1130

1135

And full of peace, now tost and turbulent:
For understanding rul'd not, and the will
Heard not her lore, both in subjection now
To sensual appetite, who from beneath
Usurping over sovran reason claim'd
Superior sway: from thus distemper'd breast,
Adam, estrang'd in look and alter'd stile,
Speech intermitted thus to Eve renew’d.

Would thou hadst hearken’d to my words, and stay'd
With me, as I besought thee, when that strange
Desire of wand’ring this unhappy morn,
I know pot whence possess’d thee; we had then
Remain'd still happy, not as now, despoil'd
Of all our good, sham’d, naked, miserable.
Let none henceforth seek needless cause to'approve
The faith they owe; when earnestly they seek
Such proof, conclude, they then begin to fail.

To whom soon mov'd with touch of blame thus Eve. What words have pass'd thy lips, Adam severe ! Imput'st thou that to my default, or will Of wand'ring, as thou call'st it, which who knows But might as ill have happen'd thou being by, Or to thyself perhaps ? hadst thou been there, Or here th' attempt, thou could'st not have discern'd Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake;

1141

1145

1150

1140. Let none henceforth seek

needless cause lo approve The faith they owe ;] As Eve had done when she said, ver. 335. And what is faith, love, virtue,

1155

1160

No ground of enmity between us known,
Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm.
Was I to have never parted from thy side?
As good have grown there still a lifeless rib.
Being as I am, why didst not thou the head
Command me absolụtely not to go,
Going into such danger as thou said'st?
Too facile then thou didst not much gainsay,
Nay didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss.
Hadst thou been firm and fix'd in thy dissent,
Neither had I transgress’d, nor thou with me.

To whom then first incens'd Adam replied.
Is this the love, is this the recompense
Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, express'd
Immutable when thou wert lost, not I,
Who might hạve liy'd and joy'd immortal bliss,
Yet willingly chose rather death with thee?
And am I now upbraided as the cause
Of thy transgressing ? not enough severe,
It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more?
I warn’d thee, I admonish'd thee, foretold
The danger, and the lurking enemy
That lay in wait; beyond this had been force,
And force upon free will hath here no place, .
But confidence then bore thee on, secure
Either to meet no danger, or to find

1165

1170

1175

1162. To whom then first in- love to thee, which was cens'd Adam replied.] As Adam pressed immutable when thou wert is now first angry, his speech is lost? abrupt and his sentences broken. 1170. -in thy restraint : ) Is this the love, Dr. Bentley reads This is the reading in all the Is this thy love, is this the re- first editions; but several of the compense of mine to thee, of my later ones have niy restraint.

1180

Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps
I also err'd in overmuch admiring
What seem'd in thee so perfect, that I thought
No evil durst attempt thee, but I rue
That error now, which is become my crime,
And thou th' accuser. Thus it shall befall
Him who to worth in women overtrusting
Lets her will rule ; restraint she will not brook,
And left to'herself, if evil thence ensue,
She first his weak indulgence will accuse.

Thus they in mutual accusation spent
The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning,
And of their vain contest appear'd no end.

1185

1183. in women overtrust- Dii boni, quid hoc morbi est ? adeon' ing) Dr. Bentley reads woman,

homines immutarier and I should rather prefer it on

Ex amore, ut non cognoscas cundem

esse ? account of what follows, her will, she will not brook, left to 1185. – if evil thence ensue, herself &c. though women may &c.] Juvenal, Sat. vi. 283. be justified, such a transition

-Nihil est audacius illis from the plural to the singular

Deprensis; iram atque animos a number being not uncommon in crimine sumunt. the best authors, as in Terence,

Hume. Eun. ii. i. 10.

PARADISE LOST.

BOOK X.