Not in his shape celestial, but as man Clad to meet man; over his lucid arms A military vest of purple flow'd, Livelier than Meliboan, or the grain Of Sarra, worn by kings and heroes old In time of truce; Iris had dipp'd the woof; His starry helm unbuckled show'd him prime In manhood where youth ended; by his side, As in a glistering zodiac, hung the sword, Satan's dire dread; and in his hand the spear. Adam bow'd low; he, kingly, from his state Inclined not, but his coming thus declared:
Adam! Heaven's high behest no preface needs: Sufficient that thy prayers are heard; and Death, Then due by sentence when thou didst transgress, Defeated of his seizure many days
Given thee of grace; wherein thou mayst repent, 255 And one bad act with many deeds well done Mayst cover: well may then thy Lord, appeased, Redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious claim; But longer in this Paradise to dwell
Permits not: to remove thee I am come, And send thee from the garden forth to till The ground whence thou wast taken, fitter soil. He added not; for Adam at the news Heart-struck with chilling gripe of sorrow stood, That all his senses bound; Eve, who unseen Yet all had heard, with audible lament Discover'd soon the place of her retire.
O unexpected stroke, worse than of Death! Must I thus leave thee, Paradise? thus leave
Thee, native soil! these happy walks and shades, 270 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 flowers,
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 the ambrosial fount? Thee lastly, nuptial bower! by me adorn'd 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 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 husband; him to follow thou art bound; Where he abides, think there thy 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 breathes 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 footstep 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 preeminence 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 mayst believe, and be confirm'd 355 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 slept'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 overcome
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. 380 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 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 Cathaian Can,
And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne, To Paquin of Sinæan kings; and thence To Agra and Lahore of great Mogul, Down to the golden Chersonese; or where The Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since In Hispahan; or where the Russian Ksar In Mosco; 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 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 405 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 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, Even to the inmost seat of mental sight,
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