"These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then! Unspeakable! who sitt'st above these heavens To us invisible, or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works; yet these declare Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine. Speak, ye who best can tell, ye Sons of Light, Angels for ye behold him, and with songs And choral symphonies, day without night, Circle his throne rejoicing—ye in Heaven; On Earth join, all ye creatures, to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end. Fairest of Stars, last in the train of Night,
If better thou belong not to the Dawn,
Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere While day arises, that sweet hour of prime. Thou Sun, of this great World both eye and soul, Acknowledge him thy greater; sound his praise In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st, And when high noon hast gained, and when thou fall'st.
Moon, that now meet'st the orient Sun, now fliest, With the fixed stars, fixed in their orb that flies; And ye five other wandering Fires, that move In mystic dance, not without song, resound His praise who out of Darkness called up Light. Air, and ye Elements, the eldest birth
Of Nature's womb, that in quaternion run Perpetual circle, multiform, and mix
And nourish all things, let your ceaseless change Vary to our great Maker still new praise. Ye Mists and Exhalations, that now rise From hill or steaming lake, dusky or gray,
Till the sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold, In honour to the World's great Author rise; Whether to deck with clouds the uncoloured sky, Or wet the thirsty earth with falling showers, Rising or falling, still advance his praise.
His praise, ye Winds, that from four quarters blow, Breathe soft or loud; and wave your tops, ye Pines, With every Plant, in sign of worship wave. Fountains and ye, that warble, as ye flow, Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise. Join voices, all ye living Souls. Ye Birds, That, singing, up to Heaven-gate ascend, Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise. Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk The earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep, Witness if I be silent, morn or even,
To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade, Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise. Hail, universal Lord! Be bounteous still To give us only good; and, if the night Have gathered aught of evil, or concealed, Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark."
So prayed they innocent, and to their thoughts Firm peace recovered soon, and wonted calm. On to their morning's rural work they haste, Among sweet dews and flowers, where any row Of fruit-trees, over-woody, reached too far
Their pampered boughs, and needed hands to check Fruitless embraces: or they led the vine
To wed her elm; she, spoused, about him twines Her marriageable arms, and with her brings Her dower, the adopted clusters, to adorn His barren leaves. Them thus employed beheld With pity Heaven's high King, and to him called Raphael, the sociable Spirit, that deigned
To travel with Tobias, and secured
His marriage with the seven-times-wedded maid.
'Raphael," said he, "thou hear'st what stir on Earth Satan, from Hell scaped through the darksome Gulf, Hath raised in Paradise, and how disturbed
This night the human pair; how he designs
In them at once to ruin all mankind.
Go, therefore; half this day, as friend with friend, Converse with Adam, in what bower or shade Thou find'st him from the heat of noon retired To respite his day-labour with repast Or with repose; and such discourse bring on As may advise him of his happy state- Happiness in his power left free to will, Left to his own free will, his will though free Yet mutable. Whence warn him to beware He swerve not, too secure: tell him withal His danger, and from whom; what enemy, Late fallen himself from Heaven, is plotting now The fall of others from like state of bliss. By violence? no, for that shall be withstood; But by deceit and lies. This let him know, Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend Surprisal, unadmonished, unforewarned."
So spake the Eternal Father, and fulfilled All justice. Nor delayed the winged Saint After his charge received; but from among Thousand celestial Ardours, where he stood Veiled with his gorgeous wings, upspringing light, Flew through the midst of Heaven. The angelic quires, On each hand parting, to his speed gave way Through all the empyreal road, till, at the gate Of Heaven arrived, the gate self-opened wide,
On golden hinges turning, as by work Divine the sovran Architect had framed.
From hence no cloud or, to obstruct his sight,
Star interposed, however small-he sees,
Not unconform to other shining globes,
Earth, and the Garden of God, with cedars crowned 260
Above all hills; as when by night the glass
Of Galileo, less assured, observes
Imagined lands and regions in the Moon; Or pilot from amidst the Cyclades Delos or Samos first appearing kens, A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air, till, within soar Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems A phoenix, gazed by all, as that sole bird, When, to enshrine his relics in the Sun's Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies. At once on the eastern cliff of Paradise He lights, and to his proper shape returns, A Seraph winged. Six wings he wore, to shade His lineaments divine: the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad came mantling o'er his breast With regal ornament; the middle pair
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold And colours dipt in heaven; the third his feet Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail, Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood, And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance filled The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands Of Angels under watch, and to his state And to his message high in honour rise; For on some message high they guessed him bound. Their glittering tents he passed, and now is come
Into the blissful field, through groves of myrrh, And flowering odours, cassia, nard, and balm, A wilderness of sweets; for Nature here Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet, Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss. Him, through the spicy forest onward come, Adam discerned, as in the door he sat
Of his cool bower, while now the mounted Sun
Shot down direct his fervid rays, to warm Earth's inmost womb, more warmth than Adam needs; And Eve, within, due at her hour, prepared
For dinner savoury fruits, of taste to please True appetite, and not disrelish thirst
Of nectarous draughts between, from milky stream, Berry or grape: to whom thus Adam called :- "Haste hither, Eve, and, worth thy sight, behold Eastward among those trees what glorious Shape Comes this way moving; seems another morn Risen on mid-noon. Some great behest from Heaven To us perhaps he brings, and will voutsafe This day to be our guest. But go with speed, And what thy stores contain bring forth, and pour Abundance fit to honour and receive
Our heavenly stranger; well we may afford Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow From large bestowed, where Nature multiplies Her fertile growth, and by disburdening grows More fruitful; which instructs us not to spare."
To whom thus Eve:-" Adam, Earth's hallowed mould,
Of God inspired, small store will serve where store, All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk; Save what, by frugal storing, firmness gains To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes.
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