And wild? how shall we breathe in other air
Less pure, accustom'd to immortal fruits ?"
Whom thus the Angel interrupted mild :
"Lament not, Eve, but patiently resign
What justly thou hast lost, nor set thy heart,
Thus overfond, on that which is not thine :
Thy going is not lonely; with thee goes
Thy hushand; him to follow thou art bound ;
Where he abides, think there the native soil."
Adam, by this from the cold sudden damp
Recovering, and his scatter'd spirits return'd,
To Michael thus his humble words address'd:
"Celestial, whether among the Thrones, or named Of them the highest; for such of shape may seem Prince above princes: gently hast 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 than 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 appear'd; under this tree
Stood visible; among these pines his voice
I heard; here with him at this fountain talk'd :
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 gums, and fruits, and flowers:
In yonder nether world where shall I seek
His bright appearances, or footsteps trace?
For though I fled him angry, yet recall'd
To life prolong'd and promised race, I now
Gladly behold though but his utmost skirts
Of glory; and far off his steps adore."
"To whom thus Michael with regard benign:
Adam, thou know'st Heaven his, and all the Earth,
Not this rock only; his Omnipresence fills
Land, sea and air, and every kind that lives,
Fomented by his virtual power and warm'd:
All the Earth he gave thee to possess and rule,
No despicable gift; surmise not then
His presence to these narrow bounds confined
Of Paradise, or Eden; this had been
Perhaps thy capital seat, from whence had spread
All generations; and had hither come
From all the ends of the Earth, to celebrate
And reverence thee, their great progenitor.
But this pre-eminence thou hast lost, brought down
To dwell on even ground now with thy sons:
Yet doubt not but in valley and on plain
God is, as here; and will be found alike
Present; and of his presence many a sign
Still following thee, still compassing thee round
With goodness and paternal love, his face
Express, and of his steps the track divine.
Which that thou mayest believe, and be confirm'd
Ere thou from hence depart; know, I am sent
To show thee what shall come in future days
To thee and to thy offspring; good with bad
Expect to hear; supernal grace contending
With sinfulness of men; thereby to learn
True patience, and to temper joy with fear
And pious sorrow; equally inured
By moderation either state to bear,
Prosperous or adverse: so shalt thou lead
Safest thy life, and best prepared endure
Thy mortal passage when it comes,—Ascend
This hill; let Eve (for I have drench'd her eyes)
Here sleep below; while thou to foresight wakest
As once thou sleep'st, while she to life was form❜d.".
To whom thus Adam gratefully replied;
"Ascend; I follow thee, safe Guide the path
Thou lead'st me; and to the hand of Heaven submit,
However chastening; to the evil turn
My obvious breast, arming to over come
By suffering, and earn rest from labor 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
The hemisphere of Earth, in clearest ken,
Stretch'd out to the amplest reach of prospect lay.
Not higher that hili, nor wider looking round,
Whereon, for different cause, the tempter set
Our second Adam, in the wilderness;
To show him all Earth's Kingdoms and their glory.
His eye might there command wherever stood
City of old or modern fame, the seat
Of mightiest empire, from the destined wall
Of Cambalu, seat of Cathnian Chan,
And Samarchand by Oxis, Temir's throne,
To Pekin of Sinaan kings; and thence
To Agra and Lahor of great Mogul,
Down to the Golden Chersonese; or where
The Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since
In Hispahan; or where the Russian Czar
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 S ofala, thought Ophir, to the realm
Of Congo, and Angola furthest south;
Or thence from Niger-flood to Atlas mount
The kingdoms of Almansor, Fez and Sus,
Morocco, and Algiers, and Tremisen:
On Europe thence, and 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
Guiana, whose great city Geryon's sons
Call El Dora to. But to nobler sights
Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed,
Which that false fruit that promised clearer sight
Iad bred; then purged with euphrasy and ruc
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,
Even to the inmost seat of mental sight,
That Adam, now enforced to close his eyes,
Sunk down, and 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 neve touched
The excepted tree: nor with the snake conspired
Nor sinned thy sin; yet from that sin derive
Corruption, to bring forth more violent deeds.
His eyes he opened, and beheld a field,
Part arable and tilth, whereon were sheaves
New reap'd; the other part sheep-walks and folds
In the midst an altar as the land-mark stood,
Rustic, of grassy sward; 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 strew'd,
On the cleft wood, and all due rights performed.
His offering soon propitious fine from Heaven
Consumed with nimble glance and grateful stream:
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 that sight was Adam in his heart
Dismay'd, and 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
To his grim cave, all dismal:
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