Of highest agents, deemed however wise. Queen of this universe, do not believe Those rigid threats of death: ye shall not die: How should ye? By the fruit? It gives you life To knowledge; by the threat'ner? Look on me, Me who have touch'd and tasted yet both live, And life more perect have attain'd than fate Meant me, by vent'ring higher than my lot Shall that be shut to Man, which to the Beast Is open? Or will God incense his ire For such a petty trespass, and not praise Rather your daunt ess virtue, whom the pain Of death denounc'd, whatever thing death be, Deterr'd not from achieving what might lead To happier life, knowledge of good and evil; Of good, how just? Of evil, if what is evil Be real, why not known, since easier shunn'd? God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just; Not just, not God; not fear'd then, nor obey'd. Your fear itself of death removes the fear. Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe, Why but to keep ye low and ignorant, His worshippers; he knows that in the day Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear, Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then Open'd and clear'd, and ye shall be as Gods, Knowing both good and evil as they know. That ye shall be as Gods, since I as Man, Internal Mau, is but proportion meet; I of brute human, ye of human Gods. So ye shall die perhaps, by putting off Human, to put on Gods; death to be wish'd, Though threaten'd, which no worse than this can bring.
And what are Gods that Man may not become As they, participating God-like food: The Gods are first, and that advantage use On our belief, that all from them proceeds; 1 question it, for this fair earth I see, Warm'd by the sun, producing every kind, Them nothing: if they all things, who inclos'd Knowledge of good and evil in this tree, That whoso cats thereof, forthwith attains Wisdom without their leave? And wherein lies [know? Th' offence, that Man should thus attain to What can your knowledge hurt him, or this
Impart against his will if all he bis?
Or is it envy, and cau envy dwell
In heav'nly breasts: These, these and many
Causes import your need of this fair fruit. Goddess bumane, reach then, and freely taste.
He ended, and his words replete with guile Into her heart too easy entrance won: Fix'd on the fruit she gaz'd, which to behold Might tempt alone, and in her cars the sound Yet rung of his persuasive words, impregn'd
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth; Mean while the hour of noon drew on, and wak'd
An eager appetite, rais'd by the smell So savory of that fruit, which with desire, Inclinable now grown to touch or taste, Solicited her longing eye; yet first Pausing a while, thus to herself she mus'd. Great are thy virtues, doubtless, best of fruits, [mir'd, Though kept from man, and worthy to be ad- Whose taste, too long forhorn, at first essay Gave elocution to the mute, and taught The tongue not made for speech to speak thy praise:
Thy praise he also who forbids thy use, Conceals not from us, naming thee the tree Of knowledge, knowledge both of good and evil;
Forb ds us then to taste, but his forbidding Commends thee more, while it infers the good By thee communicated, and our want; For good unknown, sure is not had, or had And yet unknown, is as not had at all. In plain then, what forbids be but to know, Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise? Such prohibitions bind not. But if death Bind us with after-bands, what profits Our inward freedom? In the day we eat Of this fair fruit, our doom is, we shall die. How dies the Serpent? he hath eaten and lives, And knows, and speaks, aud reasons, and dis-
Irrational then. For us alone
Was death invented? Or to us deny'd This intellectual food, for beasts reserv'd? For beasts it seems: yet that one beast which first
Hath tasted, envies not, but brings with joy The good befall'n him, author unsuspect, Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. What fear I then, rather what know to fear Under this ignorance of good and evil, Of God or death, of law or penalty? Here grows the cure of all, this fruit divine. Fair to the eye, inviting to the taste, Of virtue to make wise: What hinders then. To reach, and feed at once both body and mind?
So saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she
Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat Sighing through all her works, gave signs of
That all was lost. Back to the thicket slunk The guilty serpent, and well might, for Eve Intent now wholly on her taste, nought else Regarded, such delight till then, as seem'd,
In fruit she never tasted, whether true Or fancy'd so, through expectation high Of knowledge, nor was God-head from her thought.
Greedily she ingorg'd without restraint,
And knew not eating death: satiate at length, And heighten'd as with wine, jocund and boon, Thus to herself she pleasingly began:
O sovran, virtuous, precious of all trees In Paradise, of operation bless'd
To sapience, hitherto obscur'd, infam'd, And thy fei, fruit let hang, as to no end Created; but henceforth my early care,
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, Misgave him; be the filtring measure felt; And forth to meet her went, the way she took That moru when first they parted, by the tree Of knowledge he must pass, there he her met, Scarce from the tree returning; in her hand A bough of fairest fruit, that downy smit'd New gather'd, and ambrosial smell diffus'd. To him she hasted; in her face excuse Came prologue, and apology too prompt, Which with bland words at will she thus ad- dress'd:
Hast thou not wonder'd, Adam, at my stay?
Not without song, each morning and due Thee have 1 miss'd, and thought it long, de
Shall tend thee, and the fertil burden ease Of thy full branches offer'd free to all; Till dieted by thee I grow mature In knowledge, as the gods who all things know; Though others enry what they cannot give; For had the gift been theirs, it had not here Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe, Best guide; not following thee I had remain'd In Ignorance; thou open'st wisdom's way, And giv'st access, though secret she retice, And I perhaps am secret; Heav'n is high, High, and remote to see from thence distinct Each thing on Earth; and other care perhaps May have diverted from continual watch Our great Forbidder, safe with all his spies About him. But to Adam in what sort Shall I appear? shall I to him make known As yet my change, and give him to partake Full happiness with me, or rather not, But keep the odds of knowledge in my power Without copartner; so to add what wants In female sex, the more to draw his love, And render me more equal, and perhaps, A thing not undesirable, sometime Superior; for inferior who is free?
This may be well: but what if God have scen, And death ensue? then I shall be no more, And Adam wedded to another Eve, Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct; A death to think. Confirm'd then I resolve, Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe: So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life.
So saying, from the tree her step she turu'd But first low reverence done, as to the power That dwelt within, whose presence had infus'd Into the plant sciential deriv'd From nectar, drink of gods. Adam the while Waiting desirous her return, had wove Of choicest flowers a garland to adorn Her tresses, and her rural labors crown, As reapers oft are wont their harvest queen. -Great joy he promis'd to his thoughts, and new Solace in her return, so long delay'd;
Thy presence, agony of love till now
Not elt, nor shall be twice, for never more Mean I to try, what rash untry'd I sought, The pain of absence from thy sight. But strange
Hath been the cause, and wonderful to hear: This tree is not as we are told, a tree Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown Opening the way, but of divine effect
To open eyes, and make them gods who taste; And hath been tasted such; the serpent wise, Or not restrain'd as we, or not obeying, Hath eaten of the fruit, and is become, Not dead, as we are threaten'd, but thenceforth Indued with human voice and human sense Reasoning to admiration, and with me Persuasively hath so prevail'd, that I Have also tasted, and have also found Th' effects to correspond, opener mine eyes, Dim erst, dilated spirits, ampler heart, And growing up to Godhead; which for thee Chiefly I sought, without thee can despise. For bliss, if thou hast part, to me is bliss, Tedious, unshar'd with thee, and odious soon. Thon therefore also taste, that equal lot May join us, equal joy, as equal love; Lest thou not tasting, different degree Disjoin us, and I then too late renounce Deity for thee, when Fate will not permit.
Thus Eve with count'nance blithe her story
But in her cheek distemper flushing glow'd. On the other side, Adam, soon as he beard The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz'd, Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill Ran through his viens, and all his joints re. lax'd; [Eve
From bis slick hand the garland wreath'd for Down dropt, and all the fa 'ed roses shed: Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length First to himself he inward silence broke:
O fairest of Creation, last and best Of all God's works creature in whom excell'd Whatever can to sight or thought be form'd,
Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet! How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost, Defac'd, deflower'd, and now to death devote? Rather how hast thou yielded to trangress The strict forbiddance, how to violate The sacred fruit forbidden? some cursed fraud Of enemy hath beguil'd thee, yet unknown, And me with thee hath ruin'd, for with thee Certain my resolution is to die;
How can I live without thee, how forego Thy sweet converse, and love so dearly join'd, To live again in these wild woods forlor Should God create another Eve, and I Another rio afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart; no no, I feel The link of Nature draw me: flesh of flesh, Bone of my bone thou art, and from thy state Mine never shall be parted, hliss or woe.
So having said, as one from sad dismay Recomforted, and after thoughts disturb'd Submitting to what seem'd remediless, Thus in calm mood his words to Eve he turn'd : Bold deed thou hast presum'd, adventrous Eve,
And peril great provok`d, who thus hast dar'd, Bad it been only coveting to eye That sacred fruit, sacred to abstinence, Much more to taste it under ban to touch But past who can recal, or done ando? Nor God omnipotent, nor Fate; yet so Perhaps thou shalt not die, perhaps the fact Is not so heinous now, foretasted fruit, Profan'd first by the serpent, by him first Made common and unhallow'd ere our taste; Nor yet on him found deadly, be yet lives, Lives as thou saidst, and gains to live as inan Higher degree of life, inducement strong To us, as likely tasting to attain Proportional ascent, which cannot be But to be gods, or angel demi-gods. Nor can I think that God, Creator wise, Though threat'ning, wili in earnest so destroy Us his prime creatures, dignify'd so high, Set over all his works, which in our fall, For us created, needs with us must fail, Dependent made; so God shall uncreate, Be frustrate, do, undo, and labor lose,
So forcible within my heart I feel The bond of Nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine; Our state cannot be sever'd, we are one, One flesh; to lose thee were to lose myself. So Adam, and thus Eve to him reply'd; O glorious trial of exceeding love, Illustrious evidence, example high! Engaging me to emulate, but short Of thy perfection, how shall I attain, Adam? from whose dear side 1 boast me sprung,
And gladly of our union hear thee speak, Que heart, one soul in both; whereof good proof
This day affords, declaring thee resolv'd, Rather than death, or ought than death more
Shall separate us, link'd in love so dear, To undergo with me one guilt, one crime, If any be, of tasting this fair fruit, Whose virtue (for of good still good proceeds, Direct, or by occasion) hath presented This happy trial of thy love, which else So eminently never had been known. Were it I thought death menac'd would ensue This my attempt, I would sustain alone The worst, and not persuade thee, rather die Deserted, than oblige thee with a fact Pernicious to thy peace, chiefly assur'd Remarkably so late of thy so true, So faithful love unequal'd; but I feel Far otherwise th' event, not death, but life Augmented, open'd eyes, new hopes, new joys, Taste so divine, that what of sweet before Hath touch'd my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh.
On my experience, Adam, freely taste, And fear of Death deliver to the winds.
So saying, she embrac'd him, and for joy Tenderly wept, much won that he his love Had so ennobled, as of choice to incur Divine displeasure for her sake, or death. In recompense (for such compliance bad Such recompense best merits) from the bough She gave him of that fair enticing fruit With liberal hand: he scrupled not to eat
Not well conceiv'd of God, who though his Against his better knowledge, not deceiv'd,
Creation could repeat, yet would be loath U's to abolish, lest the Adversary Triumph and say; fickle their state whom God Most favours; who can please hin long? Me first
He ruin'd, now mankind; whom will he next? Matter of scoru, not to be given the foe. However I with thee have fix'd my lot, Certain to undergo like doom; if death Consort with thee, death is to me as life;
But fondly overcome with female charm. Earth trembled from her entrails, as again In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan, Sky low'r'd, and muttering thunder, some sad drops
Wept at completing of the mortal sin Original; while Adam took no thought, Eating his fill, nor Eve to iterate
Her former trespass fear'd, the more to sooth Him with her lov'd society, that now As with new wine intoxicated both
They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel Divinity within them breeding wings Wherewith to scorn the earth: but that false Of Philistean Dalilah, and wak'd
Uncover'd more. So rose the Danite strong Herculean Samson from the harlot's lap
Far other operation first display'd, Carnal desire inflaming; he on Eve Began to cast lascivious eyes, she him As wantonly repaid; in lust they burn: Till Adam thus 'gan Eve to dalliance move. Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste, And elegant of sapience no small part, Since to each meaning savour we apply, And palate call judicious; I the praise Yield thee, so well this day thou hast vey'd. [stained Much pleasure we have lost, while we ab- From this delightful fruit, nor known till now True relish, tasting; if such pleasure be In things to us forbidd'n, it might be wish'd, For this one tree had been forbidden ten. But come, so well refresh'd, now let us play, As meet is, after such delicious fare; For never did thy beauty since the day I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorn'd With all perfections so inflame my sense With ardour to enjoy thee, fairer now Than ever, bounty of this virtuous tree.
Shorn of his strength, they destitue and bare Of all their virtue; silent, and in face Confounded long they sat, as strucken mute, Till Adam, though not less than Eve abash'd, At length gave utterance to these words con- strain'd.
O Eve, in evil hour thou didst give ear To that false worm, of whomsover taught To counterfeit man's voice, true in our fall, False in our promised rising; since our eyes pur-Open'd we find indeed, and find we know Both good and evil, good lost, and evil got, Bad fruit of knowledge, if this be to know, Which leaves us naked thus, of honour void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity, Our wonted ornaments now soil'd and stain'd, And in our faces evident the signs Of foul concupiscence; whence evil store; Ev'n shame, the last of evils: of the first Be sure then. How shall I behold the face Henceforth of God or Augel, erst with joy And rapture so oft beheld? those heav'nly shapes
So said he, and forbore not glance or toy Of amorous intent, well understood Of Eve, whose eye darted contagious fire. Her hand he seiz'd, and to a shady bank, Thick overhead with verdant roof imbow'r'd, He led her nothing loath; flow'rs were the couch,
Pansies, and violets, and asphodel,
And byacinth, Earth's freshest softest lap. There they their full of love and love's dis- port,
Took largely, of their mutual guilt the seal, The solace of their sin, till dewy sleep Oppress'd them, and wearied with their amo- rous play.
Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit, That with exbilirating vapour bland About their spirits had play'd, and inmost powers
Made err, was now exhal'd; and grosser sleep Bred of unkindly fumes, with conscious
Incumber'd, now had left them; up they rose As from unrest and each the other viewing, Soon found their eyes how open'd, and their mind
How darken'd; Innocence that as a veil Had shadow'd them from knowing ill, was
Just confidence, and native righteousness, And honour from about them, naked left To guilty shame; he cover'd, but his robe No. VII-N.S.
Will dazzle now this earthly with their blaze Insufferably bright. O might I here,
In solitude live savage, in some glade Obscur'd, where highest woods impenetrable To star or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad
And brown as evening: Cover me, ye Piues, Ye Cedars, with innumerable boughs Hide me, where I may never see them more. But let us now, as in bad plight, devise What best may for the present serve to hide The parts of each from other, that seem most To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen; Some tree, whose broad smooth leaves together sew'd,
And girded on our loins, may cover round Those middle parts, that this new comer,
There sit not, and reproach us as unclean.
So counsel'd he, and both together went Into the thickest wood: there soon they chose The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd, But such as at this day to Indians known In Malabar or Decan, spread her arms Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade High over-arch'd, and echoing walks be-
There oft the Indian herdsman shunning beat Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds
At loopholes cut through thickest shade: those leaves
They gather'd, broad as Amazonian targe, And with what skill they had, together sow'd, To gird their waist, vain covering if to hide Their guilt and dreaded shame; O how un- like
To that first naked glory! Such of late Columbus found th' American, so girt With feather'd cincture, naked else and wild Among the trees on isles and woody shores. Thus fenc'd, and as they thought, their shame
Cover'd, but not at rest or ease of mind,
They sat them down to weep; nor only tears Rain'd at their eyes, but high winds worse within
Began to rise, high passions, anger, hate, Mistrust, suspicion, discord, and shook sore Their inward state of mind, calm region once And full of peace, now tost and turbulent: For understanding rul'd not, and the will Heard not her lore, both in subjection now To sensual appetite, who from beneath Usurping over sov'reign reason claim'd Superior sway: from thus distemper'd breast, Adam, estrang'd in look and alter'd style, Speech intermitted thus to Eve reuew'd.
Would thou hadst hearkeu'd to my words and stay'd
With me, as I besought thee, when that strange
Desire of wand'ring this unhappy morn,
I know not whence possess'd thee; we had
Remain'd still happy, not as now, despoil'd Of all our good, sham'd, naked, miserable. Let none henceforth seek needless cause to
The faith they owe; when earnestly they seek Such proof, conclude, they then begin to fail. To whom soon mov'd with touch of blame thus Eve.
What words have pass'd thy lips, Adam, severe!
Imput'st thou that to my fault, or will
Of wand'ring, as thou call'st it, which who
But might as ill have happen'd thou being by, Or to thyself perhaps? Hadst thou been there,
Or here th' attempt, thou could'st not have discern'd
Fraud in the serpent, speaking as he spake; No ground of enmity between us known, Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm. Was I to have never parted from thy side? As good to have grown there still a lifeless rib.
Being as I am, why didst not thou the head Command me absolutely not to go, Going into such danger as thou saidst? Too facil then thou didst not much gainsay, Nay didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss. Hadst thou been firm and fix'd in thy dissent, Neither had I transgress'd, nor thou with
To whom then first incens'd Adam reply'd. Is this the love, is this the recompence Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, express'd Immutable when thou wert lost, not I, Who might have liv'd and joy'd immortal bliss,
Yet willingly chose rather death with thee? And am I now upbraided as the cause Of thy transgressing? not enough severe, It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more?
I warn'd thee, I admonsh'd thee, foretold The danger, and the lurking enemy That lay in wait; beyond this had been force, And force upon free will hath here no place. But confidence then bore thee on, secure Either to meet no danger or to find Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps
I also err'd in overmuch admiring
What seem'd in thee so perfect, that . thought
No evil durst attempt thee, but I rue That error now, which is become my crime, And thou the accuser. Thus it shall be fal Him who to worth iu women overtrusting Lets her will rule: restraint she will not brook,
And left to herself, if evil then ensue, She first his weak indulgence will accuse. Thus they in mutual accusation spent The fruitless hours, but neither self-con- demning,
And of their vain contest appear'd no end.
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