Amplexa alloquitur: Pax ô mihi fumma, Decufque
Dulce Animæ, reducem Auroram, tuaque ora tueri
Ut juvat! Hac Ego nocte (O Nox fœcunda Malorum)
Somnia dira tuli, fuerint fi fomnia. Imago
Non tua, non fenfus hefterna aut crastina pensa
(Ut mos eft) tenuere; at triftia Visa dolorum,
Hâc prius horrendâ nunquam mihi cognita nocte.
Vox audita mihi leni increpitare fufurro,
(Ipsa tuam rebar) Surge, exfpatiemur in hortis;
Carpis adhuc fomnos? Jam fpirat amabilis hora,
Hora ferena, filens, ni voce filentia dulci
Rumpat Avis, noctem cantu quæ mulcet, Amoris
Mollibus invigilans ftudiis. En ore rotundo
Luna tumet; noctique obductis gratior umbris
Naturæ faciem jucundo lumine luftrat,
Surrexi, tanquam affuetâ Tu voce vocâffes:
Ut Te non vidi, latè fpatiata per hortos
Quærebam, & longam mecum incomitata videbar
Thy face, and Morn return'd; for I this Night,
(Such night till this I never pafs'd) have dream'd,
If dream'd; not, as I oft am wont, of Thee,
Works of day pafs'd, or morrow's next defign:
But of offenfe, and trouble; which my mind
Knew never till this irksome night. Methought
Clofe at mine ear one call'd me forth to walk
With gentle voice; I thought it thine it faid,
Why fleep'ft thou Eve? now is the pleasant time,
The cool, the filent; fave where filence yields
To the night-warbling Bird, that now awake
Tunes fweeteft his love-labour'd fong; now reigns
Full-orb'd the Moon, and with more pleasant light
Shadowy fets off the face of things; in vain,
If none regard: Heav'n wakes with all his Eyes;
Whom to behold but Thee, Nature's defue?
In whofe fight all things joy, with ravishment
Attracted by thy beauty ftill to gaze.
I rofe, as at thy call; but found thee not:
To find thee I directed then my walk;
Ire viam fubito interdicta apparuit Arbos
Ante oculos, jam pulchra magis, quàm luce fub ipfà.
Interea adftabat Juvenis, qui rettulit ore
Cæligenas toties vifos, alifque gemellis :
Rore comæ ambrofio maduere. Adduxit & Illum
Arboris attonitum fplendor. Pulcherrima, dixit,
Plantarum, pomis ramos curvata trementes,
Nemon' onus levat hoc? guftumque Hominifque DE Ique
Tam grati fugiant fructus? Ergo ardua rerum
Scire adeò vile eft? Vetat an decerpere dira
Invidia? Ulterius fed Me Vis nulla vetabit
Delicias libare, oblataque carpere dona.
His dictis properè accedit, dextrâque nefandâ
Carpit, edit. Mea tum formidine folvere membra
Audacefque fimul voces, facinufque tremendum.
Ille autem exultans: Arbos Divina, tuenti
Ante mihi fuavis, multò jam fuavior ufu,
Ergone & interdicta Homini, conceffaque folis
And on, methought, alone I pafs'd, thro' ways
That brought me on a fudden to the Tree
Of interdicted Knowledge: fair it seem'd,
Much fairer, to my Fancy, than by day;
And as I wond'ring look'd, befide it stood
One fhap'd, and wing'd, like one of thofe from
By us oft feen: his dewy locks diftill'd [Heav'n,
Ambrofia; on that Tree he alfo gaz'd:
And, O fair plant, faid he, with fruit furcharg'd,
Deigns none to cafe thy load, and tafte thy fweet?
Nor GoD, nor Man? Is Knowledge fo defpis'd?
Or envy, or what reserve forbids to tafte?
Forbid who will, none fhall from me with-hold
Longer thy offer'd good: why elfe fet here?
This faid, he paus'd not, but with vent'rous Arm
He pluck'd, he tafted: Me damp horror chill'd
At fuch bold words, vouch'd with a deed so bold.
But He thus, overjoy'd: O Fruit divine,
Sweet of thy felf, but much more sweet thus crop'd,
Forbidden here, it feems, as only fit
Tu Superis? Hominem at Divis æquaveris ipfis.
Diffusa magis Bona se magis augent,
Autorifque decus. Cœlefti ô prædita formâ,
Huc ades, ô felix, partem cape muneris hujus;
Dignior effe nequis, at eris felicior, Eva!
Carpe age, & ipfa Deos inter Dea, clauftra relinque
Terrarum, & mediis jam nos fequere ætheris oris;
En age, quod merita es, cœlum confcende, beatam
Ingreffura plagam, & lætis tete infere regnis.
Hæc fatus, poma extemplò porrecta labellis
Admovit: Me dulcis Amor raptabat odorum;
Non potui cohibere manus, non labra; vorabam
Ore avido, celerique ducem comitata volatu
Scandebam nubes; terras unde ardua vidi
Subtus circuitu vafto in fpatia ampla patentes,
Profpectum ingentem, varium. Faftigia tanta
Mirabar, talesque vices; quum fe fubito Dux
Subtrahit. Ipfa leves refoluta videbar abire
For Gods, yet able to make Gods of Men:
And why not Gods of Men? fince good the more
Communicated, more abundant grows,
The Author not impair'd, but honour'd more?
Here, happy creature, fair Angelic Eve,
Partake thou alfo: happy though thou art,
Happier thou may'st be, worthier canst not be:
Taste this, and be henceforth amonft the Gods
Thy felf a Goddefs; not to Earth confin'd,
But fometimes in the Air, as we; fometimes
Afcend to Heav'n, by merit thine, and fee
What life the Gods live there, and fuch live Thou.
So faying, he drew nigh, and to me held,
Ev'n to my mouth of that fame fruit held part,
Which he had pluck'd: the pleasant favoury smell
So quicken'd appetite, that I, methought,
Could not but tafte. Forthwith up to the Clouds
With him I flew, and underneath beheld
The Earth outstretch'd immenfe, a prospect wide,
And various wond'ring at my flight and change
Mollius in fomnos. Aft ô mihi quanta Voluptas,
Irrita cum vanis animum lufiffe viderem
Somnia imaginibus! Sic tædia noctis iniqua
Eva refert; deinde hæc mæftus responsa Maritus:
Dulcis Imago Meî, atque Animæ pars optima! Triftes
Me pariter, quos nocte gravi Tu experta, labores
Sollicitant animi dubium; Me Somnia terrent
Horrida, curarum (heu vereor) prænuntia, diro
Orta Malo. Verum unde Malum? Tua pectora nefcit
Incolere, immaculata omnique carentia fraude.
Sed te non lateat multas habitare minores
Interiora Animæ Vires, quas fumma gubernat
Dux Ratio: Has inter, Phantafia proxima munus
Exercet; mifto variarum ex agmine rerum,
Quas referunt quini diverfa per organa Senfus,
Illa leves fingit species vanafque figuras.
Has Domina abjungit Ratio, aut connectit in unum:
Atque hinc quæcunque afferimus, quæcunque negamus,
To this high exaltation; fuddenly
My Guide was gone, and I, methought, funk down,
And fell afleep: but O how glad I wak'd
To find this but a dream! Thus Eve her Night
Related, and thus Adam anfwer'd fad.
Beft Image of my felf, and dearer half,
The trouble of thy thoughts this night in fleep
Affects me equally nor can I like
This uncooth dream, of Evil fprung, I fear.
Yet Evil whence? in Thee can harbour none,
Created pure. But know, that in the Soul
Are many leffer Faculties, that ferve
Reafon as chief: among thefe Fancy next
Her office holds: of all external things,
Which the five watchful Senfes reprefent,
She forms Imaginations, airy fhapes,
Which Reafon joining, or disjoining, frames
All what we affirm, or what deny, and call
Proveniunt; hinc quæ fcimus, quæ credimus orta.
Aft ubi nocturnæ languens Natura quieti
Indulget, fua fe Ratio in penetralia condit:
Tum vigilat, Dominæque refert Phantasia mores
Emula; nequicquam; fine lege, fine ordine facta
Confuit, & voces; vana inter fomnia molem
Dat male digeftam, antiquifque recentia miscet.
Scilicet & multa hefterni fermonis Imago
Somnia, quæ mihi nunc memoras, finxiffe videtur,
Mirarum comitante unà farragine rerum.
Parce tamen mærere; in corda Hominifque DE Ique
Ire Malum potis eft, illaudatumque redire,
Nec minima impuræ fuberunt veftigia labis.
Quin mihi nunc animo melior fiducia furgit,
Te levibus ficta in fomnis quæ ferre nequibas,
Haud vigilem aufuram. Ergo alacri fis mente, nec iftos
Nubibus obducas vultus, qui luce benignâ
Splendidius ridere folent, quam prima ferenis
Our knowledge, or opinion; then retires
Into her private Cell, when Nature refts.
Oft in her abfence mimic Fancy wakes
To imitate her; but misjoining fhapes,
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams;
Ill matching words, and deeds, long past, or late.
Some fuch refemblances methinks I find
Of our laft Evening's talk, in this thy dream;
But with addition ftrange; yet, be not fad:
Evil into the mind of God, or Man,
May come and go, fo unapprov'd; and leave
No spot or blame behind: which gives me hope
That what in fleep thou didst abhor to dream,
Waking thou never wilt confent to do.
Be not dishearten'd then, nor cloud those looks
That wont to be more chearful, and ferene,
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