And highten'd as with wine, jocond and boon,
Thus to herself she pleasingly began.
O sov'reign, virtuous, precious of all trees 795 In paradise, of operation blest
To sapience, hitherto obscur'd, infam'd,
And thy fair fruit let hang, as to no end
Created but henceforth my early care,
Not without song, each morning, and due praise
Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease
Of thy full branches offer'd free to all;
Till dieted by thee I grow mature
In knowledge, as the Gods who all things know;
Though others envy what they cannot give;
For had the gift been theirs, it had not here
Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe,
Best guide; not following thee, I had remain'd
In ignorance; thou open'st wisdom's way,
And giv'st access, though secret she retire.
And I perhaps am secret; heav'n is high,
High and remote to see from thence distinct
Each thing on earth; and other care perhaps
May have diverted from continual watch
Our great Forbidder, safe with all his spies
About him. But to Adam in what sort
Shall I appear? shall I to him make known
795 precious] The positive for the superlative. As Virgil, Æn. iv. 576.
'Sequimur te, sancte Deorum.'
Experience] Thee Serpent.' Bentl. MS.
As yet my change, and give him to partake
Full happiness with me, or rather not,
But keep the odds of knowledge in my power 820
Without copartner? so to add what wants
In female sex, the more to draw his love,
And render me more equal, and perhaps,
A thing not undesirable, sometime
Superior; for inferior who is free?
This may be well but what if GOD have seen,
And death ensue? then I shall be no more,
And Adam wedded to another Eve
Shall live with her enjoying, I extinct;
A death to think. Confirm'd then I resolve, 880
Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe:
So dear I love him, that with him all deaths
I could endure; without him live no life.
So saying, from the tree her step she turn'd, But first low reverence done, as to the power 835 That dwelt within, whose presence had infus'd
818 give] Newton has observed the beauty of this expression, and traced it through the Greek and Latin. See Hom. Il. i. 18, Virg. Æn. i. 65. 79. 522; and before in P. L. i. 736.
From nectar, drink of Gods. Adam the while,
Waiting desirous her return, had wove
Of choicest flow'rs a garland to adorn
Her tresses, and her rural labours crown,
As reapers oft are wont their harvest queen.
Great joy he promis'd to his thoughts, and new
Solace in her return, so long delay'd;
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill,
Misgave him; he the falt'ring measure felt;
And forth to meet her went, the way she took
That morn when first they parted. By the Tree
Of Knowledge he must pass, there he her met,
Scarce from the tree returning; in her hand
A bough of fairest fruit that downy smil'd,
New gather'd, and ambrosial smell diffus'd.
To him she hasted, in her face excuse
Came prologue, and apology too prompt,
Which with bland words at will she thus address'd.
845 divine] See Hor. Od. iii. xxvii. 10.
• Imbrium divina avis imminentum."
and P. L. x. 357.
• 846 falt❜ring measure felt] "I consider these words as obscure.
They must, I presume, be interpreted as meaning, 'That Adam
secretly felt some symptoms of the great change impressed
on Nature by Eve's transgression."" MS. Diary of Thomas
Green, Esq. But the clearer explanation, I consider, is,
'Adam felt the faltering (or imperfect) measure of that ' great
joy he promis'd,' and 'solace in her return.' Doubts mingling
with his hope made the measure of joy falter, or be deficient.
too] This is Fenton's emendation; before, in all the
editions it was 'to prompt,' which Newton considers to be an
Hast thou not wonder'd, Adam, at my stay? Thee I have miss'd, and thought it long, depriv'd Thy presence, agony of love till now
Not felt, nor shall be twice, for never more
Mean I to try, what rash untry'd I sought,
The pain of absence from thy sight. But strange
Hath been the cause, and wonderful to hear:
This tree is not, as we are told, a tree
Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown
Op'ning the way, but of divine effect
To open eyes, and make them Gods who taste;
And hath been tasted such. The serpent wise,
Or not restrain❜d as we, or not obeying,
Hath eaten of the fruit, and is become
Not dead, as we are threaten'd, but thenceforth
Endu'd with human voice and human sense,
Reasoning to admiration, and with me
Persuasively hath so prevail'd, that I
Have also tasted, and have also found
Th' effects to correspond; opener mine eyes, 875
Dim erst, dilated spirits, ampler heart,
And growing up to Godhead; which for thee
Chiefly I sought, without thee can despise.
For bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss,
Tedious, unshar'd with thee, and odious soon. 880
error of the press, and Todd thinks might have been the
genuine text.
880 unshar'd with thee] A. Ramsæi P. Sacr. vol. i. p. 32, sed te sine cœlum;
Te sine, dulce nihil!
Subsides imis?'
Terrisne, inglorius erro?
Thou therefore also taste, that equal lot
May join us, equal joy, as equal love;
Lest thou not tasting, different degree
Disjoin us, and I then too late renounce
Deity for thee, when fate will not permit.
Thus Eve with countenance blithe her story told; But in her cheek distemper flushing glow'd. On th' other side, Adam, soon as he heard The fatal trespass done by Eve, amaz'd, Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill 890 Ran through his veins, and all his joints relax'd; From his slack hand the garland wreath'd for Eve Down dropp'd, and all the faded roses shed: Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length First to himself he inward silence broke.
O fairest of creation, last and best Of all God's works, creature in whom excell'd Whatever can to sight or thought be form'd, Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet! How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost,
800 horror chill] So in Grotii Adamus Exsul, p. 48.
Gelidus per artus vadit excussos tremor :
Exsanguis adsto: Crinis erectus riget.
Vix ipse valido spiritus gemitu viam
blank] Virg. Æn. ii. 120.
Obstupuere animis, gelidusque per ima cucurrit
and xii. 951. Illi solvuntur frigore membra.' Hume.
893 dropp'd] Mr. Bowle refers to Propert. El. iv. 9. and Pers. Sat. iii. 100.
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