Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/399

Rh Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth, Surfeit and lust, till wantonness and pride Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace. The conquered also and enslaved by war Shall, with their freedom lost, all virtue lose And fear of God, from whom their piety feigned In sharp contest of battle found no aid Against invaders; therefore, cooled in zeal, Thenceforth shall practise how to live secure, Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords Shall leave them to enjoy; for the earth shall bear More than enough, that temperance may be tried. So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved, Justice and temperance, truth and faith forgot; One man except, the only sun of light In a dark age, against example good, Against allurement, custom, and a world Offended; fearless of reproach and scorn, Or violence, he of their wicked ways Shall them admonish, and before them set The paths of righteousness, how much more safe, And full of peace, denouncing wrath to come On their impenitence; and shall return Of them derided, but of God observed The one just man alive: by his command Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheldest, To save himself and household, from amidst