He ruin'd; now mankind; whom will he next?' Matter of scorn, not to be given the foe. However, I with thee have fix'd my lot, Certain to undergo like doom; if death Consort with thee, death is to me as life; So forcible within my heart I feel The bond of nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou art is mine: Our state cannot be sever'd; we are one, One flesh; to lose thee were to lose myself." So Adam, and thus Eve to him replied: "O glorious trial of exceeding love, Illustrious evidence, example high! Engaging me to emulate; but, short Of thy perfection, how shall I attain, Adam? from whose dear side I boast me sprung, And gladly of our union hear thee speak, One heart, one soul in both; whereof good proof This day affords, declaring thee resolved,
Rather than death, or aught than death more Shall separate us, link'd in love so dear, To undergo with me, one guilt, one crime, If any be, of tasting this fair fruit;
Whose virtue (for of good still good proceeds, Direct or by occasion,) hath presented This happy trial of thy love, which else So eminently never had been known.
Were it I thought death menac'd would ensue This my attempt, I would sustain alone The worst, and not persuade thee; rather die Deserted, than oblige thee with a fact
Pernicious to thy peace: chiefly, assured Remarkably so late of thy so true,
So faithful, love unequall'd: but I feel
Far otherwise the event; not death, but life Augmented, open'd eyes, new hopes, new joys, Taste so divine, that what of sweet before Hath touch'd my sense, flat seems to this, and On my experience, Adam, freely taste, And fear of death deliver to the winds."
So saying, she embrac'd him, and for joy Tenderly wept; much won that he his love Had so ennobled, as of choice to incur Divine displeasure for her sake, or death. In recompense, (for such compliance bad Such recompense best merits,) from the bough She gave him of that fair enticing fruit With liberal hand: he scrupled not to eat, Against his better knowledge; not deceived, But fondly overcome with female charm. Earth trembled from her entrails, as again In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan; Sky lour'd, and muttering thunder, some sad drops Wept at completing of the mortal sin
Original; while Adam took no thought, Eating his fill; nor Eve to iterate
Her former trespass fear'd, the more to soothe Him with her lov'd society; that now,
As with new wine intoxicated both,
They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel
Divinity within them, breeding wings
Wherewith to scorn the earth: but that false fruit
Far other operation first display'd, Carnal desire inflaming: he on Eve Began to cast lascivious eyes; she him As wantonly repaid; in lust they burn: Till Adam thus 'gan Eve to dalliance move: "Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste, And elegant, of sapience no small part; Since to each meaning savour we apply, And palate call judicious: I the praise Yield thee, so well this day thou hast purvey'd. Much pleasure we have lost, while we abstain'd From this delightful fruit, nor known till now True relish, tasting; if such pleasure be In things to us forbidden, it might be wish'd, For this one tree had been forbidden ten. But come, so well refresh'd, now let us play, As meet is, after such delicious fare; For never did thy beauty, since the day I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorn'd With all perfections, so inflame my sense With ardour to enjoy thee, fairer now Than ever, bounty of this virtuous tree!"
So said he, and forbore not glance or toy Of amorous intent, well understood Of Eve, whose eye darted contagious fire. Her hand he seized; and to a shady bank, Thick over-head with verdant roof embower'd, He led her, nothing loath; flowers were the couch, Pansies, and violets, and asphodel,
And hyacinth; earth's freshest, softest lap. Their they their fill of love and love's disport
Took largely, of their mutual guilt the seal, The solace of their sin; till dewy sleep
Oppress'd them, wearied with their amorous play. Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit, That with exhilarating vapour bland
About their spirits had play'd, and inmost powers Made err, was now exhaled; and grosser sleep, Bred of unkindly fumes, with conscious dreams Encumber'd, now had left them; up they rose As from unrest, and, each the other viewing, Soon found their eyes how open'd, and their minds How darken'd; innocence, that as a veil Had shadow'd them from knowing ill, was gone: Just confidence, and native righteousness, And honour, from about them, naked left To guilty shame: he covered, but his robe Uncover'd more. So rose the Danite strong, Herculean Samson, from the harlot-lap Of Philistean Delilah, and waked
Shorn of his strength; they destitute and bare Of all their virtue: silent, and in face Confounded, long they sat, as stricken mute; Till Adam, though not less than Eve abash'd, At length gave utterance to these words constrain'd: "O Eve, in evil hour thou did'st give ear To that false worm, of whomsoever taught To counterfeit man's voice; true in our fall, False in our promised rising; since our eyes Open'd we find indeed, and find we know Both good and evil; good lost, and evil got; Bad fruit of knowledge, if this be to know;
Which leaves us naked thus, of honour void, Of innocence, of faith, of purity,
Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained, And in our faces evident the signs
Of foul concupiscence; whence evil store, Even shame, the last of evils: of the first Be sure then. How shall I behold the face Henceforth, of God or angel, erst with joy And rapture so oft beheld? those heavenly shapes Will dazzle now this earthly, with their blaze Insufferably bright. O, might I here
In solitude live savage, in some glade Obscured; where highest woods, impenetrable To star or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad And brown as evening! Cover me, ye pines! Ye cedars, with innumerable boughs, Hide me, where I may never see them more! But let us now, as in bad plight, devise What best may for the present serve to hide The parts of each from other, that seem most To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen: Some tree, whose broad smooth leaves, together And girded on our loins, may cover round [sew'd Those middle parts; that this new comer, Shame, There sit not, and reproach us as unclean."
So counsell'd he, and both together went Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd, But such as at this day, to Indians known In Malabar or Decan, spreads her arms, Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
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