden in our share of woe; Since this days Death denounced, if ought I see, Will prove no sudden, but a slow-pac't evil, A long days dying to augment our pain, And to our Seed (O hapless Seed!) derived. Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems To argue in thee something more sublime And excellent then what thy mind contemns; But self-destruction therefore sought, refutes That excellence thought in thee, and implies, Not thy contempt, but anguish and regret For loss of life and pleasure overlov'd. Or if thou covet death, as utmost end Of misery, so thinking to evade The penalty pronounced, doubt not but God Hath wiselier armed his vengeful ire then so To be forestalled; much more I fear least Death So snatched will not exempt us from the pain We are by doom to pay; rather such acts Of contumacy will provoke the highest To make death in us live: Then let us seek Some safer resolution, which methinks I have in view, calling to mind with heed Part of our Sentence, that thy Seed shall bruise The Serpents head; piteous amends, unless Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand Foe Satan, who in the Serpent hath contrived Against us this deceit: to crush his head Would be revenge indeed; which will be lost By death brought on our selves, or childless days Resolved, as thou propose; so our Foe Shall escape his punishment ordained, and wee Instead shall double ours upon our heads. No more be mentioned then of violence Against our selves, and wilful barrenness, That cuts us off from hope, and savours only Rancor and pride, impatience and despite, Reluctance against God and his just yoke Laid on our Necks. Remember with what mild And gracious temper he both heard and judged Without wrath or reviling; wee expected Immediate dissolution, which we thought Was meant by Death that day, when lo, to thee Pains only in Child-bearing were foretold, And bringing forth, soon recompense with joy, Fruit of thy Womb: On me the Curse aslope Glanced on the ground, with labour I must earn My bread; what harm? Idleness had bin worse; My labour will sustain me; and least Cold Or Heat should injure us, his timely care Hath unbesaught provided, and his hands Clothed us unworthy, pitying while he judged; How much more, if we pray him, will his ear Be open, and his heart to pity incline, And teach us further by what means to shun Th'inclement Seasons, Rain, Ice, Hail and Snow, Which now the Sky with various Face begins To show us in this Mountain, while the Winds Blow moist and keen, shattering the graceful locks Of these fair spreading Trees; which bids us seek Some better shroud, some better warmth to cherish Our Limbs benumbed, ere this diurnal Star Leave cold the Night, how we his gathered beams Reflected, may with matter sere foment, Or by collision of two bodies grind The Air attrite to Fire, as late the Clouds Jostling or pushed with Winds rude in their shock Tine the slant Lightning, whose thwart flame driven down Kindles the gummy bark of Fur or Pine, And sends a comfortable heat from far, Which might supply the Sun: such Fire to use, And what may else be remedy or cure To evils which our own misdeeds have wrought, He will instruct us praying, and of Grace Beseeching him, so as we need not fear To pass commodiously this life, sustained By him with many comforts, till we end In dust, our final rest and native home. What better can we do, then to the place Repairing where he judged us, prostrate fall Before him reverent, and there confess Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears Watering the ground, and with our sighs the Air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek. Undoubtedly he will relent and turn From his displeasure; in whose look serene, When angry most he seemed and most severe, What else but favour, grace, and mercy shone? Eve, easily may Faith admit, that all The good which we enjoy, from Heaven descends; But that from us ought should ascend to Heaven So prevalent as to concern the mind Of God high-blest, or to incline his will, Hard to belief may seem; yet this will Prayer, Or one short sigh of humane breath, up-borne Even to the Seat of God. For since I sought By Prayer th'offended Deity to appease, Kneeled and before him humbled all my heart, Methought I saw him placable and mild, Bending his ear; persuasion in me grew That I was heard with favour; peace returned Home to my Breast, and to my memory His promise, that thy Seed shall bruise our Foe; Which then not minded in dismay, yet now Assures me that the bitterness of death Is past, and we shall live. Whence Hail to thee, Eve rightly called, Mother of all Mankind, Mother of all things living, since by thee Man is to live, and all things live for Man. O Eve, some further change awaits us nigh, Which Heaven by these mute signs in Nature shows Forerunners of his purpose, or to warn Us happily too secure of our discharge From penalty, because from death released Some days; how long, and what till then our life, Who knows, or more then this, that we are dust, And thither must return and be no more. Why else this double object in our fight Of flight pursued in the air and ore the ground One way the self-same hour? why in the East Darkness ere Days mid-course, and Morning light More orient in yon Western Cloud that draws O'er the blew Firmament a radiant white, And slow descends, with something heavenly fraught. Eve, now expect great tidings, which perhaps Of us will soon determine, or impose New Laws to be observed; for I descry From yonder blazing Cloud that veils the Hill One of the heavenly Host, and by his Gate None of the meanest, some great Potentate Or of the Thrones above, such Majesty Invests him coming? yet not terrible, That I should fear, nor sociably mild, As Raphael, that I should much confide, But solemn and sublime, whom not to offend, With reverence I must meet, and thou retire. He ended; and The Arch-Angel soon drew nigh, Not in his shape Celestial, but as Man Clad to meet Man; over his lucid Arms A military Vest of purple flowed Livelier then Melib??an, or the grain Of Sarra, worn by Kings and Hero's old In time of Truce; lris had dipped the wooff; His starry Helm unbuckled showed him prime In Manhood where Youth ended; by his side As in a glistening Zodiac hung the Sword, Satan's dire dread, and in his hand the Spear. Adam bowd low, he Kingly from his State Inclined not, but his coming thus declared. Celestial, whether among the Thrones, or named Of them the Highest, for such of shape may seem Prince above Princes, gently has thou told Thy message, which might else in telling wound, And in performing end us; what besides Of sorrow and dejection and despair Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring, Departure from this happy place, our sweet Recess, and only consolation left Familiar to our eyes, all places else Inhospitable appear and desolate, Nor knowing us nor known: and if by prayer Incessant I could hope to change the will Of him who all things can, I would not cease To weary him with my assiduous cries: But prayer against his absolute Decree No more avails then breath against the wind, Blown stifling back on him that breaths it forth: Therefore to his great bidding I submit. This most afflicts me, that departing hence, As from his face I shall be hid, deprived His blessed countenance; here I could frequent, With worship, place by place where he vouchsafed Presence Divine, and to my Sons relate; On this Mount he appeared, under this Tree Stood visible, among these Pines his voice I heard, here with him at this Fountain talked: So many grateful Altars I would rear Of grassy Turf, and pile up every Stone Of lustre from the brook, in memory, Or monument to Ages, and thereon Offer sweet smelling Gumms and Fruits and Flours: In yonder nether World where shall I seek His bright appearances, or foot step-trace? For though I fled him angry, yet recalled To life prolonged and promised Race, I now Gladly behold though but his utmost skirts Of glory, and far off his steps adore. Ascend, I follow thee, safe Guide, the path Thou lead me, and to the hand of Heaven submit, However chast'ning, to the evil turn My obvious breast, arming to overcome By suffering, and earn rest from labour won, If so I may attain. O Teacher, some great mischief hath befallen To that meek man, who well had sacrificed; Is Piety thus and pure Devotion paid? Alas, both for the deed and for the cause! But have I now seen Death? Is this the way I must return to native dust? O sight Of terror, foul and ugly to behold, Horrid to think, how horrible to feel! O miserable Mankind, to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! Better end hear unborn. Why is life given To be thus wrested from us? rather why Obtruded on us thus? who if we knew What we receive, would either not accept Life offered, or soon beg to lay it down, Glad to be so dismissed in peace. Can thus Th'Image of God in man created once So goodly and erect, though faulty since, To such unsightly sufferings be debas't Under inhuman pains? Why should not Man, Retaining still Divine similitude In part, from such deformities be free, And for his Makers Image sake exempt? I yield it just, and submit. But is there yet no other way, besides These painful passages, how we may come To Death, and mix with our connatural dust; Henceforth I fly not Death, nor would prolong Life much, bent rather how I may be quit Fairest and easiest of this combrous charge, Which I must keep till my appointed day Of rendering up, and patiently attend My dissolution. True opener of mine eyes, prime Angel blessed, Much better seems this Vision, and more hope Of peaceful days portends, then those two past; Those were of hate and death, or pain much worse, Here Nature seems fulfilled in all her ends. O pity and shame, that they who to live well Entered so fair, should turn aside to tread Paths indirect, or in the mid way faint! But still I see the tenor of Mans woe Holds on the same, from Woman to begin. O Visions ill foreseen! better had I Lived ignorant of future, so had borne My part of evil only, each days lot Enough to bear; those now, that were dispensed The burden of many Ages, on me light At once, by my foreknowledge gaining Birth Abortive, to torment me ere their being, With thought that they must be. Let no man seek Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall Him or his Children, evil he may be sure, Which neither his foreknowing can prevent, And he the future evil shall no less In apprehension then in substance feel Grievous to bear: but that care now is past, Man is not whom to warn: those few escaped Famine and anguish will at last consume Wandering that watery Desert: I had hope When violence was ceased, and War on Earth, All would have then gon well, peace would have crowned With length of happy days the race of man; But I was far deceived; for now I see Peace to corrupt no less then War to waste. How comes it thus? unfold, Celestial Guide, And whether here the Race of man will end. O thou who future things can represent As present, Heavenly instructor, I revive At this last sight, assured that Man shall live With all the Creatures, and their seed preserve. Far less I now lament for one whole World Of wicked Sons destroyed, then I rejoice For one Man found so perfect and so just, That God vouchsafed to raise another World From him, and all his anger to forget. But say, what mean those coloured streaks in Heaven, Distended as the Brow of God appeased, Or serve they as a flowery verge to bind The fluid skirts of that same watery Cloud, Least it again dissolve and shower the Earth? O execrable Son so to aspire Above his Brethren, to himself assuming Authority usurped, from God not given: He gave us only over Beast, Fish, Fowl Dominion absolute; that right we hold By his donation; but Man over men He made not Lord; such title to himself Reserving, human left from human free. But this Usurper his encroachment proud Stays not on Man; to God his Tower intends Siege and defiance: Wretched man! what food Will he convey up thither to sustain Himself and his rash Army, where thin Air Above the Clouds will pine his entrails gross, And famish him of Breath, if not of Bread? O sent from Heaven, Enlightener of my darkness, gracious things Thou has reveled, those chiefly which concern Just Abraham and his Seed: now first I find Mine eyes true opening, and my heart much eased, Erwhile perplexed with thoughts what would become Of me and all Mankind; but now I see His day, in whom all Nations shall be blessed, Favour unmerited by me, who sought Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means. This yet I apprehend not, why to those Among whom God will deign to dwell on Earth So many and so various Laws are given; So many Laws argue so many sins Among them; how can God with such reside? O Prophet of glad tidings, finisher Of utmost hope! now clear I understand What oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain, Why our great expectation should be called The seed of Woman: Virgin Mother, Hail, High in the love of Heaven, yet from my Loins Thou shalt proceed, and from thy Womb the Son Of God most High; So God with man unites. Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise Expect with mortal pain: say where and when Their fight, what stroke shall bruise the Victors heel. O goodness infinite, goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce, And evil turn to good; more wonderful Then that which by creation first brought forth Light out of darkness! full of doubt I stand, Whether I should repent me now of sin By me done and occasioned, or rejoice Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring, To God more glory, more good will to Men From God, and over wrath grace shall abound. But say, if our deliverer up to Heaven Must re-ascend, what will betide the few His faithful, left among th'unfaithful herd, The enemies of truth; who then shall guide His people, who defend? will they not deal Worse with his followers then with him they dealt? How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blessed, Measured this transient World, the Race of time, Till time stand fixed: beyond is all abyss, Eternity, whose end no eye can reach. Greatly instructed I shall hence depart, Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill Of knowledge, what this Vessel can contain; Beyond which was my folly to aspire. Henceforth I learn, that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God, to walk As in his presence, ever to observe His providence, and on him sole depend, Merciful over all his works, with good Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things, by things deemed weak Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise By simply meek; that suffering for Truths sake Is fortitude to highest victory, And to the faithful Death the Gate of Life; Taught this by his example whom I now Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blessed.