Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/315

 BOOK FOURTH

��2 73

��Thou hast permission on me. It is writ- ten,

The first of all commandments, ' Thou shalt worship

The Lord thy God, and only Him shalt serve ; '

And dar'st thou to the Son of God pro- pound

To worship thee, accursed ? now more ac- cursed

For this attempt, bolder than that on Eve,

And more blasphemous; which expect to rue. 181

The kingdoms of the world to thee were given !

Permitted rather, and by thee usurped;

Other donation none thou canst produce.

If given, by whom but by the King of kings,

God over all supreme ? If given to thee,

By thee how fairly is the Giver now

Repaid ! But gratitude in thee is lost

Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame

As offer them to me, the Son of God 190

To me my own, on such abhorred pact,

That I fall down and worship thee as God ?

Get thee behind me ! Plain thou now ap- pear'st

That Evil One, Satan for ever damned." To whom the Fiend, with fear abashed, replied :

" Be not so sore offended, Son of God

Though Sons of God both Angels are and Men

If I, to try whether in higher sort

Thau these thou bear'st that title, have proposed 199

What both from Men and Angels I receive,

Tetrarchs of Fire, Air, Flood, and on the Earth

Nations besides from all the quartered winds

God of this World invoked, and World beneath.

Who then thou art, whose coming is fore- told

To me most fatal, me it most concerns.

The trial hath indamaged thee no way,

Rather more honour left and more esteem;

Me naught advantaged, missing what I aimed.

Therefore let pass, as they are transitory,

The kingdoms of this world; I shall no

��Advise thee; gain them as thou canst, or

not.

And thou thyself seem'st otherwise inclined Than to a worldly crown, addicted more To contemplation and profound dispute; As by that early action may be judged, When, slipping from thy mother's eye, thou

went'st

Alone into the Temple, there wast found Among the gravest Rabbies, disputant On points and questions fitting Moses'

chair, Teaching, not taught. The childhood shews

the man, 220

As morning shews the day. Be famous,

then,

By wisdom; as thy empire must extend, So let extend thy mind o'er all the world In knowledge ; all things in it comprehend. All knowledge is not couched in Moses'

law, The Pentateuch, or what the Prophets

wrote ; The Gentiles also know, and write, and

teach

To admiration, led by Nature's light; And with the Gentiles much thou must

converse, 229

Ruling them by persuasion, as thou mean'st. Without their learning, how wilt thou with

them,

Or they with thee, hold conversation meet ? How wilt thou reason with them, how refute Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes ? Error by his own arms is best evinced. Look once more, ere we leave this specular

mount, Westward, much nearer by south-west;

behold

Where on the zEgean shore a city stands, Built nobly, pure the air and light the

soil 239

Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts And eloquence, native to famous wits Or hospitable, in her sweet recess, City or suburban, studious walks and

shades.

See there the olive-grove of Academe, Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer

long; There, flowery bill, Hymettus, with the

sound

Of bees' industrious murmur, oft invites To studious musing; there Ilissus rowls

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