By feeding on this apple,

If thou in heav'n wert never,

And ne'er permitted of the fruit to taste?

Serpent. Ah! is there ought I can deny to her
Whose happiness I wish; now listen to me.
When of this garden I was made the keeper,
By him who fashion'd thee,

All he has said to thee, to me he said;
And opening to me heav'n's eternal bosom,
With all his infinite celestial pomp,
He satiated my eyes, and then thus spake :
Thy paradise thou hast enjoy'd O Serpent,
No more thou shalt behold it ; now retain

Memory of heav'n, on earth,

Which thou may'st do by feeding on such fruit! i

A heavenly seat alone is fit for man,

For that's the seat of beauty;

Since thou art partly man, and partly brute,

'Tis just thou dwell on earth;

The world was made for various beasts to dwell in,

He added, nor can'st thou esteem it hard,

Serpent, and man, to dwell on earth for ever,

Since thou already in thy human portion

Most fully hast enjoy'd thy bliss above.
Thus I eternal live,

Forming my banquet of this sav'ry fruit,
And paradise is open to my eyes,

By the intelligence, thro' me transfus'd
From this delicious viand.

Eve. Alas! what should I do? to whom apply? My heart, what is thy counsel?

Serpent. Tis true, thy sov'reign has impos'd upon

thee,

Under the pain of death,

To taste not of this fruit;

And to secure from thee
A dainty so delightful,

The watchful guard he made me

Of this forbidden tree;

So that if I consent, both man, and thou,

His beautiful companion

May rise to equal God in happiness.

Tis but too true that to participate

In food, and beverage, with savage beasts,
Gives us in this similitude to them;
It is not just you both,

Works of a mighty Maker,

Great offspring of great God,

Sould in a base condition,

Among these groves, and woods,

Lead a life equal to the lowest beast.

Eve. Ah! why art thou so eager

That I should taste of this forbidden food?

Serpent. Wouldst thou, that I should tell?
Eve. Tis all my wish.

Serpent. Now lend thine ear, now arch

With silent wonder, both thy beauteous brows!
For two proud joys of mine,

Not for thy good alone, I wish to make thee
This liberal overture, and swear to keep
Silence, while thou shalt seize the fruit denied.
First to avenge that high unworthy wrong
Done me by God, in fashioning my shape,
For I was deem'd the refuse of his heav'n,
For these my scaly parts,

That ever like a snake I trail behind;

And then, because he should to me alone

Have given this world, and o'er the numerous

beasts

Have made me lord, not wholly of their kind,

But this my empire mighty, and supreme,

O'er all these living things,

While man is doom'd

To breath on vital air,

Must seem but low and servile vassalage;

Since man, and only man

Was chosen high, and mighty Lord of all

This wond'rous scene, and he thus rais'd to grandeur Was newly form'd of nought;

But when the fairest of all Eden's fruits

Is snatch'd, and tasted, when you rise to Gods,
Tis just that both ascending from this world,
Should reach the higher spheres,

So that on earth to make me

Of every creature lord,

Of human error I my virtue make :

Know, that command is grateful e'en to God,
Grateful to man, and grateful to the serpent.

Eve. I yield obedience, Ah! what is't I do? Serpent. Rather what do you not? Ah boldly

taste

Make me a God on earth, thyself in heav'n.
Eve. Alas how I perceive

A chilling tremor wander thro' my bones,
That turns my heart to ice.

Serpent. It is thy mortal part that now begins
To languish, as o'ercome by the divine,
Which o'er its lowly partner

In excellence ascends.
Behold the pleasant plant,
More lovely, and more rich,

Than if it rais'd to heav'n branches of gold,
And bore the beauteous emerald as leaves,
With roots of coral, and a trunk of silver.
Behold this jewell'd fruit,

That gives enjoyment of a state divine!
How fair it is, and how

It takes new colours from the solar rays,
Bright as the splendid train

Of the gay peacock, when he whirls it round
Full in the sun, and lights his thousand eyes!

Behold how it invites !

Tis all delicious, it is sweetness all:
Its charms are not deceitful,

Thine eye can view them well,

Now take it! now I watch

If any angel spy thee ! dost thou pause?

Up! for once more I am thy guide; at last

The victory is thine!

Eve. At length behold me the exalted mistress

Of this most lovely fruit !

But why alas does my cold brow distill

These drops, that overwhelm me?

Serpent. Lovely Virgin,

Will not our reason tell us

Supreme felicity is bought with pain?

Who from my brow will wipe

These drops of keener pain?

Who dissipate the dread that loads my heart?

Eve. Tell me what wouldst thou? tell me who

afflicts thee?

Serpent. The terror of thy Lord; and hence I pray

thee

That when thou hast enjoy'd

That sweet forbidden fruit,

When both of you become eternal Gods,

That you would guard me from the wrath of heav'n; Since well indeed may he,

Whom we call God, kindle his wrath against me