Paradise Regained Page 3

To find whom at the first they found unsought.

  But to his mother Mary, when she saw 60

  Others returned from baptism, not her Son,

  Nor left at Jordan tidings of him none,

  Within her breast though calm, her breast though pure,

  Motherly cares and fears got head, and raised

  Some troubled thoughts, which she in sighs thus clad:--

  "Oh, what avails me now that honour high,

  To have conceived of God, or that salute,

  'Hail, highly favoured, among women blest!'

  While I to sorrows am no less advanced,

  And fears as eminent above the lot 70

  Of other women, by the birth I bore:

  In such a season born, when scarce a shed

  Could be obtained to shelter him or me

  From the bleak air? A stable was our warmth,

  A manger his; yet soon enforced to fly

  Thence into Egypt, till the murderous king

  Were dead, who sought his life, and, missing, filled

  With infant blood the streets of Bethlehem.

  From Egypt home returned, in Nazareth

  Hath been our dwelling many years; his life 80

  Private, unactive, calm, contemplative,

  Little suspicious to any king. But now,

  Full grown to man, acknowledged, as I hear,

  By John the Baptist, and in public shewn,

  Son owned from Heaven by his Father's voice,

  I looked for some great change. To honour? no;

  But trouble, as old Simeon plain foretold,

  That to the fall and rising he should be

  Of many in Israel, and to a sign

  Spoken against--that through my very soul 90

  A sword shall pierce. This is my favoured lot,

  My exaltation to afflictions high!

  Afflicted I may be, it seems, and blest!

  I will not argue that, nor will repine.

  But where delays he now? Some great intent

  Conceals him. When twelve years he scarce had seen,

  I lost him, but so found as well I saw

  He could not lose himself, but went about

  His Father's business. What he meant I mused--

  Since understand; much more his absence now 100

  Thus long to some great purpose he obscures.

  But I to wait with patience am inured;

  My heart hath been a storehouse long of things

  And sayings laid up, pretending strange events."

  Thus Mary, pondering oft, and oft to mind

  Recalling what remarkably had passed

  Since first her Salutation heard, with thoughts

  Meekly composed awaited the fulfilling:

  The while her Son, tracing the desert wild,

  Sole, but with holiest meditations fed, 110

  Into himself descended, and at once

  All his great work to come before him set--

  How to begin, how to accomplish best

  His end of being on Earth, and mission high.

  For Satan, with sly preface to return,

  Had left him vacant, and with speed was gone

  Up to the middle region of thick air,

  Where all his Potentates in council sate.

  There, without sign of boast, or sign of joy,

  Solicitous and blank, he thus began:-- 120

  "Princes, Heaven's ancient Sons, AEthereal Thrones--

  Daemonian Spirits now, from the element

  Each of his reign allotted, rightlier called

  Powers of Fire, Air, Water, and Earth beneath

  (So may we hold our place and these mild seats

  Without new trouble!)--such an enemy

  Is risen to invade us, who no less

  Threatens than our expulsion down to Hell.

  I, as I undertook, and with the vote

  Consenting in full frequence was impowered, 130

  Have found him, viewed him, tasted him; but find

  Far other labour to be undergone

  Than when I dealt with Adam, first of men,

  Though Adam by his wife's allurement fell,

  However to this Man inferior far--

  If he be Man by mother's side, at least

  With more than human gifts from Heaven adorned,

  Perfections absolute, graces divine,

  And amplitude of mind to greatest deeds.

  Therefore I am returned, lest confidence 140

  Of my success with Eve in Paradise

  Deceive ye to persuasion over-sure

  Of like succeeding here. I summon all

  Rather to be in readiness with hand

  Or counsel to assist, lest I, who erst

  Thought none my equal, now be overmatched."

  So spake the old Serpent, doubting, and from all

  With clamour was assured their utmost aid

  At his command; when from amidst them rose

  Belial, the dissolutest Spirit that fell, 150

  The sensualest, and, after Asmodai,

  The fleshliest Incubus, and thus advised:--

  "Set women in his eye and in his walk,

  Among daughters of men the fairest found.

  Many are in each region passing fair

  As the noon sky, more like to goddesses

  Than mortal creatures, graceful and discreet,

  Expert in amorous arts, enchanting tongues

  Persuasive, virgin majesty with mild

  And sweet allayed, yet terrible to approach, 160

  Skilled to retire, and in retiring draw

  Hearts after them tangled in amorous nets.

  Such object hath the power to soften and tame

  Severest temper, smooth the rugged'st brow,

  Enerve, and with voluptuous hope dissolve,

  Draw out with credulous desire, and lead

  At will the manliest, resolutest breast,

  As the magnetic hardest iron draws.

  Women, when nothing else, beguiled the heart

  Of wisest Solomon, and made him build, 170

  And made him bow, to the gods of his wives."

  To whom quick answer Satan thus returned:--

  "Belial, in much uneven scale thou weigh'st

  All others by thyself. Because of old

  Thou thyself doat'st on womankind, admiring

  Their shape, their colour, and attractive grace,

  None are, thou think'st, but taken with such toys.

  Before the Flood, thou, with thy lusty crew,

  False titled Sons of God, roaming the Earth,

  Cast wanton eyes on the daughters of men, 180

  And coupled with them, and begot a race.

  Have we not seen, or by relation heard,

  In courts and regal chambers how thou lurk'st,

  In wood or grove, by mossy fountain-side,

  In valley or green meadow, to waylay

  Some beauty rare, Calisto, Clymene,

  Daphne, or Semele, Antiopa,

  Or Amymone, Syrinx, many more

  Too long--then lay'st thy scapes on names adored,

  Apollo, Neptune, Jupiter, or Pan, 190

  Satyr, or Faun, or Silvan? But these haunts

  Delight not all. Among the sons of men

  How many have with a smile made small account

  Of beauty and her lures, easily scorned

  All her assaults, on worthier things intent!

  Remember that Pellean conqueror,

  A youth, how all the beauties of the East

  He slightly viewed, and slightly overpassed;

  How he surnamed of Africa dismissed,

  In his prime youth, the fair Iberian maid. 200<
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  For Solomon, he lived at ease, and, full

  Of honour, wealth, high fare, aimed not beyond

  Higher design than to enjoy his state;

  Thence to the bait of women lay exposed.

  But he whom we attempt is wiser far

  Than Solomon, of more exalted mind,

  Made and set wholly on the accomplishment

  Of greatest things. What woman will you find,

  Though of this age the wonder and the fame,

  On whom his leisure will voutsafe an eye 210

  Of fond desire? Or should she, confident,

  As sitting queen adored on Beauty's throne,

  Descend with all her winning charms begirt

  To enamour, as the zone of Venus once

  Wrought that effect on Jove (so fables tell),

  How would one look from his majestic brow,

  Seated as on the top of Virtue's hill,

  Discountenance her despised, and put to rout

  All her array, her female pride deject,

  Or turn to reverent awe! For Beauty stands 220

  In the admiration only of weak minds

  Led captive; cease to admire, and all her plumes

  Fall flat, and shrink into a trivial toy,

  At every sudden slighting quite abashed.

  Therefore with manlier objects we must try

  His constancy--with such as have more shew

  Of worth, of honour, glory, and popular praise

  (Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wrecked);

  Or that which only seems to satisfy

  Lawful desires of nature, not beyond. 230

  And now I know he hungers, where no food

  Is to be found, in the wide Wilderness:

  The rest commit to me; I shall let pass

  No advantage, and his strength as oft assay."

  He ceased, and heard their grant in loud acclaim;

  Then forthwith to him takes a chosen band

  Of Spirits likest to himself in guile,

  To be at hand and at his beck appear,

  If cause were to unfold some active scene

  Of various persons, each to know his part; 240

  Then to the desert takes with these his flight,

  Where still, from shade to shade, the Son of God,

  After forty days' fasting, had remained,

  Now hungering first, and to himself thus said:--

  "Where will this end? Four times ten days I have passed

  Wandering this woody maze, and human food

  Nor tasted, nor had appetite. That fast

  To virtue I impute not, or count part

  Of what I suffer here. If nature need not,

  Or God support nature without repast, 250

  Though needing, what praise is it to endure?

  But now I feel I hunger; which declares

  Nature hath need of what she asks. Yet God

  Can satisfy that need some other way,

  Though hunger still remain. So it remain

  Without this body's wasting, I content me,

  And from the sting of famine fear no harm;

  Nor mind it, fed with better thoughts, that feed

  Me hungering more to do my Father's will."

  It was the hour of night, when thus the Son 260

  Communed in silent walk, then laid him down

  Under the hospitable covert nigh

  Of trees thick interwoven. There he slept,

  And dreamed, as appetite is wont to dream,

  Of meats and drinks, nature's refreshment sweet.

  Him thought he by the brook of Cherith stood,

  And saw the ravens with their horny beaks

  Food to Elijah bringing even and morn--

  Though ravenous, taught to abstain from what they brought;

  He saw the Prophet also, how he fled 270

  Into the desert, and how there he slept

  Under a juniper--then how, awaked,

  He found his supper on the coals prepared,

  And by the Angel was bid rise and eat,

  And eat the second time after repose,

  The strength whereof sufficed him forty days:

  Sometimes that with Elijah he partook,

  Or as a guest with Daniel at his pulse.

  Thus wore out night; and now the harald Lark

  Left his ground-nest, high towering to descry 280

  The Morn's approach, and greet her with his song.

  As lightly from his grassy couch up rose

  Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream;

  Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting waked.

  Up to a hill anon his steps he reared,

  From whose high top to ken the prospect round,

  If cottage were in view, sheep-cote, or herd;

  But cottage, herd, or sheep-cote, none he saw--

  Only in a bottom saw a pleasant grove,

  With chaunt of tuneful birds resounding loud. 290

  Thither he bent his way, determined there

  To rest at noon, and entered soon the shade

  High-roofed, and walks beneath, and alleys brown,

  That opened in the midst a woody scene;

  Nature's own work it seemed (Nature taught Art),

  And, to a superstitious eye, the haunt

  Of wood-gods and wood-nymphs. He viewed it round;

  When suddenly a man before him stood,

  Not rustic as before, but seemlier clad,

  As one in city or court or palace bred, 300

  And with fair speech these words to him addressed:--

  "With granted leave officious I return,

  But much more wonder that the Son of God

  In this wild solitude so long should bide,

  Of all things destitute, and, well I know,

  Not without hunger. Others of some note,

  As story tells, have trod this wilderness:

  The fugitive Bond-woman, with her son,

  Outcast Nebaioth, yet found here relief

  By a providing Angel; all the race 310

  Of Israel here had famished, had not God

  Rained from heaven manna; and that Prophet bold,

  Native of Thebez, wandering here, was fed

  Twice by a voice inviting him to eat.

  Of thee those forty days none hath regard,

  Forty and more deserted here indeed."

  To whom thus Jesus:--"What conclud'st thou hence?

  They all had need; I, as thou seest, have none."

  "How hast thou hunger then?" Satan replied.

  "Tell me, if food were now before thee set, 320

  Wouldst thou not eat?" "Thereafter as I like

  the giver," answered Jesus. "Why should that

  Cause thy refusal?" said the subtle Fiend.

  "Hast thou not right to all created things?

  Owe not all creatures, by just right, to thee

  Duty and service, nor to stay till bid,

  But tender all their power? Nor mention I

  Meats by the law unclean, or offered first

  To idols--those young Daniel could refuse;

  Nor proffered by an enemy--though who 330

  Would scruple that, with want oppressed? Behold,

  Nature ashamed, or, better to express,

  Troubled, that thou shouldst hunger, hath purveyed

  From all the elements her choicest store,

  To treat thee as beseems, and as her Lord

  With honour. Only deign to sit and eat."

  He spake no dream; for, as his words had end,

  Our Saviour, lifting up his eyes, beheld,

  In ample space under the broadest shade,

  A table richly spread in regal mode,
340

  With dishes piled and meats of noblest sort

  And savour--beasts of chase, or fowl of game,

  In pastry built, or from the spit, or boiled,

  Grisamber-steamed; all fish, from sea or shore,

  Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin,

  And exquisitest name, for which was drained

  Pontus, and Lucrine bay, and Afric coast.

  Alas! how simple, to these cates compared,

  Was that crude Apple that diverted Eve!

  And at a stately sideboard, by the wine, 350

  That fragrant smell diffused, in order stood

  Tall stripling youths rich-clad, of fairer hue

  Than Ganymed or Hylas; distant more,

  Under the trees now tripped, now solemn stood,

  Nymphs of Diana's train, and Naiades

  With fruits and flowers from Amalthea's horn,

  And ladies of the Hesperides, that seemed

  Fairer than feigned of old, or fabled since

  Of faery damsels met in forest wide

  By knights of Logres, or of Lyones, 360

  Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore.

  And all the while harmonious airs were heard

  Of chiming strings or charming pipes; and winds

  Of gentlest gale Arabian odours fanned

  From their soft wings, and Flora's earliest smells.

  Such was the splendour; and the Tempter now

  His invitation earnestly renewed:--

  "What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat?

  These are not fruits forbidden; no interdict

  Defends the touching of these viands pure; 370

  Their taste no knowledge works, at least of evil,

  But life preserves, destroys life's enemy,

  Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.

  All these are Spirits of air, and woods, and springs,

  Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay

  Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord.

  What doubt'st thou, Son of God? Sit down and eat."

  To whom thus Jesus temperately replied:--

  "Said'st thou not that to all things I had right?

  And who withholds my power that right to use? 380

  Shall I receive by gift what of my own,

  When and where likes me best, I can command?

  I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou,

  Command a table in this wilderness,

  And call swift flights of Angels ministrant,

  Arrayed in glory, on my cup to attend:

  Why shouldst thou, then, obtrude this diligence

  In vain, where no acceptance it can find?

  And with my hunger what hast thou to do?

  Thy pompous delicacies I contemn, 390

  And count thy specious gifts no gifts, but guiles."

  To whom thus answered Satan, male-content:--

  "That I have also power to give thou seest;

  If of that power I bring thee voluntary

  What I might have bestowed on whom I pleased,

  And rather opportunely in this place

  Chose to impart to thy apparent need,

  Why shouldst thou not accept it? But I see

  What I can do or offer is suspect.

  Of these things others quickly will dispose, 400

  Whose pains have earned the far-fet spoil." With that

  Both table and provision vanished quite,

  With sound of harpies' wings and talons heard;

  Only the importune Tempter still remained,

  And with these words his temptation pursued:--

  "By hunger, that each other creature tames,

  Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved;

  Thy temperance, invincible besides,

  For no allurement yields to appetite;

  And all thy heart is set on high designs, 410

  High actions. But wherewith to be achieved?

  Great acts require great means of enterprise;

  Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,

  A carpenter thy father known, thyself

  Bred up in poverty and straits at home,

  Lost in a desert here and hunger-bit.

  Which way, or from what hope, dost thou aspire

  To greatness? whence authority deriv'st?

  What followers, what retinue canst thou gain,

  Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, 420

  Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost?

  Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms.

  What raised Antipater the Edomite,

  And his son Herod placed on Juda's throne,

  Thy throne, but gold, that got him puissant friends?

  Therefore, if at great things thou wouldst arrive,

  Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap--

  Not difficult, if thou hearken to me.

  Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand;

  They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, 430

  While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want."

  To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:--

  "Yet wealth without these three is impotent

  To gain dominion, or to keep it gained--

  Witness those ancient empires of the earth,

  In highth of all their flowing wealth dissolved;

  But men endued with these have oft attained,

  In lowest poverty, to highest deeds--

  Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad

  Whose offspring on the throne of Juda sate 440

  So many ages, and shall yet regain

  That seat, and reign in Israel without end.

  Among the Heathen (for throughout the world

  To me is not unknown what hath been done

  Worthy of memorial) canst thou not remember

  Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?

  For I esteem those names of men so poor,

  Who could do mighty things, and could contemn

  Riches, though offered from the hand of kings.

  And what in me seems wanting but that I 450