O thou for whom And from whom I was formed flesh of thy flesh, And without whom am to no end, my Guide And Head, what thou has said is just and right. For wee to him indeed all praises owe, And daily thanks, I chiefly who enjoy So far the happier Lot, enjoying thee Pr??eminent by so much odds, while thou Like consort to thy self can no where find. That day I oft remember, when from sleep I first awaked, and found my self reposed Under a shade of flours, much wondering where And what I was, whence thither brought, and how. Not distant far from thence a murmuring sound Of waters issued from a Cave and spread Into a liquid Plain, then stood unmoved Pure as the expanse of Heaven; I thither went With unexperienced thought, and laid me down On the green bank, to look into the clear Smooth Lake, that to me seemed another Sky. As I bent down to look, just opposite, A Shape within the watery gleam appeared Bending to look on me, I started back, It started back, but pleased I soon returned, Pleased it returned as soon with answering looks Of sympathy and love; there I had fixed Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire, Had not a voice thus warned me, What thou see, What there thou see fair Creature is thy self, With thee it came and goes: but follow me, And I will bring thee where no shadow stays Thy coming, and thy soft embraces, he Whose image thou art, him thou shall enjoy Inseparably thine, to him shalt bear Multitudes like thy self, and thence be called Mother of human Race: what could I doe, But follow strait, invisibly thus led? Till I espied thee, fair indeed and tall, Under a Platen, yet methought less fair, Less winning soft, less amiably mild, Then that smooth watery image; back I turned, Thou following cried aloud, with that thy gentle hand See mine, I yielded, and from that time see How beauty is excelled by manly grace And wisdom, which alone is truly fair. My Author and Disposer, what thou bid Unargu'd I obey; so God ordains, God is thy Law, thou mine: to know no more Is women's happiest knowledge and her praise. With thee conversing I forget all time, All seasons and their change, all please alike. Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet, With charm of earliest Birds; pleasant the Sun When first on this delightful Land he spreads His orient Beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flour, Glistering with dew; fragrant the fertile earth After soft showers; and sweet the coming on Of grateful Evening mild, then silent Night With this her solemn Bird and this fair Moon, And these the Gems of Heaven, her starry train: But neither breath of Morn when she ascends With charm of earliest Birds, nor rising Sun On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower, Glistering with dew, nor fragrance after showers, Nor grateful Evening mild, nor silent Night With this her solemn Bird, nor walk by Moon, Or glittering Starr-light without thee is sweet. But wherefore all night long shine these, for whom This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes? O Sole in whom my thoughts find all repose, My Glory, my Perfection, glad I see Thy face, and Morn returned, for I this Night, Such night till this I never passed, have dreamed, If dreamed, not as I oft am wont, of thee, Works of day passed, or morrows next design, But of offence and trouble, which my mind Knew never till this irksome night; methought Close at mine ear one called me forth to walk With gentle voice, I though it thine; it said, Why sleeps thou Eve? now is the pleasant time, The cool, the silent, save where silence yields To the night-warbling Bird, that now awake Tunes sweetest his love-labor'd song; now reigns Full Orbed the Moon, and with more pleasing light Shadowy sets off the face of things; in vain, If none regard; Heaven wakes with all his eyes, Whom to behold but thee, Natures desire, In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze. I rose as at thy call, but found thee not; To find thee I directed then my walk; And on, methought, alone I passed through ways That brought me on a sudden to the Tree Of interdicted Knowledge: fair it seemed, Much fairer to my Fancy then by day: And as I wondering looked, beside it stood One shaped and winged like one of those from Heaven By us oft seen; his dewy locks distilled Ambrosia; on that Tree he also gazed; And Adam, earths hallowed mould Of God inspired, small store will serve, where store, All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk; Save what by frugal storing firmness gains To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes: But I will haste and from each bough and break, Each Plant and juiciest Gourd will pluck such choice To entertain our Angel guest, as he Beholding shall confess that here on Earth God hath dispensed his bounties as in Heaven. Adam, well may we labour still to dress This Garden, still to tend Plant, Herb and Flour, Our pleasant task enjoined, but till more hands Aid us, the work under our labour grows, Luxurious by restraint; what we by day Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind, One night or two with wanton growth derides Tending to wilde. Thou therefore now advise Or bear what to my mind first thoughts present, Let us divide our labours, thou where choice Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind The Woodbine round this Arbour, or direct The clasping Ivy where to climb, while I In yonder Spring of Roses intermixed With Myrtle, find what to redress till Noon: For while so near each other thus all day Our task we choose, what wonder if so near Looks intervene and smiles, or object new Casual discourse draw on, which intermits Our days work brought to little, though begun Early, and the hour of Supper comes unearned. Offspring of Heaven and Earth, and all Earths Lord, That such an Enemy we have, who seeks Our ruin, both by thee informed I learn, And from the parting Angel over-heard As in a shady nook I stood behind, Just then returned at shut of Evening Flours. But that thou should my firmness therefore doubt To God or thee, because we have a foe May tempt it, I expected not to hear. His violence thou fear not, being such, As wee, not capable of death or pain, Can either not receive, or can repell. His fraud is then thy fear, which plain infers Thy equal fear that my firm Faith and Love Can by his fraud be shak'n or seduced; Thoughts, which how found they harbour in thy breast Adam, missthought of her to thee so dear? If this be our condition, thus to dwell In narrow circuit straitened by a Foe, Subtle or violent, we not endued Single with like defence, wherever met, How are we happy, still in fear of harm? But harm precedes not sin: only our Foe Tempting affronts us with his foul esteem Of our integrity: his foul esteem Sticks no dishonour on our Front, but turns Foul on himself; then wherefore shunned or feared By us? who rather double honour gain From his surmise proved false, find peace within, Favour from Heaven, our witness from The event. And what is Faith, Love, Virtue unassaid Alone, without exterior help sustained? Let us not then suspect our happy State Left so imperfect by the Maker wise, As not secure to single or combined. Frail is our happiness, if this be so, And Eden were no Eden thus exposed. With thy permission then, and thus forewarned Chiefly by what thy own last reasoning words Touched only, that our trial, when least sought, May find us both perhaps far less prepared, The willinger I go, nor much expect A Foe so proud will first the weaker seek; So bent, the more shall shame him his repulse. What may this mean? Language of Man pronounced By Tongue of Brute, and human sense expressed? The first at lest of these I thought denied To Beasts, whom God on their Creation-Day Created mute to all articulate sound; The latter I demur, for in their looks Much reason, and in their actions oft appears. Thee, Serpent, subtlest beast of all the field I knew, but not with human voice endued; Redouble then this miracle, and say, How came thou speakable of mute, and how To me so friendly grown above the rest Of brutal kind, that daily are in sight? Say, for such wonder claims attention due. Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt The virtue of that Fruit, in thee first proved: But say, where grows the Tree, from hence how far? For many are the Trees of God that grow In Paradise, and various, yet unknown To us, in such abundance lies our choice, As leaves a greater store of Fruit untouched, Still hanging incorruptible, till men Grow up to their provision, and more hands Help to disburden Nature of her Bearth. Lead then, Serpent, we might have spared our coming hither, Fruitless to me, though Fruit be here to excess, The credit of whose virtue rest with thee, Wondrous indeed, if cause of such effects. But of this Tree we may not taste nor touch; God so commanded, and left that Command Sole Daughter of his voice; the rest, we live Law to our selves, our Reason is our Law. Of the Fruit Of each Tree in the Garden we may eat, But of the Fruit of this fair Tree amidst The Garden, God hath said, Great are thy Virtues, doubtless, best of Fruits, Though kept from Man, and worthy to be admired, Whose taste, too long forborne, at first assay Gave elocution to the mute, and taught The Tongue not made for Speech to speak thy praise: Thy praise he also who forbids thy use, Conceals not from us, naming thee the Tree Of Knowledge, knowledge both of good and evil; Forbids us then to taste, but his forbidding Commends thee more, while it infers the good By thee communicated, and our want: For good unknown, sure is not had, or had And yet unknown, is as not had at all. In plain then, what forbids he but to know, Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise? Such prohibitions bind not. But if Death Bind us with after-bands, what profits then Our inward freedom? In the day we eat Of this fair Fruit, our doom is, we shall die. How dies the Serpent? he hath eaten and lives, And knows, and speaks, and reasons, and discerns, Irrational till then. For us alone Was death invented? or to us denied This intellectual food, for beasts reserved? For Beasts it seems: yet that one Beast which first Hath tasted, envies not, but brings with joy The good befallen him, Author unsuspected, Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. What fear I then, rather what know to fear Under this ignorance of good and Evil, Of God or Death, of Law or Penalty? Here grows the Cure of all, this Fruit Divine, Fair to the Eye, inviting to the Taste, Of virtue to make wise: what hinders then To reach, and feed at once both Body and Mind? O Soverign, virtuous, precious of all Trees In Paradise, of operation blessed To Sapience, hitherto obscured, informed, And thy fair Fruit let hang, as to no end Created; but henceforth my early care, Not without Song, each Morning, and due praise Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease Of thy full branches offered free to all; Till dieted by thee I grow mature In knowledge, as the Gods who all things know; Though others envy what they cannot give; For had the gift bin theirs, it had not here Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe, Best guide; not following thee, I had remained In ignorance, thou openest Wisdom's way, And give access, though secret she retire. And I perhaps am secret; Heaven is high, High and remote to see from thence distinct Each thing on Earth; and other care perhaps May have diverted from continual watch Our great Forbidder, safe with all his Spies About him. But to Adam in what sort Shall I appear? shall I to him make known As yet my change, and give him to partake Full happiness with me, or rather not, But keep the odds of Knowledge in my power Without Copartner? so to add what wants In Female Sex, the more to draw his Love, And render me more equal, and perhaps, A thing not undesirable, sometime Superior; for inferior who is free? This may be well: but what if God have seen, And Death ensue? then I shall be no more, And Adam wedded to another Eve, Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct; A death to think. Confirmed then I resolve; Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe: So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life. has thou not wondered, Adam, at my stay? Thee I have missed, and thought it long, deprived Thy presence, agony of love till now Not felt, nor shall be twice, for never more Mean I to try, what rash untried I sought, The pain of absence from thy sight. But strange Hath bin the cause, and wonderful to hear: This Tree is not as we are told, a Tree Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown Opening the way, but of Divine effect To open Eyes, and make them Gods who taste; And hath bin tasted such: the Serpent wise, Or not restraind as wee, or not obeying, Hath eaten of the fruit, and is become, Not dead, as we are threatened, but thenceforth Endued with human voice and human sense, Reasoning to admiration, and with me Persuasively hath so prevailed, that I Have also tasted, and have also found Th'effects to correspond, opener mine Eyes, Dim erst, dilated Spirits, ampler Heart, And growing up to Godhood; which for thee Chiefly I sought, without thee can despise. For bliss, as thou has part, to me is bliss, Tedious, unshar'd with thee, and odious soon. Thou therefore also taste, that equal Lot May join us, equal joy, as equal Love; Least thou not tasting, different degree Disjoin us, and I then too late renounce Deity for thee, when Fate will not permit. O glorious trial of exceeding Love, Illustrious evidence, example high1 Engaging me to emulate, but short Of thy perfection, how shall I attain, Adam, from whose dear side I boast me sprung, And gladly of our Union hear thee speak, One Heart, one Soul in both; whereof good prooff This day affords, declaring thee resolved, Rather then Death or aught then Death more dread Shall separate us, linked in Love so dear, To undergo with me one Guilt, one Crime, If any be, of tasting this fair Fruit, Whose virtue, for of good still good proceeds, Direct, or by occasion hath presented This happy trial of thy Love, which else So eminently never had bin known. Were it I thought Death menaced would ensue This my attempt, I would sustain alone The worst, and not persuade thee, rather die Deserted, then oblige thee with a fact Pernicious to thy Peace, chiefly assured Remarkably so late of thy so true, So faithful Love unequalled; but I feel Far otherwise The event, not Death, but Life Augmented, opened Eyes, new Hopes, new Joys, Taste so Divine, that what of sweet before Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh. On my experience, Adam, freely taste, And fear of Death deliver to the Winds. What words have past thy Lips, Adam severe, Imput'st thou that to my default, or will Of wandering, as thou call it, which who knows But might as ill have happened thou being by, Or to thy self perhaps: had thou been there, Or here the attempt, thou could not have discerned Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake; No ground of enmity between us known, Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm. Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good have grown there still a lifeless Rib. Being as I am, why did not thou the Head Command me absolutely not to go, Going into such danger as thou said? Too facile then thou did not much gainsay, Nay did permit, approve, and fair dismiss. Had thou bin firm and fixed in thy dissent, Neither had I transgressed, nor thou with me. The Serpent me beguiled and I did eat. Forsake me not thus, Adam, witness Heaven What love sincere, and reverence in my heart I bear thee, and unwitting have offended, Unhappily deceived; thy suppliant I beg, and clasp thy knees; bereave me not, Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid, Thy counsel in this uttermost distress, My only strength and stay: forlorn of thee, Whither shall I betake me, where subsist? While yet we live, scarce one short hour perhaps, Between us two let there be peace, both joining, As joined in injuries, one enmity Against a Foe by doom express assigned us, That cruel Serpent: On me exercise not Thy hatred for this misery befallen, On me already lost, me then thy self More miserable; both have sinned, but thou Against God only, I against God and thee, And to the place of judgment will return, There with my cries importune Heaven, that all The sentence from thy head removed may light On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe, Me me only just object of his ire. Adam, by sad experiment I know How little weight my words with thee can find, Found so erroneous, thence by just event Found so unfortunate; nevertheless, Restored by thee, vile as I am, to place Of new acceptance, hopeful to regain Thy Love, the sole contentment of my heart Living or dying, from thee I will not hide What thoughts in my unquiet breast are risen, Tending to some relief of our extremes, Or end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable, As in our evils, and of easier choice. If care of our descent perplex us most, Which must be born to certain woe, devoured By Death at last, and miserable it is To be to others cause of misery, Our own begotten, and of our Loins to bring Into this cursed World a woeful Race, That after wretched Life must be at last Food for so foul a Monster, in thy power It lies, yet ere Conception to prevent The Race unblessed, to being yet unbegot. Childless thou art, Childless remain: So Death shall be deceived his glut, and with us two Be forced to satisfy his Ravenous Maw. But if thou judge it hard and difficult, Conversing, looking, loving, to abstain From Loves due Rites, Nuptial embraces sweet, And with desire to languish without hope, Before the present object languishing With like desire, which would be misery And torment less then none of what we dread, Then both our selves and Seed at once to free From what we fear for both, let us make short, Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply With our own hands his Office on our selves; Why stand we longer shivering under fears, That show no end but Death, and have the power, Of many ways to die the shortest choosing, Destruction with destruction to destroy. Ill worthy I such title should belong To me transgressor, who for thee ordained A help, became thy snare; to me reproach Rather belongs, distrust and all dispraise: But infinite in pardon was my Judge, That I who first brought Death on all, am graced The source of life; next favourable thou, Who highly thus to entitle me vouchsafed, Far other name deserving. But the Field To labour calls us now with sweat imposed, Though after sleepless Night; for see the Morn, All unconcerned with our unrest, begins Her rosie progress smiling; let us forth, I never from thy side henceforth to stray, Wherere our days work lies, though now enjoined Laborious, till day droop; while here we dwell, What can be toilsome in these pleasant Walks? Here let us live, though in fallen state, content. O unexpected stroke, worse then of Death! Must I thus leave thee Paradise? thus leave Thee Native Soil, these happy Walks and Shades, Fit haunt of Gods? where I had hope to spend, Quiet though sad, the respite of that day That must be mortal to us both. O flours, That never will in other Climate grow, My early visitation, and my last At Even, which I bred up with tender hand From the first opening bud, and gave ye Names, Who now shall rear ye to the Sun, or rank Your Tribes, and water from th'ambrosial Fount? Thee lastly nuptial Bower, by me adorned With what to sight or smell was sweet; from thee How shall I part, and whither wander down Into a lower World, to this obscure And wilde, how shall we breath in other Air Less pure, accustomed to immortal Fruits? Whence thou return, and whither went, I know; For God is also in sleep, and Dreams advise, Which he hath sent propitious, some great good Presaging, since with sorrow and hearts distress Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on; In me is no delay; with thee to go, Is to stay here; without thee here to stay, Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me Art all things under Heaven, all places thou, Who for my wilful crime art banished hence. This further consolation yet secure I carry hence; though all by me is lost, Such favour I unworthy am vouchsafed, By me the Promised Seed shall all restore.