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Complete Poetry and Selected Prose of John Milton

Page 73

by John Milton


  As lightly from his grassy Couch up rose

  Our Saviour, and found all was but a dream,

  Fasting he went to sleep, and fasting wak’d.

  285

  Up to a hill anon his steps he rear’d,

  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,

  290

  With chaunt of tuneful Birds resounding loud;

  Thither he bent his way, determin’d there

  To rest at noon, and enter’d soon the shade

  High rooft and walks beneath, and alleys brown

  That open’d in the midst a woody Scene,

  295

  Natures own work it seem’d (Nature taught Art)

  And to a Superstitious eye the haunt

  Of Wood-Gods and Wood-Nymphs; he view’d it round,

  When suddenly a man before him stood,

  Not rustic as before, but seemlier clad,

  300

  As one in City, or Court, or Palace bred,

  And with fair speech these words to him address’d.

  With granted leave officious I return,

  But much more wonder that the Son of God

  In this wild solitude so long should bide

  305

  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-woman21 with her Son

  Out cast Nebaioth, yet found he relief

  310

  By a providing Angel; all the race

  Of Israel here had famish’d, had not God

  Rain’d from Heav’n Manna,22 and that Prophet23 bold

  Native of Thebez wandring here was fed

  Twice by a voice inviting him to eat.

  315

  Of thee these 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 reply’d,

  320

  Tell me if Food were now before thee set,

  Would’st thou not eat? Thereafter as I like

  The giver, answer’d Jesus. Why should that

  Cause thy refusal, said the subtle Fiend,

  Hast thou not right to all Created things,

  325

  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 offer’d first

  To Idols, those young Daniel could refuse;

  330

  Nor proffer’d by an Enemy, though who

  Would scruple that, with want opprest? behold

  Nature asham’d, or better to express,

  Troubl’d that thou shouldst hunger, hath purvey’d

  From all the Elements her choicest store

  335

  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

  340

  A Table richly spred, in regal mode,

  With dishes pil’d, and meats of noblest sort

  And savour, Beasts of chase, or Fowl of game,

  In pastry built, or from the spit, or boyl’d,

  Gris-amber-steam’d; all Fish from Sea or Shore,

  345

  Freshet, or purling Brook, of shell or fin,

  And exquisitest name, for which was drain’d

  Pontus and Lucrine Bay,24 and Afric Coast.

  Alas how simple, to these Cates compar’d,

  Was that crude Apple that diverted Eve!

  350

  And at a stately side-board by the wine

  That fragrant smell diffus’d, in order stood

  Tall stripling youths rich clad, or fairer hew

  Then Ganymed or Hylas,25 distant more

  Under the Trees now trip’d, now solemn stood

  355

  Nymphs of Dianas train, and Naiades

  With fruits and flowers from Amalthea’s horn,26

  And Ladies of th’ Hesperides,27 that seem’d

  Fairer then feign’d of old, or fabl’d since

  Of Fairy Damsels met in Forest wide

  360

  By Knights of Logres, or of Lyones,

  Lancelot or Pelleas, or Pellenore,28

  And all the while Harmonious Airs were heard

  Of chiming strings, or charming pipes and winds

  Of gentlest gale Arabian odors fann’d

  365

  From their soft wings, and Flora’s29 earliest smells.

  Such was the Splendour, and the Tempter now

  His invitation earnestly renew’d.

  What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat?

  These are not Fruits forbidd’n, no interdict

  370

  Defends30 the touching of these viands pure,

  Thir 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,

  375

  Thy gentle Ministers, who come to pay

  Thee homage, and acknowledge thee thir Lord:

  What doubt’st thou Son of God? sit down and eat.

  To whom thus Jesus temperately reply’d:

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

  380

  And who withholds my pow’r that right to use?

  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,

  385

  And call swift flights of Angels ministrant

  Array’d in Glory on my cup t’ 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?

  390

  Thy pompous Delicacies I contemn,

  And count thy specious gifts no gifts but guiles.

  To whom thus answer’d Satan malecontent:

  That I have also power to give thou seest,

  If of that pow’r I bring thee voluntary

  395

  What I might have bestow’d on whom I pleas’d,

  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;

  400

  Of these things others quickly will dispose

  Whose pains have earn’d the far-fet31 spoil. With that

  Both Table and Provision vanish’d quite

  With sound of Harpies wings, and Talons heard;

  Only the importune Tempter still remain’d,

  405

  And with these words his temptation pursu’d.

  By hunger, that each other Creature tames,

  Thou art not to be harm’d, therefore not mov’d;

  Thy temperance invincible besides,

  For no allurement yields to appetite,

  410

  And all thy heart is set on high designs,

  High actions; but wherewith to be atchiev’d?

  Great acts require great means of enterprise,

  Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,

  A Carpenter thy Father known, thy self

  415

  Bred up in poverty and streights at home;
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  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,

  420

  Or at thy heels the dizzy Multitude,

  Longer then thou canst feed them on thy cost?

  Money brings Honour, Friends, Conquest, and Realms;

  What rais’d Antipater the Edomite,

  And his Son Herod plac’d on Juda’s Throne;

  425

  (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;

  430

  They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain,

  While Virtue, Valour, Wisdom sit in want.32

  To whom thus Jesus patiently reply’d;

  Yet Wealth without these three is impotent,

  To gain dominion or to keep it gain’d.

  435

  Witness those antient Empires of the Earth,

  In highth of all thir flowing wealth dissolv’d:

  But men endu’d with these have oft attain’d

  In lowest poverty to highest deeds;

  Gideon and Jephtha, and the Shepherd lad,33

  440

  Whose off-spring on the Throne of Juda sat

  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

  445

  Worthy of Memorial) canst thou not remember

  Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus?34

  For I esteem those names of men so poor

  Who could do mighty things, and could contemn

  Riches though offer’d from the hand of Kings.

  450

  And what in me seems wanting, but that I

  May also in this poverty as soon

  Accomplish what they did, perhaps and more?

  Extol not Riches then, the toyl35 of Fools,

  The wise mans cumbrance if not snare, more apt

  455

  To slacken Virtue, and abate her edge,

  Then prompt her to do aught may merit praise.

  What if with like aversion I reject

  Riches and Realms; yet not for that a Crown,

  Golden in shew, is but a wreath of thorns,

  460

  Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights

  To him who wears the Regal Diadem,

  When on his shoulders each mans burden lies;

  For therein stands the office of a King,

  His Honour, Vertue, Merit and chief Praise,

  465

  That for the Publick all this weight he bears.

  Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules

  Passions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King;

  Which every wise and vertuous man attains:

  And who attains not, ill aspire to rule

  470

  Cities of men, or head-strong Multitudes,

  Subject himself to Anarchy within,

  Or lawless passions in him which he serves.

  But to guide Nations in the way of truth

  By saving Doctrine, and from errour lead

  475

  To know, and knowing worship God aright,

  Is yet more Kingly, this attracts the Soul,

  Governs the inner man, the nobler part,

  That other o’re the body only reigns,

  And oft by force, which to a generous mind

  480

  So reigning can be no sincere delight.

  Besides to give a Kingdom hath been thought

  Greater and nobler done, and to lay down

  Far more magnanimous, then to assume.

  Riches are needless then, both for themselves,

  485

  And for thy reason why they should be sought,

  To gain a Scepter, oftest better miss’t.

  * * *

  1 Elijah; see 2 Kings ii.

  2 Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would bear a son.

  3 Herod.

  4 Luke ii. 34–35.

  5 Luke ii. 42–49.

  6 nonplused.

  7 crowded state.

  8 tested.

  9 The profligate Belial is described in PL I, 490–501.

  10 the demon lover in Tobit iii, vi, who killed Tobias’ wife’s first seven husbands.

  11 demonic seducer.

  12 temperament.

  13 magnet.

  14 See 1 Kings xi. 1–8.

  15 Alexander the Great.

  16 Scipio Africanus.

  17 Venus’ ornamented girdle which Juno wore to charm Jove (Iliad, XIV, 214–18).

  18 See Son. 9, n. 2.

  19 The accounts of Elijah here are found in 1 Kings xvii. 3–7, xix. 4–8.

  20 peas, lentils, or beans; Dan. i. 8–16.

  21 Hagar (Gen. xxi. 14–19). However, her son was Ishmael; his son was Nebaioth.

  22 See Exod. xvi.

  23 Elijah.

  24 the Black Sea and the bay near Naples.

  25 See El. 7, n. 2, 3.

  26 horn of plenty.

  27 the guardians of the golden tree; see Mask, ll. 981–83.

  28 English geographic areas or knights, all connected with King Arthur.

  29 goddess of flowers.

  30 forbids. Satan dissembles, as Michael Fixler pointed out (MLN, LXX, 1955, 573–77), for certain meats and shellfish (ll. 342–45) were proscribed.

  31 far-fetched.

  32 Compare the last lines of Sonnet 15.

  33 David; see Judges vi–viii, xi–xii, and 1 Sam. xvi–xvii.

  34 important early military leaders of Rome.

  35 snare.

  BOOK III

  So spake the Son of God, and Satan stood

  A while as mute confounded what to say,

  What to reply, confuted and convinc’t

  Of his weak arguing, and fallacious drift;

  5

  At length collecting all his Serpent wiles,

  With soothing words renew’d, him thus accosts.

  I see thou know’st what is of use to know,

  What best to say canst say, to do canst do;

  Thy actions to thy words accord, thy words

  10

  To thy large heart give utterance due, thy heart

  Conteins of good, wise, just, the perfect shape.

  Should Kings and Nations from thy mouth consult,

  Thy Counsel would be as the Oracle

  Urim and Thummim,1 those oraculous gems

  15

  On Aaron’s breast: or tongue of Seers old

  Infallible; or wert thou sought to deeds

  That might require th’ array of war, thy skill

  Of conduct would be such, that all the world

  Could not sustain thy Prowess, or subsist

  20

  In battel, though against thy few in arms.

  These God-like Vertues wherefore dost thou hide?

  Affecting private life, or more obscure

  In savage Wilderness, wherefore deprive

  All Earth her wonder at thy acts, thy self

  25

  The fame and glory, glory the reward

  That sole excites to high attempts the flame

  Of most erected Spirits, most temper’d pure

  Ætherial, who all pleasures else despise,

  All treasures and all gain esteem as dross,

  30

  And dignities and powers all but the highest?

  Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe, the Son

  Of Macedonian Philip had e’re these

  Won Asia and the Throne of Cyrus2 held

  At his dispose,
young Scipio had brought down

  35

  The Carthaginian pride, young Pompey quell’d

  The Pontic King3 and in triumph had rode.

  Yet years, and to ripe years judgment mature,

  Quench not the thirst of glory, but augment.

  Great Julius, whom now all the world admires

  40

  The more he grew in years, the more inflam’d

  With glory, wept that he had liv’d so long

  Inglorious: but thou yet art not too late.

  To whom our Saviour calmly thus reply’d.

  Thou neither dost perswade me to seek wealth

  45

  For Empires sake, nor Empire to affect

  For glories sake by all thy argument.

  For what is glory but the blaze of fame,

  The peoples praise, if always praise unmixt?

  And what the people but a herd confus’d,

  50

  A miscellaneous rabble, who extol

  Things vulgar, and well weigh’d, scarce worth the praise,

  They praise and they admire they know not what;

  And know not whom, but as one leads the other;

  And what delight to be by such extoll’d,

  55

  To live upon thir tongues and be thir talk,

  Of whom to be disprais’d were no small praise?

  His lot who dares be singularly good.

  Th’ intelligent among them and the wise

  Are few, and glory scarce of few is rais’d.

  60

  This is true glory and renown, when God

  Looking on th’ Earth, with approbation marks

  The just man, and divulges him through Heav’n

  To all his Angels, who with true applause

  Recount his praises; thus he did to Job,

  65

  When to extend his fame through Heav’n and Earth,

  As thou to thy reproach mayst well remember,

  He ask’d thee, hast thou seen my servant Job?

  Famous he was in Heav’n, on Earth less known;

  Where glory is false glory, attributed

  70

  To things not glorious, men not worthy of fame.

 

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