Following, as seem'd, the quest of some stray ewe, 315
Or wither'd sticks to gather, which might serve
Against a winter's day, when winds blow keen,
To warm him wet return'd from field at eve,
He saw approach, who first with curious eye
Perus'd him, then with words thus utter'd spake. 320
Sir, what ill chance hath brought thee to this place
So far from path or road of men, who pass
In troop or caravan, for single none
Durst ever, who return'd, and dropt not here
His carcass, pin'd with hunger and with drought. 325 I ask the rather, and the more admire,
For that to me thou seem'st the man, whom late Our new baptizing prophet at the ford
Of Jordan honour'd so, and call'd thee Son
Of God; I saw and heard, for we sometimes,
Who dwell this wild, constrain'd by want, come forth
To town or village nigh, (nighest is far,)
Where aught we hear, and curious are to hear,
What happens new; fame also finds us out.
To whom the Son of God. Who brought me hither
Will bring me hence; no other guide I seek.
By miracle he may, reply'd the swain,
What other way I see not, for we here
Thus on they wandred, but those holy weeds
A monstrous serpent, and no man did cover.'
In Bale's Christ's Temptation, 1538, Satan joins our Saviour in the disguise of a hermit. A. Dyce.
320 Perus'd] P. L. viii. 267, Myself I then perus'd;' and Hamlet (act ii. sc. 1.), ‘He falls to such perusal of my face.' Dunster.
Live on tough roots and stubs, to thirst inur'd
More than the camel, and to drink go far,
Men to much misery and hardship born.
But if thou be the Son of God, command
That out of these hard stones be made thee bread,
So shalt thou save thy self and us relieve
With food, whereof we wretched seldom taste.
He ended, and the Son of God reply'd.
Think'st thou such force in bread? is it not written,
(For I discern thee other than thou seem'st,)
Man lives not by bread only, but each word
Proceeding from the mouth of God, who fed
Our fathers here with Manna? in the mount
Moses was forty days, nor eat, nor drank;
And forty days Elijah without food
Wander'd this barren waste, the same I now.
Why dost thou then suggest to me distrust,
Knowing who I am, as I know who thou art?
Whom thus answer'd th' arch fiend now undis
'Tis true, I am that spirit unfortunate,
Who, leagu'd with millions more in rash revolt,
Kept not my happy station, but was driv'n
With them from bliss to the bottomless deep;
Yet to that hideous place not so confin'd
By rigour unconniving, but that oft,
Leaving my dolorous prison, I enjoy
Large liberty, to round this globe of earth,
Or range in th' air, nor from the heav'n of heav'ns
339 stubs] Thyer proposes shrubs,' very improperly.
Hath he excluded my resort sometimes.
I came among the sons of God, when he
Το prove him, and illustrate his high worth ; 370
And when to all his angels he propos'd
To draw the proud king Ahab into fraud,
That he might fall in Ramoth, they demurring,
I undertook that office, and the tongues
Of all his flattering prophets glibb'd with lies
To his destruction, as I had in charge;
For what he bids I do. Though I have lost
Much lustre of my native brightness, lost
To be belov'd of God, I have not lost
To love, at least contemplate and admire,
What I see excellent in good, or fair,
Or virtuous; I should so have lost all sense.
What can be then less in me than desire
To see thee and approach thee, whom I know
Declar'd the Son of God, to hear attent
Thy wisdom, and behold thy godlike deeds?
Men generally think me much a foe
To all mankind: why should I? they to me
Never did wrong or violence; by them
I lost not what I lost, rather by them
I gain'd what I have gain'd, and with them dwell, Copartner in these regions of the world,
If not disposer; lend them oft my aid,
385 attent] Fair. Q. vi. 9. 26.
Hung still upon his melting mouth attent.'
and Hamlet, act i. sc. ii. With an attent ear.' Thyer. Dunster.
my advice by presages, and signs, And answers, oracles, portents, and dreams, Whereby they may direct their future life. Envy they say excites me thus to gain Companions of my misery and woe. At first it may be; but long since with woe Nearer acquainted, now I feel by proof, That fellowship in pain divides not smart, Nor lightens aught each man's peculiar load. Small consolation then, were man adjoin'd: This wounds me most, (what can it less?) that man, Man fall'n shall be restor'd, I never more.
To whom our Saviour sternly thus reply'd.
Deservedly thou griev'st, compos'd of lies
From the beginning, and in lies wilt end,
Who boast release from hell, and leave to come
Into the heav'n of heav'ns. Thou com'st indeed, 410
As a poor miserable captive thrall
Comes to the place where he before had sat
Among the prime in splendour, now depos'd,
Ejected, emptied, gaz'd, unpitied, shunn'd,
A spectacle of ruin or of scorn
400 Nearer] Never' in Milton's ed. but the errata give 'nearer.' Several editions retain the error. Todd.
401 fellowship] See Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece. Aldine Poets, vol. xx. p. 128.
'It easeth some, though none it ever cur'd,
To think, their dolour others have endur'd.'
411 thrall] See Heywood's Hierarchie, p. 564.
'The power of women to make others thrall.'
and H. More's Poems, p. 251.
'Yet wote I not what may these wretched thralls relieve.'
To all the host of heav'n. The happy place
Imparts to thee no happiness, no joy,
Rather inflames thy torment, representing
Lost bliss to thee no more communicable,
So never more in hell than when in heav'n.
But thou art serviceable to heav'n's King.
Wilt thou impute t' obedience what thy fear
Extorts, or pleasure to do ill excites?
What but thy malice mov'd thee to misdeem
Of righteous Job, then cruelly to afflict him
With all inflictions? but his patience won.
The other service was thy chosen task,
To be a liar in four hundred mouths;
For lying is thy sustenance, thy food.
Yet thou pretend'st to truth; all oracles
By thee are giv'n, and what confest more true
Among the nations? that hath been thy craft,
By mixing somewhat true to vent more lies.
But what have been thy answers? what but dark,
Ambiguous, and with double sense deluding,
Which they who ask'd have seldom understood,
And not well understood as good not known?
Who ever by consulting at thy shrine
Return'd the wiser, or the more instruct
To fly or follow what concern'd him most,
And run not sooner to his fatal snare?
For God hath justly given the nations up
To thy delusions; justly, since they fell
426 won] Verb neuter; so Spens. F. Q. i. vi. 39 :
And he the stoutest knight that ever won.' Newton.
|