244
��PARADISE LOST
��On all who in the worship persevere
Of Spirit and Truth; the rest, far greater
part, Will deem in outward rites and specious
forms
Religion satisfied; Truth shall retire Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works
of Faith Rarely be found. So shall the World go
on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign, Under her own weight groaning, till the
day
Appear of respiration to the just 540
And vengeance to the wicked, at return Of Him so lately promised to thy aid, The Woman's Seed obscurely then fore- told, Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy
Lord;
Last in the clouds from Heaven to be re- vealed
In glory of the Father, to dissolve Satan with his perverted World; then raise From the conflagrant mass, purged and re- fined, New Heavens, new Earth, Ages of endless
date
Founded in righteousness and peace and love, 550
To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss." He ended; and thus Adam last re- plied:
" How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blest, Measured this transient World, the race of
Time, Till Time stand fixed! Beyond is all
abyss '
Eternity, whose end no eye can reach. Greatly instructed I shall hence depart, Greatly in peace of thought, and have my
fill
Of knowledge, what this vessel can con- tain;
Beyond which was my folly to aspire. 560 Henceforth I learn that to obey is best, And love with fear the only God, to walk As in his presence, ever to observe His providence, and on him sole depend, Merciful over all his works, with good Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things by things
deemed weak Subverting worldly-strong, and worldly-
��By simply meek; that suffering for Truth's
sake
Is fortitude to highest victory, 57 o
And to the faithful death the gate of life Taught this by his example whom I now Acknowledge my Redeemer jever blest." To whom thus also the Angel last re- plied : " This having learned, thou hast attained
the sum Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the
stars Thou knew'st by name, and all the ethereal
powers,
All secrets of the Deep, all Nature's works, Or works of God in heaven, air, earth, or sea, 579
And all the riches of this world enjoy'dst, And all the rule, one empire. Only add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add
faith;
Add virtue, patience, temperance ; add love, By name to come called Charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be
loth
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A Paradise within thee, happier far. Let us descend now, therefore, from this top Of speculation; for the hour precise Exacts our parting hence ; and, see ! the guards, 590
By me encamped on yonder hill, expect Their motion, at whose front a flaming
sword,
In signal of remove, waves fiercely round. We may no longer stay. Go, waken Eve; Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed, Portending good, and all her spirits com- posed
To meek submission: thou, at season fit, Let her with thee partake what thou hast
heard
Chiefly what may concern her faith to know, The great deliverance by her seed to come 600
(For by the Woman's Seed) on all man- kind That ye may live, which will be many
days,
Both in one faith unanimous ; though sad With cause for evils past, yet much more
cheered With meditation on the happy end."
He ended, and they both descend the hill. Descended, Adam to the bower where Eve
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