-For I have also heard, perhaps have read-
Their wines of Setia, Cales, and Falerne,

Chios, and Crete, and how they quaff in gold,
Crystal and myrrhine cups emboss'd with gems
And studs of pearl; to me should'st tell, who thirst
And hunger still. Then embassies thou show'st
From nations far and nigh. What honour that,
But tedious waste of time to sit and hear
So many hollow compliments and lies,
Outlandish flatteries? then proceed'st to talk
Of the emperor, how easily subdu'd,
How gloriously; I shall, thou say'st, expel
A brutish monster: what if I withal
Expel a devil who first made him such?

125

citron wood, and ivory. Hist. Nat. lib. v. c. i. 1. vol. i. p. 366, ed. Brot. 'quam luxuriæ, cujus efficacissima vis sentitur atque maxima, cum ebori citroque silvæ exquirantur.' Diod. Siculus joins them, lib. v. c. xlvi. vol. iii. p. 355, ed. Bip. • τά τε θυρώματα τοῦ ναοῦ θαυμαστὰς ἔχει τὰς κατασκευὰς ἐξ ἀργύρου καὶ χρυσοῦ καὶ ἐλέφαντος, ἔτι δὲ θύας δεδημιουργηHévas'; so the author of the Apocalypse, xviii. 12. πāv žvλov θύϊνον, καὶ πᾶν σκῖνος ἐλεφάντινον; Suidas and Pausanias also mention them together. We may, therefore, consider 'Atlantic stone' to be a learned and poetical way for naming the 'Ebor Atlanticum;' and Pliny also says, that the forests in Mauritania were filled with elephants, lib. v. c. i. 1. vol. i. p. 364, the same forests which afforded the citron wood. Should 'stone' be still thought a singular expression for ivory, it may be observed, that 'fossil ivory' might have been sought for; and that Pliny, lib. xxxvi. c. xxix. 18, vol. vi. p. 230, mentions a mineral ivory, which he calls a stone.

119 myrrhine] Plinii N. Hist. lib. xxxv. c. xlvi. vol vi. p. 172. 'Quoniam eò pervenit luxuria, ut etiam fictilia pluris constent quam murrhina.'

130

Let his tormentor conscience find him out;
For him I was not sent, nor yet to free
That people victor once, now vile and base,
Deservedly made vassal, who, once just,
Frugal, and mild, and temperate, conquer'd well,
But govern ill the nations under yoke,
Peeling their provinces, exhausted all

By lust and rapine; first ambitious grown
Of triumph, that insulting vanity;

Then cruel, by their sports to blood inur'd

135

Of fighting beasts, and men to beasts expos'd; 140
Luxurious by their wealth, and greedier still,
And from the daily scene effeminate.

What wise and valiant man would seek to free
These thus degenerate, by themselves enslav'd,
Or could of inward slaves make outward free? 145
Know therefore, when my season comes to sit
On David's throne, it shall be like a tree
Spreading and overshadowing all the earth,
Or as a stone that shall to pieces dash

All monarchies besides throughout the world, 150
And of my kingdom there shall be no end.
Means there shall be to this, but what the means,
Is not for thee to know, nor me to tell.

To whom the tempter impudent replied.

I see all offers made by me how slight
Thou valu'st, because offer'd, and reject'st;

141 Luxurious] Manilius, iv. 10.

'Luxuriamque lucris emimus, luxuque rapinas.'

Dunster.

155

Nothing will please the difficult and nice,
Or nothing more than still to contradict.
On the other side know also thou, that I
On what I offer set as high esteem,

Nor what I part with mean to give for nought;
All these which in a moment thou behold'st,
The kingdoms of the world to thee I give;
For, giv'n to me, I give to whom I please,
No trifle; yet with this reserve, not else,
On this condition, if thou wilt fall down,
And worship me as thy superior lord,
Easily done, and hold them all of me:
For what can less so great a gift deserve?

160

165

Whom thus our Saviour answer'd with disdain.

I never lik'd thy talk, thy offers less,

175

Now both abhor, since thou hast dar'd to utter
The abominable terms, impious condition;
But I endure the time, till which expir'd,
Thou hast permission on me. It is written
The first of all commandments, Thou shalt worship
The Lord thy God, and only him shalt serve;
And dar'st thou to the Son of God propound
To worship thee accurst, now more accurst
For this attempt, bolder than that on Eve,
And more blasphemous? which expect to rue.
The kingdoms of the world to thee were giv'n,
Permitted rather, and by thee usurp❜d,
Other donation none thou canst produce:

180

157 the difficult] Jortin and Sympson would read 'thee difficult.'

If giv'n, by whom but by the King of kings,
God over all Supreme? if given to thee,
By thee how fairly is the giver now
Repaid? but gratitude in thee is lost

185

Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame,

As offer them to me the Son of God?
To me my own, on such abhorred pact,
That I fall down and worship thee as God?
Get thee behind me; plain thou now appear'st
That evil one, Satan for ever damn'd.

190

To whom the fiend with fear abash'd replied. 195
Be not so sore offended, Son of God,
Though sons of God both angels are and men,
If I, to try whether in higher sort

Than these thou bear'st that title, have propos'd
What both from men and angels I receive,
Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, and on the earth
Nations beside from all the quarter'd winds,
God of this world invok'd and world beneath;
Who then thou art, whose coming is foretold
To me so fatal, me it most concerns.
The trial hath indamag'd thee no way,
Rather more honour left and more esteem;
Me naught advantag'd, missing what I aim'd.
Therefore let pass, as they are transitory,

200

205

The kingdoms of this world; I shall no more 210
Advise thee; gain them as thou canst, or not.
And thou thyself seem'st otherwise inclin'd
Than to a worldly crown, addicted more
To contemplation and profound dispute,

As by that early action may be judg'd,

215

221

225

When, slipping from thy mother's eye, thou went'st
Alone into the temple, there wast found
Amongst the gravest rabbies disputant
On points and questions fitting Moses' chair,
Teaching not taught; the childhood shows the man,
As morning shows the day. Be famous then
By wisdom; as thy empire must extend,
So let extend thy mind o'er all the world
In knowledge, all things in it comprehend:
All knowledge is not couch'd in Moses' law,
The Pentateuch, or what the prophets wrote;
The Gentiles also know, and write, and teach
To admiration, led by nature's light;
And with the Gentiles much thou must converse,
Ruling them by persuasion as thou mean'st;
Without their learning how wilt thou with them,
Or they with thee, hold conversation meet?
How wilt thou reason with them? how refute
Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes?

Error by his own arms is best evinc'd.

230

235

Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount, Westward, much nearer by south-west, behold Where on the Ægean shore a city stands

217 wast found] In Milton's own edition and others, it was printed' was.' Tickell made the emendation 'wast,' and Fenton adopted it.

239 pure] Athenis tenue cœlum.' Cic de fato. v. Pricæum ad Apulium, p. 76.

In stately cities, and in fruitful soil,

In temperate breathing of the milder heaven.

Gorboduc, act ii. sc. 1.