Though others envy 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 retire. And I perhaps am secret; heaven 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,
807 Experience] 'Thee Serpent.' Bentl. MS.
818 give] Newton has observed the beauty of this expression, and traced it through the Greek and Latin. See Hom. I. i. 18. Virg. Æn. i. 65. 79. 522; and before in P. L. i. 736.
A thing not undesirable, sometime Superior; for inferior who is free?
This may be well: but what if GOD have seen, 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 turn'd, But first low reverence done, as to the power That dwelt within, whose presence had infus'd Into the plant sciential sap, 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 labours 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;
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, Misgave him; he the faltering measure felt;
845 divine] See Hor. Od. iii. xxvii. 10.
'Imbrium divina avis imminentum.'
and P. L. x. 357. Newton.
846 faltering measure felt] "I consider these words as obscure. They must, I presume, be interpreted as meaning, ‘That Adam secretly felt some symptoms of the great change impressed on Nature by Eve's transgression.'" MS. Diary of Thomas Green, Esq. But the clearer explanation, I consider, is, 'Adam felt the faltering (or
And forth to meet her went, the way she took That morn 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 smil'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 address'd. Hast thou not wonder'd, Adam, at my stay? Thee I have miss'd, and thought it long, depriv'd Thy presence, agony of love till now
Not felt, 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 Op'ning 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 Endu'd with human voice and human sense,
imperfect) measure of that 'great joy he promis'd,' and 'solace in her return.' Doubts mingling with his hope made the measure of joy falter, or be deficient.
854 too] This is Fenton's emendation; before, in all the editions it was 'to prompt,' which Newton considers to be an error of the press, and Todd thinks might have been the genuine text.
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, as thou hast part, to me is bliss, Tedious, unshar'd with thee, and odious soon. Thou 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 countenance blithe her story told;
But in her cheek distemper flushing glow'd. On th' other side, Adam, soon as he heard The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz'd, Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill
880 unshar'd with thee] A. Ramsæi P. Sacr. vol. i. sed te sine cœlum;
Te sine, dulce nihil! Subsides imis?'
Terrisne, inglorius erro?
890 horror chill] So in Grotii Adamus Exsul, p. 48.
'Gelidus per artus vadit excussos tremor:
Exsanguis adsto: Crinis erectus riget. Vix ipse valido spiritus gemitu viam Prærupit.'.
890 blank] Virg. Æn. ii. 120.
'Obstupuere animis, gelidusque per ima cucurrit Ossa tremor.'
and xii. 951. 'Illi solvuntur frigore membra.' Hume.
Ran through his veins, and all his joints relax'd; From his slack hand the garland wreath'd for Eve Down dropp'd, and all the faded 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 transgress The strict forbiddance, how to violate. The sacred fruit forbidd'n! 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 forlorn! Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib 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, bliss or woe.
893 dropp'd] Mr. Bowle refers to Propert. El. iv. 9. and Pers. Sat. iii. 100.
901 devote] Hor. Od. iv. xiv. 18.
'Devota morti pectora liberæ.' Todd.
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