Rolling in dust and gore.” To which our sire.
“Alas, both for the deed and for the cause!
But have I now seen death? Is this the way
I must return to native dust? O sight
Of terror, foul and ugly to behold,
Horrid to think, how horrible to feel!”
To whom thus Michael. “Death thou hast seen
In his first shape on man; but many shapes
Of Death, and many are the ways that lead
To his grim cave469, all dismal; yet to sense
More terrible at th’ entrance than within.
Some, as thou saw’st, by violent stroke shall die,
By fire, flood, famine; by intemperance more
In meats and drinks, which on the Earth shall bring
Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew
Before thee shall appear; that thou may’st know
What misery th’ inabstinence of Eve
Shall bring on men.” Immediately a place
Before his eyes appeared, sad, noisome, dark,
A lazar-house479 it seemed, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseased, all maladies
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms481
Of heart-sick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone and ulcer, colic pangs,
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy485
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Marasmus487, and wide-wasting pestilence,
Dropsies488, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans; Despair
Tended the sick busiest from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant Death his dart
Shook, but delayed to strike, though oft invoked
With vows, as their chief good, and final hope.
Sight so deform what heart of rock could long
Dry-eyed behold? Adam could not, but wept,
Though not of woman born496; compassion quelled
His best of man497, and gave him up to tears
A space, till firmer thoughts restrained excess,
And scarce recovering words his plaint renewed.
“O miserable mankind, to what fall
Degraded, to what wretched state reserved!
Better502 end here unborn. Why is life giv’n
To be thus wrested from us? Rather why
Obtruded on us thus? Who if we knew
What we receive, would either not accept
Life offered, or soon beg to lay it down,
Glad to be so dismissed in peace. Can thus
Th’ image of God in man created once
So goodly and erect, though faulty since,
To such unsightly sufferings be debased
Under inhuman pains? Why should not man,
Retaining still divine similitude
In part, from such deformities be free,
And for his Maker’s image sake exempt?”
“Their Maker’s image,” answered Michael, “then
Forsook them, when themselves they vilified
To serve ungoverned appetite, and took
His image whom they served, a brutish vice,
Inductive519 mainly to the sin of Eve.
Therefore so abject is their punishment,
Disfiguring not God’s likeness, but their own,
Or if his likeness, by themselves defaced
While they pervert pure nature’s healthful rules
To loathsome sickness, worthily, since they
God’s image did not reverence in themselves.”
“I yield it just,” said Adam, “and submit.
But is there yet no other way, besides
These painful passages, how we may come
To death, and mix with our connatural dust?”
“There is,” said Michael, “if thou well observe
The rule of531 not too much, by temperance taught
In what thou eat’st and drink’st, seeking from thence
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight,
Till many years over thy head return:
So may’st535 thou live, till like ripe fruit thou drop
Into thy mother’s lap, or be with ease
Gathered, not harshly plucked, for death mature:
This is old age; but then thou must outlive
Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change
To withered weak and gray; thy senses then
Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forgo,
To what thou hast, and for the air of youth
Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will reign
A melancholy damp544 of cold and dry
To weigh thy spirits down, and last consume
The balm of life.” To whom our ancestor.
“Henceforth I fly not death, nor would prolong
Life much, bent rather how I may be quit
Fairest and easiest of this cumbrous charge,
Which I must keep till my appointed day
Of rend’ring551 up, and patiently attend
My dissolution.” Michael replied,
“Nor love thy life, nor hate553; but what thou liv’st
Live well, how long or short permit to Heav’n:
And now prepare thee for another sight.”
He looked and saw a spacious plain, whereon556
Were tents of various hue; by some were herds
Of cattle grazing: others, whence the sound
Of instruments that made melodious chime
Was heard, of harp and organ; and who moved
Their stops and chords was seen: his volant561 touch
Instinct through all proportions low and high562
Fled and pursued transverse the resonant fugue563.
In other part stood one who at the forge
Laboring, two massy clods of iron and brass
Had melted (whether found where casual fire
Had wasted woods on mountain or in vale,
Down to the veins of Earth, thence gliding hot
To some cave’s mouth, or whether washed by stream
From underground) the liquid ore he drained
Into fit molds prepared; from which he formed
First his own tools; then, what might else be wrought
Fusile573 or grav’n in metal. After these,
But on the hither side a different sort
From the high neighboring hills, which was their seat,
Down to the plain descended: by their guise
Just men they seemed, and all their study bent
To worship God aright, and know his works
Not hid, nor those things last which might preserve
Freedom and peace to men: they on the plain
Long had not walked, when from the tents behold
A bevy of fair women, richly gay
In gems and wanton dress; to the harp they sung
Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on:
The men though grave, eyed them, and let their eyes
Rove without rein, till in the amorous net586
Fast caught, they liked, and each his liking chose;
And now of love they treat till th’ ev’ning star
Love’s harbinger appeared; then all in heat
They light the nuptial torch, and bid invoke
Hymen, then first to marriage rites invoked;
With feast and music all the tents resound.
Such happy interview593 and fair event
Of love and youth not lost, songs, garlands, flow’rs,
And charming symphonies attached595 the heart
Of Adam, soon inclined to admit delight,
The bent of nature; which he thus expressed.
“True opener of mine eyes, prime angel blest,
Much better seems this vision, and more hope
Of peaceful days portends, than those
two past;
Those were of hate and death, or pain much worse,
Here nature seems fulfilled in all her ends.”
To whom thus Michael. “Judge not what is best
By pleasure, though to nature seeming meet,
Created, as thou art, to nobler end
Holy and pure, conformity divine.
Those tents607 thou saw’st so pleasant, were the tents
Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his race
Who slew his brother; studious they appear
Of arts that polish life, inventors rare,
Unmindful of their Maker, though his spirit
Taught them, but they his gifts acknowledged none.
Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget;
For that fair female troop thou saw’st, that seemed
Of goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay,
Yet empty of all good wherein consists
Woman’s domestic honor and chief praise;
Bred only and completed to the taste
Of lustful appetence619, to sing, to dance,
To dress, and troll620 the tongue, and roll the eye.
To these that sober race of men, whose lives
Religious titled them the Sons of God622,
Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame
Ignobly, to the trains624 and to the smiles
Of these fair atheists, and now swim in joy,
(Erelong to swim at large626) and laugh; for which
The world erelong a world of tears must weep.”
To whom thus Adam of short joy bereft.
“O pity and shame, that they who to live well
Entered so fair, should turn aside to tread
Paths indirect, or in the mid way631 faint!
But still I see the tenor of man’s woe632
Holds on the same, from woman to begin.”
From man’s effeminate slackness it begins,”
Said th’ angel, “who should better hold his place
By wisdom, and superior gifts received.
But now prepare thee for another scene.”
He looked638 and saw wide territory spread
Before him, towns, and rural works between,
Cities of men with lofty gates and tow’rs,
Concourse in arms, fierce faces threat’ning war,
Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise642;
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed643,
Single or in array of battle ranged644
Both horse and foot, nor idly must’ring stood;
One way a band select from forage drives
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine
From a fat meadow ground; or fleecy flock,
Ewes and their bleating lambs over the plain,
Their booty; scarce with life the shepherds fly,
But call in aid, which makes a bloody fray;
With cruel tournament the squadrons join;
Where cattle pastured late, now scattered lies
With carcasses and arms th’ ensanguined654 field
Deserted: others to a city strong
Lay siege, encamped; by battery, scale, and mine656,
Assaulting; others from the wall defend
With dart and jav’lin, stones and sulfurous fire;
On each hand slaughter and gigantic deeds.
In other part the sceptered heralds call
To council in the city gates: anon
Grey-headed men and grave, with warriors mixed,
Assemble, and harangues are heard, but soon
In factious opposition, till at last
Of middle age one rising665, eminent
In wise deport, spake much of right and wrong,
Of justice, of religion, truth and peace,
And judgment from above: him old and young
Exploded669 and had seized with violent hands,
Had not a cloud descending snatched him thence
Unseen amid the throng: so violence
Proceeded, and oppression, and sword-law
Through all the plain, and refuge none was found.
Adam was all in tears, and to his guide
Lamenting turned full sad: “O what are these,
Death’s ministers, not men, who thus deal death
Inhumanly to men, and multiply
Ten-thousandfold the sin of him who slew
His brother; for of whom such massacre
Make they but of their brethren, men of men?
But who was that just man, whom had not Heav’n
Rescued, had in his righteousness been lost?”
To whom thus Michael. “These are the product
Of those ill-mated marriages thou saw’st:
Where good with bad were matched, who of themselves
Abhor to join; and by imprudence mixed,
Produce prodigious births of body or mind.687
Such were these giants, men of high renown;
For in those days might only shall be admired,
And valor and heroic virtue called;
To overcome in battle, and subdue
Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite
Manslaughter, shall be held the highest pitch
Of human glory, and for glory done
Of triumph, to be styled great conquerors,
Patrons of mankind, gods, and sons of gods,
Destroyers rightlier called and plagues of men.
Thus fame shall be achieved, renown on earth,
And what most merits fame in silence hid.
But he the sev’nth from thee700, whom thou beheld’st
The only righteous in a world perverse,
And therefore hated, therefore so beset
With foes for daring single to be just,
And utter odious truth, that God would come
To judge them with his saints: him the Most High
Rapt in a balmy cloud with wingèd steeds
Did, as thou saw’st, receive707, to walk with God
High in salvation and the climes of bliss,
Exempt from death, to show thee what reward
Awaits the good, the rest what punishment;
Which now direct thine eyes and soon behold.”
He looked,712 and saw the face of things quite changed;
All now was turned to jollity and game,
To luxury715 and riot, feast and dance,
Marrying or prostituting, as befell,
Rape or adultery, where passing fair717
Allured them; thence from cups to civil broils.
At length a reverend sire719 among them came,
And of their doings great dislike declared,
And testified against their ways; he oft
Frequented their assemblies, whereso met,
Triumphs or festivals, and to them preached
Conversion and repentance, as to souls
In prison under judgments imminent:
But all in vain: which when he saw, he ceased
Contending, and removed his tents far off;
Then from the mountain hewing timber tall,
Began to build a vessel of huge bulk,
Measured by cubit730, length, and breadth, and highth,
Smeared round with pitch, and in the side a door
Contrived, and of provisions laid in large
For man and beast: when lo a wonder strange!
Of every beast, and bird, and insect734 small
Came sevens and pairs735, and entered in, as taught
Their order: last the sire, and his three sons
With their four wives; and God made fast the door.
Meanwhile the738 south wind rose, and with black wings
Wide hovering, all the clouds together drove
From under Heav’n; the hills to their supply740
Vapor, and exhalation dusk741 and moist,
Sent up am
ain; and now the thickened sky
Like a dark ceiling stood; down rushed the rain
Impetuous, and continued till the earth
No more was seen; the floating vessel swum
Uplifted, and secure with beakèd prow
Rode tilting o’er the waves, all dwellings else
Flood overwhelmed, and them with all their pomp
Deep under water rolled; sea covered sea,
Sea without shore; and in their palaces
Where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped
And stabled; of mankind, so numerous late,
All left, in one small bottom753 swum embarked.
How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold
The end of all thy offspring, end so sad,755
Depopulation755; thee another flood,
Of tears and sorrow a flood thee also drowned,
And sunk thee as thy sons; till gently reared
By th’ angel, on thy feet thou stood’st at last,
Though comfortless, as when a father mourns
His children, all in view destroyed at once;
And scarce to th’ angel utter’dst thus thy plaint.
“O visions ill foreseen! Better had I
Lived ignorant of future, so had borne
My part of evil only, each day’s lot
Enough to bear; those now, that were dispensed766
The burd’n of many ages, on me light
At once, by my foreknowledge gaining birth
Abortive, to torment me ere their being,
With thought that they must be. Let no man seek
Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall
Him or his childern, evil he may be sure,
Which neither his foreknowing can prevent,
And he the future evil shall no less
In apprehension than in substance feel
Grievous to bear: but that care now is past,
Man is not whom777 to warn: those few escaped
Famine and anguish will at last consume
Wand’ring that wat’ry desert: I had hope
When violence was ceased, and war on Earth,
All would have then gone well, peace would have crowned
With length of happy days the race of man;
But I was far deceived; for now I see
Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste.
How comes it thus? Unfold, celestial guide,
And whether here the race of man will end.”
To whom thus Michael. “Those whom last thou saw’st
In triumph and luxurious wealth, are they
First seen in acts of prowess eminent
And great exploits, but of true virtue void;
Who having spilt much blood, and done much waste
Subduing nations, and achieved thereby
Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey,
Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth,