PARADISE LOST
��The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith, Amid the garden by the Tree of Life Remember what I warn thee shun to
taste,
And shun the bitter consequence : for know, The day thou eat'st thereof, my sole com- mand
Transgressed, inevitably thou shalt die, 330 From that day mortal, and this happy state Shalt lose, expelled from hence into a
world
Of woe and sorrow.' Sternly he pro- nounced
The rigid interdiction, which resounds Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my
choice
Not to incur; but soon his clear aspect' Returned, and gracious purpose thus re- newed: ' Not only these fair bounds, but all the
Earth
To thee and to thy race I give; as lords Possess it, and all things that therein live, 340
Or live in sea or air, beast, fish, and fowl. In sign whereof, each bird and beast be- hold
After their kinds; I bring them to receive From thee their names, and pay thee fealty With low subjection. Understand the same Of fish within their watery residence, Not hither summoned, since they cannot
change
Their element to draw the thinner air.' As thus he spake, each bird and beast be- hold
Approaching two and two these cower- ing low 350
With blandishment; each bird stooped on his wing.
I named them as they passed, and under- stood
Their nature; with such knowledge God endued
My sudden apprehension. But in these
I found not what methought I wanted still,
And to the Heavenly Vision thus pre- sumed:
" ' O, by what name for Thou above all these,
Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher,
Surpassest far my naming how may I
Adore thee, Author of this Universe, 360
��And all this good to Man, for whose well- being
So amply, and with hands so liberal, Thou hast provided all things ? But with
me
I see not who partakes. In solitude What happiness ? who can enjoy alone, Or, all enjoying, what contentment find ? ' Thus I, presumptuous; and the Vision
bright,
As with a smile more brightened, thus re- plied:
"'What call'st thou solitude? Is not
the Earth 369
With various living creatures, and the Air,
Replenished, and all these at thy command
To come and play before thee ? Know'st
thou not Their language and their ways ? They
also know,
And reason not contemptibly; with these Find pastime, and bear rule; thy realm is
large.'
So spake the Universal Lord and seemed So ordering. I, with leave of speech im- plored,
And humble deprecation, thus replied: " ' Let not my words offend thee, Hea- venly Power;
My Maker, be propitious while I speak. 380 Hast thou not made me here thy substitute, And these inferior far beneath me set ? Among unequals what society Can sort, what harmony or true delight ? Which must be mutual, in proportion due Given and received; but, in disparity, The one intense, the other still remiss, Cannot well suit with either, but soon
prove
Tedious alike. Of fellowship I speak Such as I seek, fit to participate 390
All rational delight, wherein the brute Cannot be human consort. They rejoice Each with their kind, lion with lioness ; So fitly them in pairs thou hast combined: Much less can bird with beast, or fish with
fowl,
So well converse, nor with the ox the ape ; Worse, then, can man with beast, and least
of all.' " Whereto the Almighty answered, not
displeased:
' A nice and subtle happiness, I see, Thou to thyself proposest, in the choice 400 Of thy associates, Adam, and wilt taste
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