Fell humble, and embracing them, besought His peace, and thus proceeded in her plaint: "Forsake me not thus, Adam! witness Heaven What love sincere, and reverence in my heart I bear thee, and unweeting have offended, Unhapily 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 than thyself
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 impórtune 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."
She ended weeping, and her lowly plight, Immovable till peace obtained from fault Acknowledged and deplored, in Adam wrought Commiseration; soon his heart relented Towards her, his life so late, and sole delight, Now at his feet submissive in distress, Creature so fair his reconcilement seeking,
His counsel whom she had displeased, his aid; As one disarmed, his anger all he lost,
And thus with peaceful words upraised her soon: "Unwary, and too desirous, as before,
So now of what thou know'st not, who desir'st
The punishment all on thyself; alas!
Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain
His full wrath, whose thou feel'st as yet least part,
And my displeasure bear'st 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,
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 other's burden in our share of woe:
Since this day's death denounced, if aught I see, Will prove no sudden, but a slow-paced evil,
A long day's dying to augment our pain, And to our seed (O hapless seed!) derived."
To whom thus Eve, recovering heart, replied: "Adam, by sad experiment I know
How little weight iny 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 love's 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 than none of what we dread; Then, both ourselves 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 ourselves. 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?"
She ended here, or vehement despair
Broke off the rest; so much of death her thoughts Had entertained, as dyed her cheeks with pale. But Adam with such counsel nothing swayed, To better hopes his more attentive mind
Labouring had raised, and thus to Eve replied: "Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems To argue in thee something more sublime And excellent than 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 overloved. 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 than so To be forestalled; 'much more I fear lest 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 serpent's 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 ourselves, or childless days Resolved as thou proposest; so our foe Shall 'scape his punishment ordained, and we Instead shall double ours upon our heads. No more be mentioned then of violence Against ourselves, and wilful barrenness, That cuts us off from hope, and savours only Rancour 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; we 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 recompensed 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 been worse; My labour will sustain me; and lest cold
Or heat should injure us, his timely care Hath unbesought 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 The 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
Justling, or pushed with winds, rude in their shock,
Tine the slant lightning, whose thwart flame driven down Kindles the gummy bark of fir 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, than, 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?" So spake our father penitent, nor Eve Felt less remorse: they forthwith to the place Repairing where he judged them, prostrate fell Before him reverent, and both confessed Humbly their faults, and pardon begged, with tears Watering the ground, and with their sighs the air Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign Of sorrow unfeigned, and humiliation meek.
The Son of God presents to his Father the prayers of our first parents, now repenting, and intercedes for them: God accepts them, but declares that they must no longer abide in Paradise; sends Michael with a band of cherubim to dispossess them; but first to reveal to Adam future things: Michael's coming down. Adam shows to Eve certain ominous signs; he discerns Michael's approach; goes out to meet him: the angel denounces their departure. Eve's lamentation. Adam pleads, but submits: the angel leads him up to a high hill; sets before him in vision what shall happen till the flood.
THUS they, in lowliest plight, repentant stood Praying; for, from the mercy-seat above, Prevenient grace descending had removed
The stony from their hearts, and made new flesh Regenerate grow instead, that sighs now breathed Unutterable, which the Spirit of prayer
Inspired, and winged for Heaven with speedier flight Than loudest oratory; yet their port
Not of mean suitors, nor important less
Seemed their petition, than when the ancient pair, In fables old, less ancient yet than these, Deucalion and chaste Pyrrha, to restore
The race of mankind drowned, before the shrine Of Themis stood devout. To Heaven their prayers Flew up, nor missed the way, by envious winds Blown vagabond or frustrate: in they passed Dimensionless through heavenly doors; then clad With incense, where the golden altar fumed, By their great Intercessor, came in sight Before the Father's throne: them the glad Son Presenting, thus to intercede began :
"See, Father, what first-fruits on earth are sprung From thy implanted grace in man; these sighs And prayers, which in this golden censer, mixed With incense, I thy priest before thee bring, Fruits of more pleasing savour, from thy seed Sown with contrition in his heart, than those Which his own hand, manuring all the trees Of Paradise, could have produced, ere fallen From innocence. Now therefore bend thine ear To supplication; hear his sighs, though mute; Unskilful with what words to pray, let me
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