This hill; let Eve, for I have drench'd her
Here sleep below; while thou to foresight wakest;
As once thou slept'st, while she to life was form'd.
To whom thus Adam gratefully replied.
Ascend, I follow thee, safe guide, the path
Thou leadst me, & to the hand of Heaven submit,
However chastening, to the evil turn
My obvious breast, arming to overcome
By suffering, and earn rest from labour won,
If so I may attain." So both ascend,
In the visions of God. It was a hill
Of Paradise the highest, from whose top lay.
The hemisphere of earth, in clearest ken
Stretch'd out to the amplest reach of prospect,
Not higher that hill, nor wider looking round,
Whereon, for different cause, the Tempter set
Our second Adam, in the wilderness,
To show him all earth's kingdoms, & their glory.
His eye might there command, wherever stood
City, of old or modern fame, the seat
Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls
Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can,
And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne,
To Paquin of Sinæan kings, and thence
To Agra and Lahor of great Mogul,
Down to the golden Chersonese, or where
The Persian in Ecbaten sat, or since
In Hispahan, or where the Russian Ksar
In Moscow, or the Sultan in Bizance,
Turchestan-born; nor could his eye not ken
The empire of Negus, to his utmost port
Ercoco, and the less maritime kings
Mombaza, and Quiloa, and Melind,
And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm
Of Congo, and Angola farthest south;
Or thence, from Niger flood to Atlas mount,
The kingdoms of Almansor, Fez, and Sus,
Morocco, and Algiers, and Tremisen ;
Or Europe thence, & where Rome was to sway
The world in spirit perhaps he also saw
Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezume,
And Cusco in Peru, the richer seat
Of Atabalipa, and yet unspoil'd
Guaina, whose great city Geryon's sons
Call El Dorado. But to nobler sights,
Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed,
Which that false fruit, that promised clearer sight.
Had bred; then purged with euphrasy and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see;
And from the well of life three drops instill'd.
So deep the power of these ingredients pierced
E'en to the inmost seat of mental sight,
That Adam, now enforced to close his eyes,
Sunk down, & all his spirits became entranced :
But him the gentle Angel by the hand
Soon raised, and his attention thus recall'd.
Adam, now ope thine eyes; and first, behold
The effects, which thy original crime hath wrought
In some, to spring from thee, who never touch'd
The excepted tree, nor with the snake conspir'd,
Nor sinn'd thy sin; yet from that sin derive
Corruption, to bring forth more violent deeds."
His eyes he open'd, and beheld a field,
Part arable and tilth, whereon where sheaves
New reap'd; the other part sheepwalks & folds;
In the midst an altar, as the landmark, stood,
Rustic, of grassy sod: thither anon
A sweaty reaper, from his tillage, brought
First fruits, the green ear, and the yellow sheaf,
Uncull'd, as came to hand; a shepherd next,
More meek, came with the firstlings of his flock,
Choicest and best; then sacrificing, laid
The inwards and their fat, with incense strow'd,
On the cleft wood, and all due rites perform'd.
His offering soon propitious fire from Heaven
Consumed with nimble glance, & grateful steam :
The other's not; for his was not sincere ;
Whereat he inly raged; and, as they talk'd,
Smote him into the midriff with a stone
That beat out life; he fell and, deadly pale,
Groan'd out his soul, with gushing blood effused.
Much, at the sight, was Adam in his heart
Dismay'd, & thus in haste to the Angel cried.
"O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen
To that meek man, who well had sacrificed;
Is piety thus, and pure devotion, paid?"
To whom Michael thus, he also moved, replied. "These two are brethren, Adam, and to come Out of thy loins; the unjust the just hath slain, For envy that his brother's offering found From Heaven acceptance: but the bloody fact Will be avenged, and the other's faith, approved, Lose no reward, though here thou see him die, Rolling in dust and gore." To which our sire.
"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!"
To whom thus Michael. " Death thou hast seen,
In his first shape, on man: but many shapes
Of death, and many are the ways that lead
To his grim cave, all dismal; yet, to sense,
More terrible at the entrance than within.
Some, as thou saw'st, by violent stroke shall die,
By fire, flood, famine, by intemperance more
In meats & drinks, which on the earth shall bring
Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew
Before thee shall appear; that thou mayst know
What misery the inabstinence of Eve
Shall bring on men. Immediately a place
Before his eyes appear'd, sad, noisome, dark,
A lazar-house it seem'd, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseased; all maladies
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-sick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone and ulcer, cholic pangs,
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Merasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence,
Dropsies, & asthmas, & joint-racking rheums.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans; Despair
Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook; but delay'd to strike, though oft invok'd
With vows, as their chief good, and final hope.
Sight so deform, what heart of rock could long
Dry-eyed behold? Adam could not; but wept,
Though not of woman born: compassion quell'd
His best of man, and gave him up to tears
A space, till firmer thoughts restrain'd excess;
And, scarce recovering words, his plaint renew'd.
"O miserable mankind, to what fall
Degraded, to what wretched state reserved!
Better end here, 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 offer'd, or soon beg to lay it down;
Glad to be so dismiss'd in peace. Can thus
The image of God, in man created once
So goodly and erect, though faulty since,
To such unsightly sufferings be debased
Under inhuman pains? why should not man,
Retaining still divine similitude
In part, from such deformities be free,
And for his Maker's image-sake exempt?"
"Their Maker's image," answer'd Michael, “then
Forsook them, when themselves they vilified,
To serve ungovern'd appetite, and took
His image whom they serv'd, a brutish vice,
Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve.
Therefore so abject is their punishment,
Disfiguring not God's likeness, but their own;
Or if his likeness, by themselves defaced,
While they pervert pure nature's healthful rules
To loathsome sickness; worthily, since they
God's image did not reverence in themselves."
"I yield it just," said Adam, "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?"
"There is," said Michael, "if thou well observe
The rule of not too much, by temperance taught
In what thou eatest and drinkest, seeking from thence
Due nourishment, no gluttonous delight
Till many years over thy head return:
So mayest thou live, till, like ripe fruit, thou drop 535
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease
Gather'd, not harshly pluck'd, for death mature:
This is old age; but then thou must outlive
Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change
To wither'd, weak, and gray; thy senses, then
Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forego,
To what thou hast; and for the air of youth,
Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will reign
A melancholy damp of cold and dry,
To weigh thy spirits down; and last, consume
The balm of life." To whom our ancestor.
"Henceforth I fly not death, nor would prolong
Life much; bent rather how I may be quit,
Fairest and easiest, of this cumbrous charge;
Which I must keep, till my appointed day
Of rendering up, and patiently attend
My dissolution." Michael replied.
"Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou livest, Live well; how long, or short, permit to Heaven:
And now prepare thee for another sight."
He look'd, and saw a spacious plain, whereon
Were tents of various hue; by some were herds
Of cattle grazing; others whence the sound
Of instruments, that made melodious chime,
Was heard, of harp and organ, and who moved
Their stops & chords, were seen; his volant touch,
Instinct, through all proportions low and high,
Fled and pursued transverse the resonant fugue.
In other part stood one, who, at the forge
Labouring, two massy clods of iron and brass
Had melted; whether found, where casual fire
Had wasted woods on mountain or in vale,
Down to the veins of earth, thence gliding hot
To some cave's mouth; or whether wash'd by stream
From under ground, the liquid ore he drain'd
Into fit moulds prepared: from which he form'd,
First, his own tools; then, what might else be wrought Fusil, or graven in metal. After these
But on the hither side, a different sort
From the high neighbouring hills, which was their seat, 575
Down to the plain descended by their guise
Just men they seem'd, and all their study bent
To worship God aright, and know his works
Not hid, nor those things last which might preserve
Freedom and peace to men; they on the plain
Long had not walk'd, when from the tents, behold
A bevy of fair women richly gay
In gems & wanton dress; to the harp they sung
Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on;
The men, though grave, eyed them, and let their eyes
Rove without rein, till in the amorous net
Fast caught, they liked, and each his liking chose :
And now of love they treat, till the evening star,
Love's harbinger, appear'd; then, all in heat,
They light the nuptial torch, and bid invoke
Hymen, then first to marriage rites invoked:
With feast and music all the tents resound.
Such happy interview, and fair event,
Of love & youth not lost, songs, garlands, flowers,
And charming symphonies, attach'd the heart
Of Adam, soon inclined to admit delight,
The bent of nature; which he thus expressed.
"True opener of mine eyes, prime Angel bless'd,
Much better seems this vision, and more hope
Of peaceful days portends, than those two past;
Those were of hate, & death, or pain, much worse,
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