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Paradise Regained - Book IVc (thing)
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by
danlowlite
Thu Sep 28 2000 at 16:36:25
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"Fair morning yet betides thee,
Son of God
,
After a
dismal night
. I heard the
wrack
,
As earth and sky would
mingle
; but myself
Was distant; and these flaws, though
mortals
fear them,
As dangerous to the pillared frame of
Heaven
,
Or to the
Earth
's
dark basis
underneath,
Are to the main as
inconsiderable
And harmless, if not
wholesome
, as a sneeze
To man's less universe, and soon are gone.
Yet, as being
ofttimes
noxious
where they light 460
On man, beast, plant,
wasteful
and
turbulent
,
Like
turbulencies
in the affairs of men,
Over whose heads they roar, and seem to point,
They oft fore-
signify
and threaten ill.
This
tempest
at this desert most was bent;
Of men at thee, for only thou here dwell'st.
Did I not tell thee, if thou didst reject
The perfect season offered with my aid
To win thy
destined
seat, but wilt prolong
All to the push of fate, pursue thy way 470
Of gaining
David
's
throne
no man knows when
(For both the when and how is nowhere told),
Thou shalt be what thou art
ordained
, no doubt;
For
Angels
have proclaimed it, but
concealing
The time and means? Each act is
rightliest
done
Not when it must, but when it may be best.
If thou observe not this, be sure to find
What I foretold thee--many a hard assay
Of dangers, and adversities, and pains,
Ere thou of
Israel
's
sceptre
get fast hold; 480
Whereof this
ominous
night that closed thee round,
So many terrors, voices, prodigies,
May warn thee, as a sure
foregoing
sign."
So talked he, while the
Son of God
went on,
And staid not, but in brief him answered thus:--
"Me worse than wet thou find'st not; other harm
Those terrors which thou speak'st of did me none.
I never feared they could, though
noising
loud
And threatening nigh: what they can do as signs
Betokening
or ill-boding I contemn 490
As false
portents
, not sent from
God
, but thee;
Who, knowing I shall reign past thy preventing,
Obtrud'st thy offered aid, that I,
accepting
,
At least might seem to hold all power of thee,
Ambitious
Spirit
! and would'st be thought my
God
;
And storm'st, refused, thinking to terrify
Me to thy will!
Desist
(thou art discerned,
And toil'st in
vain
), nor me in vain molest."
To whom the Fiend, now swoln with rage, replied:--
"Then hear, O
Son of David
,
virgin-born
! 500
For
Son of God
to me is yet in doubt.
Of the
Messiah
I have heard
foretold
By all the Prophets; of thy birth, at length
Announced by Gabriel, with the first I knew,
And of the
angelic
song in
Bethlehem
field,
On thy
birth-night
, that sung thee
Saviour
born.
From that time seldom have I ceased to eye
Thy infancy, thy
childhood
, and thy youth,
Thy manhood last, though yet in private bred;
Till, at the ford of
Jordan
, whither all 510
Flocked to the
Baptist
, I among the rest
(Though not to be baptized), by voice from
Heaven
Heard thee
pronounced
the
Son of God
beloved.
Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view
And narrower
scrutiny
, that I might learn
In what degree or meaning thou art called
The
Son of God
, which bears no single sense.
The
Son of God
I also am, or was;
And, if I was, I am; relation stands:
All men are Sons of
God
; yet thee I
thought
520
In some respect far higher so declared.
Therefore
I watched thy footsteps from that hour,
And followed thee still on to this waste wild,
Where, by all best
conjectures
, I collect
Thou art to be my
fatal
enemy
.
Good reason, then, if I beforehand seek
To understand my adversary, who
And what he is; his
wisdom
,
power
,
intent
;
By
parle
or
composition
, truce or league,
To win him, or win from him what I can. 530
And opportunity I here have had
To try thee, sift thee, and confess have found thee
proof
against all
temptation
, as a rock
Of
adamant
and as a
centre
, firm
To the utmost of mere man both wise and good,
Not more; for
honours
, riches,
kingdoms
, glory,
Have been before contemned, and may again.
Therefore, to know what more thou art than man,
Worth naming the
Son of God
by voice from
Heaven
,
Another method I must now begin." 540
So saying, he caught him up, and, without wing
Of
hippogrif
, bore through the air sublime,
Over the
wilderness
and o'er the plain,
Till underneath them fair
Jerusalem
,
The
Holy City
, lifted high her towers,
And higher yet the glorious
Temple
reared
Her pile, far off appearing like a mount
Of alablaster, topt with golden spires:
There, on the highest
pinnacle
, he set
The
Son of God
, and added thus in scorn:-- 550
"There stand, if thou wilt stand; to stand upright
Will ask thee skill. I to thy
Father
's house
Have brought thee, and highest placed:
highest
is best.
Now shew thy
progeny
; if not to stand,
Cast thyself down. Safely, if
Son of God
;
For it is written, 'He will give command
Concerning thee to his Angels; in their hands
They shall uplift thee, lest at any time
Thou chance to dash thy foot against a
stone
.'"
To whom thus
Jesus
: "Also it is written, 560
'
Tempt
not
the Lord thy God
.'" He said, and stood;
But
Satan
, smitten with amazement, fell.
As when
Earth
's son, Antaeus (to compare
Small things with greatest), in Irassa strove
With Jove's Alcides, and, oft foiled, still rose,
Receiving from his mother
Earth
new strength,
Fresh from his fall, and fiercer grapple
joined
,
Throttled at length in the air expired and fell,
So, after many a foil, the
Tempter
proud,
Renewing
fresh
assaults
, amidst his pride 570
Fell whence he stood to see his victor fall;
And, as that
Theban
monster
that proposed
Her riddle, and him who solved it not devoured,
That once found out and solved, for grief and spite
Cast herself headlong from the
Ismenian
steep,
So,
strook
with dread and anguish, fell the Fiend,
And to his crew, that sat consulting, brought
Joyless triumphals of his hoped success,
Ruin, and desperation, and
dismay
,
Who durst so proudly
tempt
the
Son of God
. 580
So
Satan
fell; and
straight
a fiery globe
Of
Angels
on full
sail
of wing flew
nigh
,
Who on their plumy vans received
Him
soft
From his
uneasy
station
, and
upbore
,
As on a floating couch, through the blithe air;
Then, in a flowery valley, set him down
On a green bank, and set before him spread
A table of
celestial
food, divine
Ambrosia
l fruits fetched from the
Tree of Life
,
And from the
Fount of Life
ambrosia
l drink, 590
That soon refreshed him wearied, and repaired
What hunger, if aught hunger, had impaired,
Or thirst; and, as he fed,
Angelic
quires
Sung heavenly
anthems
of his
victory
Over temptation and the
Tempter
proud:--
"
True Image
of the
Father
, whether throned
In the
bosom
of bliss, and light of light
Conceiving, or, remote from
Heaven
, enshrined
In fleshly tabernacle and human form,
Wandering the
wilderness
--whatever place, 600
Habit, or state, or motion, still expressing
The
Son of God
, with
Godlike
force endued
Against the
attempter
of thy
Father
's throne
And thief of
Paradise
! Him long of old
Thou didst debel, and down from
Heaven
cast
With all his
army
; now thou hast avenged
Supplanted
Adam
, and, by
vanquishing
Temptation
, hast regained lost
Paradise
,
And frustrated the conquest
fraudulent
.
He never more henceforth will dare set foot 610
In
Paradise
to
tempt
; his snares are broke.
For, though that seat of earthly bliss be failed,
A fairer
Paradise
is founded now
For
Adam
and his chosen sons, whom thou,
A
Saviour
, art come down to
reinstall
;
Where they shall dwell secure, when time shall be,
Of tempter and temptation without fear.
But thou,
Infernal Serpent
! shalt not long
Rule in the clouds. Like an autumnal star,
Or lightning, thou shalt fall from
Heaven
, trod down 620
Under his feet. For
proof
, ere this thou feel'st
Thy wound (yet not thy last and deadliest wound)
By this repulse received, and hold'st in
hell
No triumph; in all her gates
Abaddon
rues
Thy bold attempt. Hereafter learn with awe
To dread the
Son of God
. He, all unarmed,
Shall chase thee, with the terror of his voice,
From thy
demoniac
holds,
possession
foul--
Thee and thy
legions
; yelling they shall fly,
And beg to hide them in a herd of
swine
, 630
Lest he
command
them down
into the Deep
,
Bound, and to
torment
sent before their time.
Hail, Son of the Most High, heir of both Worlds,
Queller of
Satan
! On thy glorious work
Now enter, and begin to save Mankind."
Thus they the
Son of God
, our
Saviour
meek
,
Sung
victor
, and, from heavenly
feast
refreshed
,
Brought on his way with joy. He,
unobserved
,
Home to his
mother's house
private
returned
.
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Contents
Paradise Regained - Contents
The Paradise Syndrome
Paradise Regained - Book IVb
Meek
John Milton