But in the mount that lies from Eden north,
Where he first lighted, soon discern'd his looks 570
Alien from Heavon, with passions foul obscur'd:
Mine eye pursued him still, but under shade
Lost sight of lim : one of the banish'd crew,
I fear, hath ventur'd from the deep, to raise
New troubles; him thy care must be to find.

To whom the winged warrior thus return'd.
Uriel, no wonder if thy perfect sight,
Amid the sun's briglit circle where thou sitt'st,
See far and wide: in at this gate none pass
The vigilance here plac'd, but such as come 580
Well known from Heav'n; and since meridian hour
No creature thence: if Spi'rit of other sort,
So minded, have o'er.eap'd these earthy bounds
On purpose, hard thou know'st it to exclude
Spiritual substance with corporeal bar.
But if within the circuit of these walks,
In whatsoever shape he lurk, of whom
Thou tell'st, by morrow dawning I shall know.

So promis'd he; and Uriel to his charge Return’d onthat brightbeam, whose point now rais'd Before him slope downward to the sun now fall’n 591 Beneath th’ Azores; whether the prime orb, Incredible how swift, had thither roll'd Diurnal, or this less volúble earth, By shorter fight to th'east, had left him there Arraying with reflected purple' and gold The clouds that on his western throne attend, Now ca.ne still evening on, and twilight grey

Had in her sober livery all things clad;
Silence accompanied; for beast and bird, 600
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale ;
She all night long her amorous descant sung;
Silence was pleas'd: now glow'd the firmament
With livid saphires : Hesperus, that led
The starry host, rode brighest, till the moon
Rising in clouded majesty, at length
Apparent queen unveil'd her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.

When Adam thus to Eve. Fair Consort, th' hour
Of night, and all things now retir'd to rest 611
Mind us of like repose, since God hath set
Labour and rest, as day and night, to men
Successive; and the timely dew of sleep
Now falling with soft slumb’rous weight inclines
Our eye-lids: other creatures all day long
Rove idle unemploy'd, and less need rest;
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity.
And the regard of Heav'n on all his ways;

620 While other animals unactive range, And of their doings God takes no account. To-morrow ere fresh morning streak the east With first approach of light we must be risen, And at our pleasant labour, to reform Yon flow'ry arbours, yonder alleys green, Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown, That mock our scant manuring, and require

More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth :
Those blossoms also, and those dropping gums, 630
That lie bestrown unsightly and unsmooth,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease;
Mean while, as Nature wills, night bids us rest.

To whom thus Eve with perfect beauty' adorn'd.
My Author and Dignoser, what thou bidst
Unargued I obey ; so God ordains;
God is thy law, thou mine: to know no more
Is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise.
With thee conversing I forget all time;
All seasons and their change, all please alike. 640
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,
With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glist'ring with dew; fragrant the fertile earth
After soft show'rs : and sweet the coming on
Of grateful evening mild ; then silent night
With this her solemn bird, and this fair moon,
And these the gems of Heav'n, her starry train :
But neither breath of morn, when she ascends 650
With charm of earliest birds ; nor rising sun
On this delightful land; nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glist’ring with dew: nor fragrance after showers ;
Nor grateful evening mild; nor silent night
With this her solemn bird, nor walk by moon,
Or glittering star-light without thee is sweet.
But wherefore all night long shine these? For whom
This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes ?

VOL. I.

Y

To whom our general ancestor reply'd.
Daughter of God and Man, accomplish'd Eve,
These have their course to finish round the earth,
By morrow evening, and from land to land 661
In order, though to nations yet unborn,
Ministring light prepar'd, they set and rise ;
Lest total darkness should by night regain
Her old possession, and extinguish life
In nature and all things, which these soft fires
Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat
Of various influence foment and warm,
'Temper or nourish, or in part shed down 670
Their stellar virtue or all kinds that grow
On earth, made hereby apter to receive
Perfection from the sun's more potent ray.
These then, though unbeheld in deep of night,
Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none,
That Heav'n would want spectators, God want

praise :
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep:
All these with ceaseless praise his works behold
Both day and night: how often from the steep 680
Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard
Celestial voices to the midnight air,
Sole, or responsive each to other's note,
Singing their great Creator? Oft in bands
While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk
With heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds
In full harmonic number jcin'd, their songs

690

Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heaven.
Thus talking hand in hand alone they pass’d
On to their blissful bow'r; it was a place
Chos'n by the sov'reign Planter, when he fram’d
All things to Man's delightful use; the roof
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew
Of firm and fragrant leaf; on either side
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub
Fenc'd up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flower
Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine
Rear'd high their flourish'd heads between, and

wrought
Mosaic ; underfoot the violet,

700 Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay Broider'd the ground, more colour'd than with stone Of costliest emblem: other creature here, Beast, bird, insect, or worm, durst enter none; Such was their awe of Man. In shadier bower More sacred and sequester'd, though but feign'd, Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor Nymph, Nor Faunus haunted. Here in close recess, With flowers, garlands, and sweet-smelling herbs Espoused Eve deck'd first her nuptial bed, 710 And heav'nly quires the hymenzan sung, What day genial Angel to our sire Brought her in naked beauty more adorn’d, More lovely than Pandora, whom the Gods Endow'd with all their gifts, and too like In sad event, when to th' unwiser son