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Those two; the third best absent is condemn'd, Convict by flight, and rebel to all law ; Conviction to the serpent none belongs.

Thus saying, from his radiant seat he rose Of high collateral glory: him thrones and powers, Princedoms and dominations ministrant Actompany'd to heaven-gate, from whence Eden and all the coast in prospect lay. Down he descended straight; the speed of gods 90 Time counts not, tho' with swiftest minutes wing’d. Now was the sun in western cadence low From

noon, and gentle airs due at their hour To fan the earth now wak’d, and usher in The ev’ning cool, when he from wrath more cool 95 Came, the mild judge and intercessor both, To sentence man: the voice of God they heard Now walking in the garden, by soft winds Brought to their ears, while day declin'd, they heard, And from his presence hid themselves among 100 The thickest trees, both man and wife, till GOD Approaching thus to Adam call'd aloud.

Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet

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My coming seen far off? I miss thee here,
Not pleas'd, thus entertain'd with solitude,
Where obvious duty erewhile appear'd unsought :
Or come I less conspicuous, or what change
Absents thee, or what chance detains? Come forth.
He came, and with him Eve, more loath, though

first
To offend, discountenanc'd both, and discompos’d.
Love was not in their looks, either to God
Or to each other, but apparent guilt,
And shame, and perturbation, and despair,
Anger, and obstinacy, and hate, and guile.
Whence Adam, falt'ring long, thus answer'd brief.

I heard thee in the garden, and of thy voice 116 Afraid, being naked, hid myself. To whom The gracious Judge without revile reply'd.

My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not feard, But still rejoic'd; how is it now become So dreadful to thee ? that thou art naked, who Hath told thee? hast thou eaten of the tree Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat?

To whom thus Adam sore beset reply'd. O heaven ! in evil strait this day I stand Before my Judge, either to undergo

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125

Terrarumque tenent sedes ? Commercia nostra
Congressusque fugis? Silvis quid te abdis opacis ?'
116 I heard] So in Grotii Adamus Exsul, p. 67.

• Audivi truces,
Metuende rector! per nemus sacrum sonos.'

-membra concussit pavor,
Tremuique totus.

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138

Myself the total crime, or to accuse
My other self, the partner of my life ;
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains,
I should conceal, and not expose to blame
By my complaint ; but strict necessity
Subdues me, and calamitous constraint,
Lest on my head both sin and punishment,
However insupportable, be all
Devolv'd: though should I hold my peace, yet thou
Wouldst easily detect what I conceal.
This woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help,
And gav'st me as thy perfect gift, so good,
So fit, so acceptable, so divine,
That from her hand I could suspect no ill,
And what she did, whatever in itself,
Her doing seem'd to justify the deed;
She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

To whom the sov’reign Presence thus reply'd.
Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey
Before his voice? or was she made thy guide,
Superior, or but equal, that to her
Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place
Wherein GOD set thee above her, made of thee,
And for thee, whose perfection far excelld

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150

6

187 This woman) · Consortem dederas thalami

per te dotale venenum
Hoc ego concepi. Nam quæ mihi lege jugali
Juncta fuit, nostro per te dignata cubili,
Blanditiis teneris nostris amplexibus hærens,
Ferales epulas, inimicaque fercula suasit.'

A. Rams. P. 8., p. 37.

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160

Hers in all real dignity ? adorn'd
She was indeed, and lovely to attract
Thy love, not thy subjection; and her gifts
Were such as under government well seem’d,
Unseemly to bear rule, which was thy part
And person, hadst thou known thyself aright.

So having said, he thus to Eve in few :
Say, woman, what is this which thou hast done ?

To whom sad Eve with shame nigh overwhelm’d, Confessing soon, yet not before her Judge Bold or loquacious, thus abash'd reply'd. The serpent me beguild, and I did eat.

Which when the Lord God heard, without delay To judgment he proceeded on th' accus'd Serpent though brute, unable to transfer The guilt on him who made him instrument Of mischief, and polluted from the end Of his creation; justly then accurs'd, As vitiated in nature : more to know Concern'd not man, since he no further knew, 170 Nor alter'd his offence: yet God at last To Satan first in sin his doom apply'd,

165

165 thy part) A pure Latinism, the personæ dramatis. So Cic. pro Mur. c. 2. • Has partes lenitatis et misericordiæ, quas me Natura ipsa docuit, semper ago libenter: illam vero gravitatis, severitatis personam non appetivi.' Richardson. 157 in few] So K. Hen. IV. P. ii. act i. s. 1.

• In few; his death, whose spirit lent a fire.' and Warner's Alb. Engl. 1608, p. 40.

• In few; the wars are full of woes.' Todd.

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185

Though in mysterious terms, judg'd as then best : And on the serpent thus his curse let fall.

Because thou hast done this, thou art accurs'd Above all cattle, each beast of the field ; Upon thy belly groveling thou shalt go, And dust shalt eat all the days of thy life. Between thee and the woman I will put Enmity, and between thine and her seed; Her seed shall bruise thy head, thou bruise his heel.

So spake this oracle, then verify'd
When Jesus, son of Mary, second Eve,
Saw Satan fall like lightning down from heaven,
Prince of the air; then rising from his grave
Spoil'd principalities and powers, triumph'd
In opend show, and with ascension bright
Captivity led captive through the air,
The realm itself of Satan long usurp'd,
Whom he shall tread at last under our feet;
Ev'n he who now foretold his fatal bruise ;
And to the woman thus his sentence turn'd.

Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply
By thy conception; children thou shalt bring
In sorrow forth, and to thy husband's will
Thine shall submit; he over thee shall rule.

On Adam last thus judgment he pronounc'd. Because thou hast hearken'd to the voice of thy

wife, And eaten of the tree concerning which I charg'd thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat thereof, Curs’d is the ground for thy sake, thou in sorrow

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