Paradise Lost (Modern Library Classics) (72 page)

No more was seen; the floating vessel swum

Uplifted, and secure with beakèd prow

Rode tilting o’er the waves, all dwellings else

Flood overwhelmed, and them with all their pomp

Deep under water rolled; sea covered sea,

Sea without shore; and in their palaces

Where luxury late reigned, sea-monsters whelped

And stabled; of mankind, so numerous late,

All left, in one small bottom
⁷⁵³
swum embarked.

How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold

The end of all thy offspring, end so sad,
⁷⁵⁵

Depopulation
⁷⁵⁵
; thee another flood,

Of tears and sorrow a flood thee also drowned,

And sunk thee as thy sons; till gently reared

By th’ angel, on thy feet thou stood’st at last,

Though comfortless, as when a father mourns

His children, all in view destroyed at once;

And scarce to th’ angel utter’dst thus thy plaint.

   “O visions ill foreseen! Better had I

Lived ignorant of future, so had borne

My part of evil only, each day’s lot

Enough to bear; those now, that were dispensed
⁷⁶⁶

The burd’n of many ages, on me light

At once, by my foreknowledge gaining birth

Abortive, to torment me ere their being,

With thought that they must be. Let no man seek

Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall

Him or his childern, evil he may be sure,

Which neither his foreknowing can prevent,

And he the future evil shall no less

In apprehension than in substance feel

Grievous to bear: but that care now is past,

Man is not whom
⁷⁷⁷
to warn: those few escaped

Famine and anguish will at last consume

Wand’ring that wat’ry desert: I had hope

When violence was ceased, and war on Earth,

All would have then gone well, peace would have crowned

With length of happy days the race of man;

But I was far deceived; for now I see

Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste.

How comes it thus? Unfold, celestial guide,

And whether here the race of man will end.”

   To whom thus Michael. “Those whom last thou saw’st

In triumph and luxurious wealth, are they

First seen in acts of prowess eminent

And great exploits, but of true virtue void;

Who having spilt much blood, and done much waste

Subduing nations, and achieved thereby

Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey,

Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth,

Surfeit, and lust, till wantonness and pride

Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace.

The conquered
⁷⁹⁷
also, and enslaved by war

Shall with their freedom lost all virtue lose

And fear of God, from whom their piety feigned

In sharp contest of battle found no aid

Against invaders; therefore cooled in zeal

Thenceforth shall practice how to live secure,

Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords

Shall leave them to enjoy; for th’ earth shall bear

More than enough, that temperance may be tried:

So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved,

Justice and temperance, truth and faith forgot;

One man
⁸⁰⁸
except, the only son of light

In a dark age, against example good,

Against allurement, custom, and a world

Offended; fearless of reproach and scorn,

Or violence, he of their wicked ways

Shall them admonish, and before them set

The paths of righteousness, how much more safe,

And full of peace, denouncing
⁸¹⁵
wrath to come

On their impenitence; and shall return

Of them derided, but of God observed

The one just man alive; by his command

Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheld’st,

To save himself and household from amidst

A world devote
⁸²¹
to universal wrack.

No sooner he with them of man and beast

Select for life shall in the ark be lodged,

And sheltered round, but all the cataracts

Of heav’n set open on the earth shall pour

Rain day and night, all fountains of the deep

Broke up, shall heave the ocean to usurp

Beyond all bounds, till inundation rise

Above the highest hills: then shall this mount

Of Paradise by might of waves be moved

Out of his place, pushed by the hornèd flood,

With all his verdure spoiled, and trees adrift

Down the great river to the op’ning gulf,

And there take root an island salt and bare,

The haunt of seals and orcs
⁸³⁵
, and sea-mews’ clang.

To teach thee that God attributes to place
⁸³⁶

No sanctity
⁸³⁶
, if none be thither brought

By men who there frequent, or therein dwell.

And now what further shall ensue, behold.”

   
He looked,
⁸⁴⁰
and saw the ark hull on the flood,

Which now abated, for the clouds were fled,

Driv’n by a keen north wind, that blowing dry

Wrinkled the face of deluge, as decayed;

And the clear sun on his wide wat’ry glass

Gazed hot, and of the fresh wave largely drew
⁸⁴⁵
,

As after thirst, which made their flowing shrink

From standing lake to tripping
⁸⁴⁷
ebb, that stole

With soft foot towards the deep, who now had stopped

His sluices, as the heav’n his windows shut.

The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground

Fast on the top of some high mountain
⁸⁵¹
fixed.

And now the tops of hills as rocks appear;

With clamor thence the rapid currents drive

Towards the retreating sea their furious tide.

Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies,

And after him, the surer messenger
⁸⁵⁶
,

A dove sent forth once and again to spy

Green tree or ground whereon his foot may light;

The second time returning, in his bill

An olive leaf he brings, pacific sign:

Anon dry ground appears, and from his ark

The ancient sire descends with all his train;

Then with uplifted hands, and eyes devout,

Grateful to Heav’n, over his head beholds

A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow

Conspicuous with three listed colors
⁸⁶⁶
gay,

Betok’ning peace from God, and cov’nant new
⁸⁶⁷
.

Whereat the heart of Adam erst so sad

Greatly rejoiced, and thus his joy broke forth.

   “O thou who future things canst represent

As present, Heav’nly instructor, I revive

At this last sight, assured that man shall live

With all the creatures, and their seed preserve.

Far less I now lament for one whole world

Of wicked sons destroyed, than I rejoice

For one man found so perfect and so just,

That God vouchsafes to raise another world

From him, and all his anger to forget.

But say, what mean those colored streaks in heav’n,

Distended
⁸⁸⁰
as the brow of God appeased,

Or serve they as a flow’ry verge
⁸⁸¹
to bind

The fluid skirts of that same wat’ry cloud,

Lest it again dissolve and show’r the Earth?”

   To whom th’ Archangel. “Dextrously thou aim’st;

So willingly
⁸⁸⁵
doth God remit his ire,

Though late
⁸⁸⁶
repenting him of man depraved,

Grieved at his heart, when looking down he saw

The whole Earth filled with violence, and all flesh

Corrupting each their way; yet those removed,

Such grace shall one just man find in his sight,

That he relents, not to blot out mankind,

And makes a cov’nant never to destroy

The Earth again by flood, nor let the sea

Surpass his bounds, nor rain to drown the world

With man therein or beast; but when he brings

Over the Earth a cloud, will therein set

His triple-colored bow, whereon to look

And call to mind his cov’nant: day and night,

Seed time and harvest, heat and hoary frost

Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new,

Both heav’n and earth, wherein the just shall dwell.”

1.
stood
: remained; the word, which may imply spiritual regeneration, is not intended to contradict “prostrate” in 10.1099.

2.
mercy-seat
: the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, whose cherubim represented intercession in Heaven; see Exod. 25.17–23.

3.
Prevenient grace
: grace that literally “comes before” human choice.

4.
stony … flesh
: From Ezek. 11.19: “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.”

5–6.
sighs now breathed/Unutterable:
Cp. Rom. 8.26, where “groanings which cannot be uttered” intercede for humankind. Cp.
Eikon
16 (Yale 3:507).

8.
port
: bearing.

10–14.
th’ ancient pair … devout:
Deucalion
and his wife,
Pyrrha
, figures in Greek mythology, survived the flood in an ark.
Themis
, goddess of justice, told them to throw stones behind them, and the stones turned into people (echoing the transformation from stony to fleshly hearts in l. 4).

14–16.
To Heav’n … frustrate:
Cp. the Paradise of Fools at 3.485–89.

17.
Dimensionless
: without spatial extension.

18.
incense
: See Rev. 8.3.

28.
manuring
: tending (by hand).

33–34.
me … propitiation:
“And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2.1–2). The repeated
me
in these lines echoes 3.178–82, 236–38. Cp. 10.830–32.

35.
ingraft
: See Rom. 11.16–24, for Protestants a key text on the superiority of faith to good works.

44.
John 17.22–23: “that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me.” Note how the symmetry of Milton’s line takes shape about the central
as I
.

53.
distemper
: medical term, denoting an imbalance of the four humors. The expulsion of Adam and Eve is here presented as an automatic purgation in which immortal elements rid themselves of tainted elements.

55.
dissolution
: death, disintegration.

59.
fondly
: foolishly.

60.
This other
: immortality (l. 59).

64.
Cp. 12.427;
CD 1
.22.

66.
Resigns:
The subject of the verb is
death
(l. 61).

74.
heard in Oreb
: A trumpet sounded when God delivered the Ten Commandments (Exod. 19.19); see
Nat Ode
156–59.

75.
perhaps once more
: reminiscent of the opening of
Lycidas
, which alludes to the “yet once more” of Heb. 12.26–27.

78.
amarantine
: bloodred and unfading, like the legendary flower amaranthus (see 3.353).

86.
defended
: forbidden.

91.
motions
: inward promptings of the soul; cp.
PR
1.290,
SA
1382.

93.
Self-left
: when left to itself.

93–98.
Lest … soil:
The passage is based on Gen. 3.22–23.

102.
Or … or
: either … or.

106.
denounce
: announce.

108.
faint
: lose heart.

111.
excess
: transgression. Cp. 3.696.

129.
Janus
: two-faced Roman god of gates, beginnings, transitions.

131.
Argus
: The hundred-eyed giant set to guard Io, whom
Hermes
(Mercury) put to sleep with his
pipe
and his
opiate rod
, then killed. See Ovid,
Met
. 1.568–779.

135.
Leucothea
: goddess of the dawn.

144.
prevalent
: potent.

157–58.
Assures … past:
Echoing the words of Agag (“surely the bitterness of death is past”) just before he is killed by Samuel (1 Sam. 15.32).

158.
hail to thee
: Adam prefigures the Annunciation (Ave Maria).

159.
Eve rightly called
: Here Adam confirms the epithet
mother
first given to Eve by the voice of God (4.475);
Eve is
cognate with Heb.
chai
or “life.” See Gen. 3.20.

185.
The bird of Jove
: the eagle;
stooped:
having swooped down to strike his prey (technical term in falconry).

186.
Two birds of gayest plume
: The eagle chasing these birds is an augury of Michael’s expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden.

187.
the beast that reigns
: the lion, who is to land animals what the eagle is to birds. Another augury of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden.

188.
brace
: pair.

196.
secure
: overconfident.

205.
orient
: bright.

208.
by this
: by this time.

209.
lighted
: landed.

210.
made halt
: came to a halt (military term).

214.
Mahanaim
: Jacob named the place (Heb. for “armies”) when he saw an army of angels there (Gen. 32.1–2).

215.
pavilioned
: encamped. See Milton’s version of Psalm 3, lines 17–18.

216–20.
Nor that … unproclaimed:
Elisha and his fearful servant also had a vision of an angelic army with “horses and chariots of fire” when the
Syrian king
laid siege to the city of
Dothan
(2 Kings 6.7).

221.
stand
: station (military term).

227.
determine
: bring to an end.

240.
lucid
: bright.

242–43.
Meliboean … Sarra:
The cities of Meliboea and Tyre (
Sarra
) were famous for dyes (
grain
=
dye) made from local fish.

244.
Iris … woof
: Iris is goddess of the rainbow. Cp.
Masque
83, where the Attendant Spirit doffs “sky robes spun out of Iris’ woof,” and
PL
11.895–98.

254.
Defeated
: cheated.

256–57.
one … cover:
1 Pet. 4.8: “For charity covers a multitude of sins.”

259–62.
Varied only slightly from lines 48–49, 96–98, in the manner of Homer’s repetitive treatment of messages.

264.
grip
: spasm.

267.
Discovered
: revealed;
retire:
withdrawal.

270.
native soil
: “Paradise was the
native place
of Eve; but Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground, and was afterwards brought into Paradise” (Newton).

272.
respite
: temporary suspension of a death sentence (legal term).

277.
gave ye names
: Presumably this naming of the flowers, which has no biblical precedent, entailed, like Adam’s naming of the creatures, an intuitive understanding of “their nature” (8.353).

283.
to this
: compared to this.

290–92.
Eve will make this view her own in the last speech in the poem (12.615–18).

293.
by this
: by this time;
damp:
stupor, depression.

309.
can
: is able to do, has knowledge of.

316.
from … hid
: a biblical idiom (Gen. 4.14, Ps. 104.27). Cp. 12.106–9 and
SA
1749.

331.
promised race
: the human race.

338.
Fomented
: nurtured;
virtual:
potent.

356–58.
Ere … offspring:
As Addison was among the first to note, the idea of Adam’s vision was probably suggested to Milton by the vision of his descendants given to Aeneas in the last book of the
Aeneid
. Addison also noted that the vision was necessary to console Adam, who “sees his offspring triumphing over his great enemy, and himself restored to a happier Paradise” (49).

361.
True patience
: Christian patience, which includes hope, as opposed to the apathy recommended by stoicism.

367.
drenched
: administered medicine (a sleeping potion) to. Cp. 2.73n.

374.
obvious
: vulnerable.

377.
visions of God
: visions sent by God.

383.
second Adam
: See 10.183n.

388.
Cambalu
: capital of Cathay (China), modern Beijing, seat of the khans. Milton’s geography of imperialism to come moves from east to west, like the sun, and like history as traditionally conceived in the West (see Chambers 1961).

389.
Samarkand by Oxus
: an Uzbekistan city on the river Oxus, the birthplace and royal residence of Tamburlaine (
Temir
).

390.
Paquin
: also a name for modern Beijing, where Chinese (
Sinaean
) kings ruled.

391.
Agra
: Mogul capital, where Akbar built the Taj Mahal;
Lahore:
Pakistani city where Mogul emperors sometimes resided.

392.
golden Chersonese
: area to the east of India, fabled for its wealth.

393–94.
Ecbatan:
Ecbatana, modern Hamadan in Iran, once the summer residence of Persian kings;
Hispahan:
Isfahan in Iran, made the Persian capital in the sixteenth century.

395.
Bizance
: Byzantium (modern Istanbul), conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century.

396.
Turkestan-born
: The Ottoman Turks originated in Turkistan.

397.
Negus
: title of Abyssinian emperors.

398.
Ercoco
: Arkiko, in modern Ethiopia.

399–400.
Mombaza
(modern Mombasa, in Kenya),
Quiloa
(Kilwa, in Tanzania),
Melind
(Malindi, in Kenya), and
Sofala
(in Mozambique) are port cities in eastern Africa visited by Vasco da Gama. Sofala was one of a number of candidates for the biblical
Ophir
, where Solomon found gold.

402.
Niger
: a West African river;
Atlas mount:
the Atlas Mountains of westernmost Africa.

403.
Almansor
: Muslim kings claimed the surname Al-Mansur (made victorious by God), and ruled over
Fez
, a Moroccan city, and
Sus
(Tunis).

404.
Tremisen
: an area of Algeria.

406.
in spirit
: in a visionary extension of eyesight; the New World would have been hidden by the curvature of the earth.

407.
Motezume
: the Aztec emperor Montezuma, who surrendered to Hernán Cortés in 1520.

409.
Atabalipa
: Atahualpa, the Incan emperor slain by Francisco Pizarro in 1533; his Peruvian capital of
Cusco
fell to the Spaniards.

410.
Geryon’s sons
: an epithet for Spaniards, based on a mythical monster named Geryon, who lived on a Spanish island and was slain by Hercules.

411.
El Dorado
: a mythical city in the New World that Sir Walter Ralegh among others sought in vain. See Ralegh’s
The Discoverie of Guiana
(1595), 10.

412.
the film removed
: A god clearing mortal eyes is an epic convention (
Il
. 5.126;
Aen
. 2.604;
GL
18.92f), but given the real physiological effects of the forbidden fruit (9.1011–12, 1044–51), it seems likely that this film is actual rather than metaphorical: Adam had incipient
gutta serena
, the “dim suffusion” (3.26) from which Milton suffered.

414.
euphrasy and rue
: medicinal herbs used in the treatment of eyesight. Milton might have taken salves made of these herbs in the course of going blind.

416.
the Well of Life
: perhaps the “fountain of life” of Ps. 36.9;
three drops:
a conspicuous dose in a poem that is not conventionally trinitarian.

426.
excepted
: forbidden.

427.
that sin
: 1667; 1674 drops “sin,” spoiling the meter.

430.
tilth
: cultivated land.

433.
sward
: turf.

436.
Unculled
: not picked by design.

441.
propitious fire from heav’n
: After Abel follows the rules for sacrificing in Lev. 1–8, Heaven consumes his offering (Gen. 4.4).

442.
glance
: flash.

447.
effused
: poured out.