What to the smallest tittle thou shalt say Into the world to teach his final will, 430 455 460 And sends his Spirit of Truth henceforth to dwell In pious hearts, and inward oracle To all truth requisite for men to know. 470 So spake our Saviour; but the subtle fiend, 465 Though inly stung with anger and disdain, Dissembled, and this answer smooth return'd. Sharply thou hast insisted on rebuke, And urg'd me hard with doings, which not will, But misery, hath wrested from me; where Easily canst thou find one miserable, And not enforc'd ofttimes to part from truth; If it may stand him more in stead to lie, Say and unsay, feign, flatter, or abjure? But thou art plac'd above me, thou art Lord; From thee I can, and must, submiss endure Check or reproof, and glad to escape so quit. 456 ceas'd] Juv. Sat. vi. 554. VOL. II. Delphis oracula cessant. Dunster. X 475 Hard are the ways of truth, and rough to walk, Smooth on the tongue discours'd, pleasing to th' ear, And tuneable as sylvan pipe or song; What wonder then if I delight to hear 480 Her dictates from thy mouth? most men admire Virtue, who follow not her lore: permit me To hear thee when I come, since no man comes, And talk at least, though I despair to attain. 485 Thy Father, who is holy, wise, and pure, Suffers the hypocrite or atheous priest To tread his sacred courts, and minister To whom our Saviour with unalter'd brow. 490 435 Dunster. 487 atheous] Cicero, speaking of Diagoras, Atheos qui dictus est.' De Nat. D. i. 23. Atheal' is not uncommon in old English. Dunster. Todd. 498 gray dissimulation] See Ford's Broken Heart; ed. Weber, p. 304. 500 Into thin air diffus'd: for now began 499 thin] Virg. Æn. iv. 278. 'Et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.' Shakesp. Temp. act iv. sc. 2. Are melted into air, into thin air.' Dunster. 500 Night] Nonnus ends the xxvth book of his Dionysiaca thus, Καὶ σκιερὴν ἐμέλαινεν ὅλην χθόνα σιγαλέη νυξ 500 double-shade] Ov. Met. xi. 548. Duplicataque noctis imago est.' Dunster. 501 fowls] Beaumont's Psyche, c. xiii. st. 355, ed. 1648. Each gentle fair-condition'd bird and beast Hied them unto their nests and dens Only some ominous ravens, and screech owles prest With beasts of prey and night, thro' the black air.' 308 PARADISE REGAINED. BOOK II. MEANWHILE the new-baptiz'd, who yet remain'd And on that high authority had believ'd, 5 10 And with him talk'd, and with him lodg'd, I mean 15 6 mean] See this expression in Harington's Ariosto, xxxi. 46. 'I mean Renaldo's House of Montalbane,' and st. 55. 'I mean the cruel Pagan Rodomont.' Newton. 13 shown] Virg. Æn. vi. 870. 'Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata.' Sought lost Elijah, so in each place these The city of palms, Ænon, and Salem old, 20 25 Then on the bank of Jordan, by a creek, Their unexpected loss and plaints out breath'd. 23 broad] 30 35 Broad' is not opposed to long, but means large;' in this sense it is often used by the old English poets, and thus their modern imitator, He knew her of broad lands the heir.' Marmion, c. ii. st. xxvii. The lake of Genezaret is eighteen miles long, and only five broad. 25 Jordan] Giles Fletcher's Christ's Victorie and Triumph, ed. 1632, p. 49: Or whistling reeds, that rutty Jordan laves.' A. Dyce. 27 no greater] Spenser in the beginning of Sheph. Cal. A shepherd's boy, no better do him call.' Newton. 30 what] So first edition, in most others, that.' Newton. |