Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/306

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��PARADISE REGAINED

��Only the impor'tune Tempter still re- mained,

And with these words his temptation pur- sued:

" By hunger, that each other creature tames,

Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved ;

Thy temperance, invincible besides,

For no allurement yields to appetite;

And all thy heart is set on high designs, 410

High actions. But wherewith to be achieved ?

Great acts require great means of enter- prise ;

Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,

A carpenter thy father known, thyself

Bred up in poverty and straits at home,

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 retin'ue canst thou gain,

Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude, 420

Longer than thou canst feed them on thy cost?

Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms.

What raised Antipater the Edomite,

And his son Herod placed on Juda's throne,

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;

They whom I favour thrive in wealth amain, 430

While virtue, valour, wisdom, sit in want." To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:

" Yet wealth without these three is impo- tent

To gain dominion, or to keep it gained

Witness those ancient empires of the earth,

In highth of all their flowing wealth dis- solved;

But men endued with these have oft at- tained,

In lowest poverty, to highest deeds

Gideon, and Jephtha, and the shepherd lad

��Whose offspring on the throne of Juda sate 440

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 Worthy of memorial) canst thou not re- member

Quintius, Fabricius, Curius, Regulus ? For I esteem those names of men so poor, Who could do mighty things, and could

contemn Riches, though offered from the hand of

kings.

And what in me seems wanting but that I May also in this poverty as soon 451

Accomplish what they did, perhaps and

more ?

Extol not riches, then, the toil of fools, The wise man's cumbrance, if not snare;

more apt

To slacken virtue and abate her edge Than 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, Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleep- less nights, 460 To him who wears the regal diadem, When on his shoulders each man's burden

lies;

For therein stands the office of a king, His honour, virtue, merit, and chief praise, That for the public 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 virtuous man at- tains ;

And who attains not, ill aspires to rule Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes, Subject himself to anarchy within, 471

Or lawless passions in him, which he serves. But to guide nations in the way of truth By saving doctrine, and from error lead 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'er the body only reigns, And oft by force which to a generous mind

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