...themselves: So saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluck'd, she eat: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through...all her Works gave signs of woe, That all was lost. ... (9.780-84) And when Adam takes his share: Earth trembl'd from her entrails, as again In pangs,...

...to the third, actual disobedience, the transition was easy and natural. "She plucked, she ate; Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat, Sighing...through all her works, gave signs of woe, That all was lost."37 With a thrill of fiendish exultation the tempter retired, leaving to his victim the task of...

..."ambrosial") that is "downy" on the outside. Either the nature of the fruit has changed since Eve first ate and "Nature from her seat / Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe /That all was lost"; or else qualities of the fruit not previously perceived and hence not previously interpreted have now...

...Earth's wound and Nimrod's dominion The Fall, in Milton's rendition, is an ecological disaster. "Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat / Sighing...all her works gave signs of woe / That all was lost" (9.782—4). When Adam falls, "Earth trembl'd from her entrails, as again / in pangs, and Nature gave...

...responsive groan alludes to book 9 of Paradise Lost. As soon as Eve eats the forbidden fruit, "Earth felt the wound, and nature from her seat / Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe. Likewise, as soon as Adam eats the forbidden fruit, "Earth trembled from her entrails, as again / In...

...Allegorical Poetry (New York, Cambridge 1977), S. 197. Vgl. Pantdise Lost, Book IX, Z. 782—84: »Earth feit the wound, and Nature from her seat/ Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe,/That all was lost.« Zur Pflicht des Menschen gegenüber der Natur vgl. insbesondere Marvells...