WHILST thou inclin'st thy voice-inveigled ear,
The subtil serpent's syren-songs to hear,
Thy heart drinks deadly poison drawn from hell,
And with a vip'rous brood of sin doth swell.

Profit and pleasure, comfort, and content,
Wisdom, and honor; and, when these are spent,
A fresh supply of more! Oh heav'nly words!
Are these the dainty fruits that this fair tree affords ?

Yes, these and many more, if more may be,
All that this world contains, in this one tree
Contracted is. Take but a taste, and try;
Thou may'st believe thyself, experience cannot lie.

But thou may'st lye: and, with a false pretence
Of friendship, rob me of that excellence
Which my Creator's bounty hath bestow'd,
And freely given me, to whom he nothing ow'd.

Strange composition! so credulous,
And at the same time so suspicious!

'This

Cor de bibis stigium morbi mortisque venenum,
Hic te dum blandis decipit illecebris.

The INFECTION of the HEART.

While Satan thus deceives with flattring Breath, Thy Heart drinks Poison in Disease, and Death.

This is the tree of knowledge; and until

Thou eat thereof, how canst thou know what's good or ill?

The Soul.

5.

God infinitely good my Maker is,

Who neither will nor can do aught amiss.

The being I receiv'd, was that he sent,

And therefore I am sure must needs be excellent.

The Serpent.

6.

Suppose it be yet doubtless he that gave
Thee such a being must himself needs have

A better far, more excellent by much :

Or else be sure that he could not have made thee such.

The Soul.

7.

Such as he made me, I am well content
Still to continue: for, if he had meant
I should enjoy a better state, he could
As easily have giv'n it, if he would.

The Serpent.

8.

And is it not all one, if he have giv'n

The means to get it? Must he still be driv'n

To new works of creation for thy sake?

Wilt thou not what he sets before thee deign to take?

The Soul.

9.

Yes, of the fruits of all the other trees
I freely take and eat: they are the fees
Allow'd me for the dressing, by the Maker:
But of this fatal fruit I must not be partaker.

The

And why? What danger can it be to eat

That which is good, being ordain'd for meat?

What wilt thou say? God made it not for food?

Or dar'st thou think that, made by him, it is not good?

Yes, good it is, no doubt, and good for meat:
But I am not allow'd thereof to eat.

My Maker's prohibition, under pain

Of death, the day I eat thereof, makes me refrain.

Faint-hearted fondling! canst thou fear to die,
Being a spirit and immortal? Fie.

God knows this fruit once eaten will refine

Thy grosser parts alone, and make thee all divine.

There's something in it, sure: were it not good,
It had not in the midst of th' garden stood:
And being good, I can no more refrain

From wishing, than I can the fire to burn, restrain.

14.

Why do I trifle then? What I desire

Why do I not? Nothing can quench the fire
Of longing, but fruition. Come what will,

Eat it I must, that I may know what's good and ill.

So, thou art taken now: that resolution

Gives an eternal date to thy confusion.

The knowledge thou hast got of good, and ill,
Is of good gone, and past; of evil, present still.

The