Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n
Text snippets containing the quad
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A50924
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Paradise lost a poem in twelve books / the author John Milton.
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Milton, John, 1608-1674.
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1674
(1674)
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Wing M2144; ESTC R13351
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166,940
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342
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With me how can they then acquitted stand In sight of God Him after all Disputes Forc't I absolve all my evasions vain And reasonings though through Mazes lead me still But to my own conviction first and last On mee mee onely as the fourse and spring Of all corruption all the blame lights due So might the wrauth Fond wish couldst thou support That burden heavier then the Earth to bear Then all the World much heavier though divided With that bad Woman Thus what thou desir'st And what thou fearst alike destroyes all hope Of refuge and concludes thee miserable Beyond all past example and future To Satan only like both crime and doom O Conscience into what Abyss of fears And horrors hast thou driv'n me out of which I find no way from deep to deeper plung'd Thus Adam to himself lamented loud Through the still Night not now as ere man fell Wholsom and cool and mild but with black Air Accompanied with damps and dreadful gloom Which to his evil Conscience represented All things with double terror On the Ground Outstretcht he lay on the cold ground and oft Curs'd his Creation Death as oft accus'd Of tardie execution since denounc't The day of his offence Why comes not Death Said hee with one thrice acceptable stroke To end me Shall Truth fail to keep her word Justice Divine not hast'n to be just But Death comes not at call Justice Divine Mends not her slowest pace for prayers or cries O Woods O Fountains Hillocks Dales and Bowrs With other echo late I taught your Shades To answer and resound farr other Song Whom thus afflicted when sad Eve beheld Desolate where she sate approaching nigh Soft words to his fierce passion she assay'd But her with stern regard he thus repell'd Out of my sight thou Serpent that name best Befits thee with him leagu'd thy self as false And hateful nothing wants but that thy shape Like his and colour Serpentine may shew Thy inward fraud to warn all Creatures from thee Henceforth least that too heav'nly form pretended To hellish falshood snare them But for thee I had persisted happie had not thy pride And wandring vanitie when lest was safe Rejected my forewarning and disdain'd Not to be trusted longing to be seen Though by the Devil himself him overweening To over-reach but with the Serpent meeting Fool'd and beguil'd by him thou I by thee To trust thee from my side imagin'd wise Constant mature proof against all assaults And understood not all was but a shew Rather then solid vertu all but a Rib Crooked by nature bent as now appears More to the part sinister from me drawn Well if thrown out as supernumerarie To my just number found O why did God Creator wise that peopl'd highest Heav'n With Spirits Masculine create at last This noveltie on Earth this fair defect Of Nature and not fill the World at once With Men as Angels without Feminine Or find some other way to generate Mankind this mischief had not then befall'n And more that shall befall innumerable Disturbances on Earth through Femal snares And straight conjunction with this Sex for either He never shall find out fit Mate but such As some misfortune brings him or mistake Or whom he wishes mod shall seldom gain Through her perversness but shall see her gaind By a farr worse or if she love withheld By Parents or his happiest choice too late Shall meet alreadie linkt and Wedlock-bound To a fell Adversarie his hate or shame Which infinite calamine shall cause To Humane life and houshold peace confound He added not and from her turn'd but Eve Not so repulst with Tears that ceas'd not flowing And tresses all disorderd at his feet Fell humble and imbracing them besaught His peace and thus proceeded in her plaint Forsake me not thus Adam witness Heav'n What love sincere and reverence in my heart I beare thee and unweeting have offended Unhappilie deceav'd thy suppliant I beg and clasp thy knees bereave me not Whereon I live thy gentle looks thy aid Thy counsel in this uttermost distress My onely strength and stay forlorn of thee Whither shall I betake me where subsist While yet we live scarse one short hour perhaps Between us two let there be peace both joyning As joyn'd in injuries one enmitie Against a Foe by doom express assign'd us That cruel Serpent On me exercise not Thy hatred for this miserie befall'n On me alreadie lost mee then thy self More miserable both have sin'd but thou Against God onely I against God and thee And to the place of judgment will return There with my cries importune Heaven that all The sentence from thy head remov'd may ligh On me sole cause to thee of all this woe Mee mee onely just object of his ire She ended weeping and her lowlie plight Immoveable till peace obtain'd from fault Acknowledg'd and deplor'd in Adam wraught Commiseration soon his heart relented Towards her his life so late and sole delight Now at his feet submissive in distress Creature so faire his reconcilement seeking His counsel whom she had displeas'd his aide As one disarm'd his anger all he lost And thus with peaceful words uprais'd her soon Unwarie and too desirous as before So now of what thou knowst not who desir'st The punishment all on thy self alas Beare thine own first ill able to sustaine His full wrauth whose thou feelst as yet lest part And my displeasure bearst so ill If Prayers Could alter high Decrees I to that place Would speed before thee and be louder heard That on my head all might be visited Thy frailtie and infirmer Sex forgiv'n To me committed and by me expos'd But rise let us no more contend nor blame Each other blam'd enough elsewhere but strive In offices of Love how we may light'n Each others burden in our share of woe Since this days Death denounc't if ought I see Will prove no sudden but a slow pac't evill A long days dying to augment our paine And to our Seed O hapless Seed deriv'd To whom thus Eve recovering heart repli'd Adam by sad experiment I know How little weight my words with thee can finde Found so erroneous thence by just event Found so unfortunate nevertheless Restor'd by thee vile as I am to place Of new acceptance hopeful to regaine Thy Love the sole contentment of my heart Living or dying from thee I will not hide What thoughts in my unquiet brest are ris'n Tending to some relief of our extremes Or end though sharp and sad yet tolerable As in our evils and of easier choice If care of our descent perplex us most Which must be born to certain woe devourd By Death at last and miserable it is To be to others cause of misery Our own begotten and of our Loines to bring Into this cursed World a woful Race That after wretched Life must be at last Food for so foule a Monster in thy power It lies yet ere Conception to prevent The Race unblest to being yet
many are the Trees of God that grow In Paradise and various yet unknown To us in such aboundance lies our choice As leaves a greater store of Fruit untoucht Still hanging incorruptible till men Grow up to thir provision and more hands Help to disburden Nature of her Bearth To whom the wilie Adder blithe and glad Empress the way is readie and not long Beyond a row of Myrtles on a Flat Fast by a Fountain one small Thicket past Of blowing Myrrh and Balme if thou accept My conduct I can bring thee thither soon Lead then said Eve Hee leading swiftly rowld In tangles and made intricate seem strait To mischief swift Hope elevates and joy Bright'ns his Crest as when a wandring Fire Compact of unctuous vapor which the Night Condenses and the cold invirons round Kindl'd through agitation to a Flame Which oft they say some evil Spirit attends Hovering and blazing with delusive Light Misleads th' amaz'd Night-wanderer from his way To Boggs and Mires and oft through Pond or Poole There swallow'd up and lost from succour farr So glister'd the dire Snake and into fraud Led Eve our credulous Mother to the Tree Of prohibition root of all our woe Which when she saw thus to her guide she spake Serpent we might have spar'd our coming hither Fruitless to mee though Fruit be here to excess The credit of whose vertue rest with thee Wondrous indeed if cause of such effects But of this Tree we may not taste nor touch God so commanded and left that Command Sole Daughter of his voice the rest we live Law to our selves our Reason is our Law To whom the Tempter guilefully repli'd Indeed hath God then said that of the Fruit Of all these Garden Trees ye shall not eate Yet Lords declar'd of all in Earth or Aire To whom thus Eve yet sinless Of the Fruit Of each Tree in the Garden we may eate But of the Fruit of this fair Tree amidst The Garden God hath said Ye shall not eate Thereof nor shall ye touch it least ye die She scarse had said though brief when now more The Tempter but with shew of Zeale and Love To Man and indignation at his wrong New part puts on and as to passion mov'd Fluctuats disturbd yet comely and in act Rais'd as of som great matter to begin As when of old som Orator renound In Athens or free Rome where Eloquence Flourishd since mute to som great cause addrest Stood in himself collected while each part Motion each act won audience ere the tongue Somtimes in highth began as no delay Of Preface brooking through his Zeal of Right So standing moving or to highth upgrown The Tempter all impassiond thus began O Sacred Wise and Wisdom-giving Plant Mother of Science Now I feel thy Power Within me cleere not onely to discerne Things in thir Causes but to trace the wayes Of highest Agents deemd however wise Queen of this Universe doe not believe Those rigid threats of Death ye shall not Die How should ye by the Fruit it gives you Life To Knowledge By the Threatner look on mee Mee who have touch'd and tasted yet both live And life more perfet have attaind then Fate Meant mee by vending higher then my Lot Shall that be shut to Man which to the Beast Is open or will God incense his ire For such a petty Trespass and not praise Rather your dauntless vertue whom the pain Of Death denounc't whatever thing Death be Deterrd not from atchieving what might leade To happier life knowledge of Good and Evil Of good how just of evil if what is evil Be real why not known since easier shunnd God therefore cannot hurt ye and be just Not just not God not feard then nor obeyd Your feare it self of Death removes the feare Why then was this forbid Why but to awe Why but to keep ye low and ignorant His worshippers he knows that in the day Ye Eate thereof your Eyes that seem so cleere Yet are but dim shall perfetly be then Op'nd and cleerd and ye shall be as Gods Knowing both Good and Evil as they know That ye should be as Gods since I as Man Internal Man is but proportion meet I of brute human yee of human Gods So ye shall die perhaps by putting off Human to put on Gods death to be wisht Though threat'nd which no worse then this can bring And what are Gods that Man may not become As they participating God-like food The Gods are first and that advantage use On our belief that all from them proceeds I question it for this fair Earth I see Warm'd by the Sun producing every kind Them nothing If they all things who enclos'd Knowledge of Good and Evil in this Tree That whoso eats thereof forthwith attains Wisdom without their leave and wherein lies Th' offence that Man should thus attain to know What can your knowledge hurt him or this Tree Impart against his will it all be his Or is it envie and can envie dwell In heav'nly brests these these and many more Causes import your need of this fair Fruit. Goddess humane reach then and freely taste He ended and his words replete with guile Into her heart too easie entrance won Fixt on the Fruit she gaz'd which to behold Might tempt alone and in her cars the sound Yet rung of his perswasive words impregn'd With Reason to her seeming and with Truth Mean while the hour of Noon drew on and wak'd An eager appetite rais'd by the smell So savorie of that Fruit which with desire Inclinable now grown to touch or taste Sollicited her longing eye yet first Pausing a while thus to her self she mus'd Great are thy Vertues doubtless best of Fruits Though kept from Man and worthy to be admir'd Whose taste too long forborn at first assay Gave elocution to the mute and taught The Tongue not made for Speech to speak thy praise Thy praise hee also who forbids thy use Conceales not from us naming thee the Tree Of Knowledge knowledge both of good and evil Forbids us then to taste but his forbidding Commends thee more while it inferrs the good By thee communicated and our want For good unknown sure is not had or had And yet unknown is as not had at all In plain then what forbids he but to know Forbids us good forbids us to be wise Such prohibitions binde not But if Death Bind us with after-bands what profits then Our inward freedom In the day we eate Of this fair Fruit our doom is we shall die How dies the Serpent hee hath eat'n and lives And knows and speaks and reasons and discerns Irrational till then For us alone Was death invented or to us deni'd This intellectual food for beasts reserv'd For Beasts it seems yet that one Beast which first Hath tasted envies not but brings with joy The good befall'n him Author unsuspect Friendly to man farr from deceit or guile What fear I then rather what know to feare Under this