From Eden over Pontus and the pool Mæotis, up beyond the river Ob; Downward as far antarctic; and in len West from Orontes to the ocean barred At Darien, thence to the land where flo Ganges and Indus. Thus the orb he r With narrow search, and with inspectio Considered every creature, which of all Most opportune might serve his wiles, a The serpent subtlest beast of all the fiel Him after long debate, irresolute

Of thoughts revolved, his final sentence Fit vessel, fittest imp of fraud, in whom To enter, and his dark suggestions hide From sharpest sight; for in the wily sna Whatever sleights none would suspicious As from his wit and native subtlety Proceeding, which in other beasts observ Doubt might beget of diabolic power Active within beyond the sense of brute. Thus he resolved, but first from inward g His bursting passion into plaints thus pou

"O Earth, how like to Heaven, if not More justly, seat worthier of gods, as built

77. Pontus, Pontus Euxinus, the Black Sea.

77, 78. the pool Maotis, Palus Mæotis, the Sea of Azov.

78. Ob, the Obi, a river of Siberia.

79. Downward as far antarctic, as far to the south as first to the north.

80. Orontes, a river of Syria, flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. See IV. 273.

81. Darien. The isthmus of . Darien unites the two parts of the continent of America, and seems to form a barrier to the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

82. Ganges and Indus, the

principal rivers of India, which he western course. earth; in Latin, rum," the circle of 83. narrow, close 87. debate, delil resolute of, hesitati 89 fittest imp of of the creatures t practise fraud.

pent was more su beast of the field w God had made."

92. Whatever sle whatever they migh 99. preferred, to

With second thoughts, reforming what was old!
For what god, after better, worse would build ?
Terrestrial heaven, danced round by other heavens
That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps,
Light above light, for thee alone, as seems,
In thee concentring all their precious beams
Of sacred influence! as God in Heaven
Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou

105

Centring receiv'st from all those orbs; in thee,
Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears 110
Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth

Of creatures animate with gradual life

115

Of growth, sense, reason, all summed up in Man.
With what delight could I have walked thee round,
If I could joy in aught, sweet interchange
Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains,
Now land, now sea, and shores with forest crowned,
Rocks, dens, and caves! but I in none of these
Find place or refuge; and the more I see
Pleasures about me, so much more I feel
Torment within me, as from the hateful siege
Of contraries; all good to me becomes

120

Bane, and in Heaven much worse would be my state. But neither here seek I no, nor in Heaven

To dwell, unless by mastering Heaven's Supreme;

Nor hope to be myself less miserable

By what I seek, but others to make such
As I, though thereby worse to me redound:
For only in destroying I find ease

To my relentless thoughts; and him destroyed
Or won to what may work his utter loss
For whom all this was made, all this will soon
Follow, as to him linked in weal or woe;
In woe then; that destruction wide may range.

104. officious. See VIII. 99.
110. virtue, power. See line

145.

126

130

128. worse, what is worse. 130. him, the case absolute. See VII. 142.

To me shall be the glory sole among
The infernal powers, in one day to hav
What he, Almighty styled, six nights a
Continued making, and who knows how
Before had been contriving? though pe
Not longer than since I in one night fre
From servitude inglorious well nigh hali
The angelic name, and thinner left the t
Of his adorers. He, to be avenged

And to repair his numbers thus impaired
Whether such virtue spent of old now fa
More angels to create (if they at least
Are his created) or to spite us more,
Determined to advance into our room
A creature formed of earth, and him end
Exalted from so base original,
With heavenly spoils, our spoils. What
He effected; man he made, and for him
Magnificent this world, and earth his seat
Him lord pronounced, and, O indignity!
Subjected to his service angel wings
And flaming ministers, to watch and tend
Their earthly charge. Of these the vigila
I dread, and to elude, thus wrapped in mis
Of midnight vapor glide obscure, and pry
In every bush and brake, where hap may f
The serpent sleeping, in whose mazy folds
To hide me and the dark intent I bring.
O foul descent! that I, who erst contended
With gods to sit the highest, am now const
Into a beast, and mixed with bestial slime,
This essence to incarnate and imbrute,

156. flaming ministers. "Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire." Psalm civ. 4.

157. charge. "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." Ps. xci. 11.

160. hap, chance. 163. erst, once; fo 166. This spiritua clothe or hide in fles the flesh of a brute.

That to the height of deity aspired;

But what will not ambition and revenge

Descend to? who aspires must down as low
As high he soared, obnoxious first or last

To basest things. Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils :

Let it; I reck not, so it light well aimed
(Since higher I fall short) on him who next
Provokes my envy, this new favorite

Of Heaven, this man of clay, son of despite,
Whom, us the more to spite, his Maker raised
From dust. Spite then with spite is best repaid."

So saying, through each thicket dank or dry
Like a black mist low creeping, he held on
His midnight search, where soonest he might find
The serpent him fast sleeping soon he found
In labyrinth of many a round self-rolled,

His head the midst, well stored with subtle wiles;
Not yet in horrid shade or dismal den,
Nor nocent yet, but on the grassy herb
Fearless unfeared he slept in at his mouth
The Devil entered, and his brutal sense
In heart or head possessing soon inspired
With act intelligential; but his sleep

Disturbed not, waiting close the approach of morn.

170

175

180

185

190

Now, when as sacred light began to dawn In Eden on the humid flowers that breathed Their morning incense, when all things that breathe From the earth's great altar send up silent praise 195 To the Creator and his nostrils fill

must

169. who, he who. down, must degrade himself or descend.

170. obnoxious, exposed; subject.

174. Since higher, since if I higher aim.

186. nocent, hurtful; the contrary of innocent.

192. when as, when.

193. breathed, breathed out; exhaled.

196. and his nostrils fill. "And the Lord smelled a sweet savor." Gen. viii. 21.

With grateful smell, forth came the hu And joined their vocal worship to the Of creatures wanting voice; that done The season, prime for sweetest scents a Then commune how that day they bes Their growing work, for much their w The hands' despatch of two gardening And Eve first to her husband thus bega

"Adam, well may we labor still to d This garden, still to tend plant, herb, a Our pleasant task enjoined; but till m Aid us, the work under our labor grows Luxurious by restraint; what we by da Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bi One night or two with wanton growth Tending to wild. Thou therefore now Or hear what to my mind first thoughts Let us divide our labors, thou where cho Leads thee, or where most needs, wheth The woodbine round this arbor, or direct The clasping ivy where to climb; while In yonder spring of roses intermixed With myrtle, find what to redress till no For while so near each other thus all day Our task we choose, what wonder if so n Looks intervene and smiles, or object new Casual discourse draw on, which intermit Our day's work brought to little, though Early, and the hour of supper comes unea

To whom mild answer Adam thus retu

197. grateful. See VIII. 55. 198. their vocal worship. See the Morning Hymn, V. 152-208. 199. wanting, without. -partake, partake of; enjoy.

200. prime, first and best.
209. Luxurious by restraint,

made luxuriant by our effort to check

215. most needs. 218. spring, clu

thicket.

219. redress, set 223. intermits, in 224. brought. thu