Read The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems Online
Authors: John Milton,Burton Raffel
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Literary Collections, #Poetry, #Classics, #English; Irish; Scottish; Welsh, #English poetry
621
As leaves a greater store of fruit untouched,
622
Still hanging incorruptible, till men
623
Grow up to their provision,
4980
and more hands
624
Help to disburden Nature of her birth.”
4981
625
To whom the wily adder, blithe and glad:
626
“Empress, the way is ready, and not long.
627
Beyond a row of myrtles, on a flat,
4982
628
Fast
4983
by a fountain, one small thicket past
629
Of blowing myrrh and balm. If thou accept
630
My conduct,
4984
I can bring thee thither soon.
631
“Lead then,” said Eve. He, leading, swiftly rolled
632
In tangles, and made intricate seem straight,
633
To mischief swift. Hope elevates, and joy
634
Bright’ns his crest, as when a wand’ring fire,
635
636
Condenses, and the cold environs
4987
round,
637
Kindled through agitation
4988
to a flame,
638
Which oft, they say, some evil Spirit attends,
4989
639
Hovering and blazing with delusive light,
640
Misleads th’ amazed night-wanderer from his way
641
To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool,
642
There swallowed up and lost, from succor far.
643
So glistered the dire snake, and into fraud
644
Led Eve, our credulous mother, to the tree
645
Of prohibition,
4990
root of all our woe,
646
Which when she saw, thus to her guide she spoke:
647
“Serpent, we might have spared our coming hither,
648
Fruitless
4991
to me, though fruit be here to excess,
649
The credit
4992
of whose virtue rest with thee,
650
Wondrous indeed, if cause of such effects.
651
But of this tree we may not taste nor touch.
652
God so commanded, and left that command
653
Sole daughter
4993
of His voice. The rest, we live
654
Law to ourselves. Our reason is our law.
655
To whom the Tempter guilefully replied:
656
“Indeed! Hath God then said that of the fruit
657
Of all these garden-trees ye shall not eat,
658
Yet lords declared of all in earth or air?
659
To whom thus Eve, yet sinless:
“Of the fruit
660
Of each tree in the garden we may eat,
661
But of the fruit of this fair tree amidst
662
The garden, God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat
663
Thereof, nor shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
664
She scarce had said, though brief, when now more bold
665
The Tempter, but with show of zeal and love
666
To man, and indignation at his wrong,
667
668
669
Raised as of some great matter to begin.
4999
670
As when of old some orator renowned,
671
In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence
672
Flourished, since mute! to some great cause addressed,
5000
673
Stood in himself collected, while each part,
674
Motion, each act, won audience ere the tongue,
675
Sometimes in height began, as no delay
676
Of preface brooking, through his zeal of right.
5001
677
So standing, moving, or to height up grown,
678
The Tempter, all impassioned, thus began:
679
“O sacred, wise, and wisdom-giving plant,
680
Mother of science!
5002
Now I feel thy power
681
Within me clear, not only to discern
682
Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
683
684
Queen of this universe! Do not believe
685
Those rigid threats of death. Ye shall not die.
686
How should you? By the fruit? It gives you life
687
To knowledge. By the threat’ner?
5005
Look on me,
688
Me, who have touched and tasted, yet both live,
689
And life more perfect have attained than Fate
690
Meant me, by vent’ring
5006
higher than my lot.
691
Shall that be shut to man, which to the beast
692
Is open? Or will God incense
5007
His ire
693
For such a petty trespass? and not praise
694
Rather your dauntless virtue, whom the pain
695
Of death denounced,
5008
whatever thing death be,
696
Deterred not from achieving what might lead
697
To happier life, knowledge of good and evil?
698
Of good, how just? Of evil, if what is evil
699
Be real, why not known, since easier shunned?
700
God therefore cannot hurt ye, and be just—
701
Not just, not God. Not feared then, nor obeyed:
702
Your fear itself of death removes the fear.
703
Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe?
704
Why but to keep ye low and ignorant,
705
His worshippers? He knows that in the day
706
Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear,
707
Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then
708
Op’ned and cleared, and ye shall be as gods,
709
Knowing both good and evil, as they know.
710
That ye should be as gods, since I as man,