Forsake me not thus, Adam, witness heav'n What love sincere and reverence in my heart 915 I bear thee, and unweeting have offended, Unhappily deceiv'd; thy suppliant 920 I beg, and clasp thy knees; bereave me not Against a foe by doom express assign'd us, On me already lost, me than thy self 925 914 Forsake me not] So in the Adamus Exsul of Grotius, p. 64, Eve says, 'Per sancta thalami sacra, per jus nominis 921 forlorn] Ov. Met. i. 358. 925 Quid tibi, si sine me fatis erepta fuisses, Nunc animi, miseranda, foret? quo sola timorem Ferre modo posses? quo consolante doleres? Namque ego, crede mihi, si te modo pontus haberet one enmity] Bentley reads 'in enmity,' which reading Newton thinks not improbable. More miserable; both have sinn'd, but thou 930 Against God only, I against God and thee, And to the place of judgment will return, There with my cries importune heaven, that all 935 940 She ended weeping, and her lowly plight, Immoveable till peace obtain'd from fault Acknowledg'd and deplor'd, in Adam wrought Commiseration; soon his heart relented Towards her, his life so late and sole delight, Now at his feet submissive in distress, Creature so fair his reconcilement seeking, His counsel, whom she had displeas'd, his aid; As one disarm'd, his anger all he lost, And thus with peaceful words uprais'd her soon. Unwary and too desirous as before, So now of what thou know'st not, who desir❜st The punishment all on thy self; alas, Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain 945 950 His full wrath, whose thou feel'st as yet least part, 931 I against] So Grotii Adamus Exsul. p. 65. Ego duplex feci nefas, Cum fallor et cum fallo.' 955 But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame Each other's burden in our share of woe; 970 How little weight my words with thee can find, Or end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable, If care of our descent perplex us most, To be to others cause of misery, Our own begotten, and of our loins to bring That after wretched life must be at last 980 985 981 it is] Todd remarks, that a parenthesis commences at the words and miserable it is,' and comes down to ; SO foul a monster,' ver. 986. Food for so foul a monster, in thy power With like desire, which would be misery, And torment less than none of what we dread, 990 995 From what we fear for both, let us make short, 1000 Let us seek Death, or, he not found, supply With our own hands his office on ourselves : 987 conception] Why not conception already, since he has mentioned copulation twice?' Bentl. MS. 989 In Milton's own editions, and in others, this and the following line are thus printed Childless thou art, childless remain, So death shall be deceived his glut, and with us two, &c. This error went through both Milton's editions; and it was one that when the poem was read to him, his ear alone could not detect; but the continuance of it does not speak much in favour of the knowledge or attention of those who read to him. 1001 supply] So in the Adamus Exsul of Grotius, P. 61 Quid mihi exsequias nego? Tu manus! potius veni Ministra pœnæ, quæ fuisti criminum.’ Why stand we longer shivering under fears, She ended here, or vehement despair power 1005 Broke off the rest; so much of death her thoughts Had entertain'd, as dy'd her cheeks with pale. But Adam, with such counsel nothing sway'd, 1010 To better hopes his more attentive mind Labouring had rais'd, and thus to Eve reply'd. Eve, thy contempt of life and pleasure seems To argue in thee something more sublime And excellent than what thy mind contemns; 1015 But self-destruction therefore sought refutes That excellence thought in thee, and implies, Not thy contempt, but anguish and regret For loss of life and pleasure overlov'd. Or if thou covet death, as utmost end Of misery, so thinking to evade 1020 The penalty pronounc'd, doubt not but God 1009 pale] Virg. Æn. iv. 499. • Hæc effata silet; pallor simul occupat ora.' Jortin. Compare En. iv. 644. Lucan, vii. 130. Hume. |