Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I know; 610 615 For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise, I carry hence; though all by me is lost, 620 So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard Well pleas'd, but answer'd not; for now too nigh Th' archangel stood, and from the other hill To their fix'd station all in bright array The cherubim descended; on the ground Gliding meteorous, as ev'ning mist 630 Ris'n from a river o'er the marish glides, 615 In me] Virg. Eclog. iii. 52, 'In me mora non erit ulla.' Newton. 630 glides] See Dante Il Purgat. c. v. 37. 'Vapori accesi non vid' io sì tosto Di prima notte mai fender sereno, Nè, sol calando, nuvole d'Agosto.' 635 640 And vapour as the Libyan air adust, soon; 615 The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide. They, hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way. 635 vapour] Hor. Epod. iii. 15. 'Nec tantus unquam siderum insedit vapor 685 air adust] Tasso Gier. Lib. vii. 52. Qual con le chiome sanguinose horrende Splender cometa suol per l' aria adusta.' Richardson. Bowle. 648 brand] Sword. Gen. i. 24. Blade, xi. 120. Bentl. MS. 640 world] Shakesp. Rich. II. act. i. sc. 3. all the world's my way.' 648 hand] Johnson. 'A small but artful paradise they walk'd, And hand in hand sad gentle things they talk'd.' See Cowley's Davideis, p. 20. 648 wand'ring] Wearied. Careful. Social. Bentl. MS. PARADISE REGAINED. BOOK I. I, WHO ere-while the happy garden sung, 5 11 Thou Spirit, who led'st this glorious Eremite Into the desert, his victorious field, Against the spiritual foe, and brought'st him thence By proof the undoubted Son of God, inspire, As thou art wont, my prompted song, else mute, And bear thro' height or depth of nature's bounds With prosperous wing full summ'd to tell of deeds Above heroic, though in secret done, And unrecorded left through many an age, Worthy t' have not remain❜d so long unsung. Now had the great Proclaimer, with a voice 7 waste] Spens. Fairy Queen, i. i. 32. 'Far hence, quoth he, in wasteful wilderness.' Dunster. 14 summ'd] Drayton's Polyolbion. Song xi. 15 'The muse from Cambria comes, with pinions summ'd and sound.' Todd. |