232
��PARADISE LOST
��Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forgo To what thou hast; and, for the air of
youth, Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will
reign
A melancholy damp of cold and dry, To weigh thy spirits down, and last con- sume
The balm of life." To whom our Ances- tor: " Henceforth I fly not death, nor would
prolong Life much bent rather how I may be
quit,
Fairest and easiest, of this cumbrous charge, Which I must keep till my appointed day Of rendering up, and patiently attend 551 My dissolution." Michael replied: "Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what
thou liv'st Live well; how long or short permit to
Heaven.
And now prepare thee for another sight." He looked, and saw a spacious plain,
whereon Were tents of various hue: by some were
herds
Of cattle grazing: others whence the sound Of instruments that made melodious chime Was heard, of harp and organ, and who
moved 560
Their stops and chords was seen: his volant
touch Instinct through all proportions low and
high Fled and pursued transverse the resonant
fugue.
In other part stood one who, at the forge Labouring, two massy clods of iron and
brass Had melted (whether found where casual
fire
Had wasted woods, on mountain or in vale, Down to the veins of earth, thence gliding
hot To some cave's mouth, or whether washed
by stream From underground); the liquid ore he
drained S7 o
Into fit moulds prepared; from which he
formed First his own tools, then what might else be
wrought
Fusil or graven in metal. After these, But on the hither side, a different sort
��From the high neighbouring hills, which was their seat,
Down to the plain descended: by their guise
Just men they seemed, and all their study bent
To worship God aright, and know his works
Not hid; nor those things last which might preserve
Freedom and peace to men. They on the plain 580
Long had not walked when from the tents behold
A bevy of fair women, richly gay
In gems and wanton dress ! to the harp they sung
Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on.
The men, though grave, eyed them, and let their eyes
Rove without rein, till, in the amorous net
Fast caught, they liked, and each his liking chose.
And now of love they treat, till the even- ing-star,
Love's harbinger, appeared; then, all in heat,
They light the nuptial torch, and bid in- voke 590
Hymen, then first to marriage rites invoked:
With feast and music all the tents resound.
Such happy interview, and fair event
Of love and youth not lost, songs, garlands, flowers,
And charming symphonies, attached the heart
Of Adam, soon inclined to admit delight,
The bent of Nature; which he thus ex- pressed:
" True opener of mine eyes, prime An- gel blest,
Much better seems this vision, and more hope
Of peaceful days portends, than those two past: 600
Those were of hate and death, or pain much worse;
Here Nature seems fulfilled in all her ends." To whom thus Michael: "Judge not what is best
By pleasure, though to Nature seeming meet,
Created, as thou art, to nobler end,
Holy and pure, conformity divine.
Those tents thou saw'st so pleasant were the tents
Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his race
�� �
