Paradise Lost (Modern Library Classics) (75 page)

They die; but in their room, as they forewarn,

Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves
⁵⁰⁸
,

Who all the sacred mysteries of Heav’n

To their own vile advantages shall turn

Of lucre and ambition, and the truth
⁵¹¹

With superstitions and traditions taint,

Left only in those written records pure,

Though not but by the Spirit understood.

Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names,

Places and titles, and with these to join

Secular power, though feigning still to act

By spiritual, to themselves appropriating

The Spirit of God, promised alike and giv’n

To all believers; and from that pretense,

Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force

On every conscience; laws which none shall find

Left them enrolled
⁵²³
, or what the Spirit within

Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then

But force the Spirit of Grace itself, and bind

His consort Liberty; what, but unbuild

His living temples
⁵²⁷
, built by faith to stand,

Their own faith not another’s: for on Earth
⁵²⁸

Who against faith and conscience can be heard

Infallible? Yet many will presume:

Whence heavy persecution shall arise

On all who in the worship persevere

Of Spirit and Truth; the rest, far greater part,

Will deem in outward rites and specious forms
⁵³⁴

Religion satisfied; Truth shall retire

Bestuck with sland’rous darts, and works of faith

Rarely be found: so shall the world go on,

To good malignant, to bad men benign,

Under her own weight groaning
⁵³⁹
till the day

Appear of respiration
⁵⁴⁰
to the just,

And vengeance to the wicked, at return

Of him so lately promised to thy aid

The woman’s seed, obscurely then foretold,

Now amplier known thy Savior and thy Lord,

Last in the clouds from Heav’n to be revealed

In glory of the Father, to dissolve
⁵⁴⁶

Satan with his perverted world, then raise

From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,

New heav’ns, new earth
⁵⁴⁹
, ages of endless date

Founded in righteousness and peace and love

To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss.”

   He ended; and thus Adam last replied.

“How soon hath thy prediction, seer blest,

Measured this transient world, the race of time,

Till time stand fixed
⁵⁵⁵
: beyond is all abyss,

Eternity, whose end no eye can reach.

Greatly instructed I shall hence depart,

Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill

Of knowledge, what this vessel
⁵⁵⁹
can contain;

Beyond which was my folly to aspire.

Henceforth I learn, that to obey is best,

And love with fear the only God, to walk

As in his presence, ever to observe

His providence, and on him sole depend,

Merciful over all his works, with good
⁵⁶⁴

Still overcoming evil, and by small

Accomplishing great things
⁵⁶⁷
, by things deemed weak

Subverting worldly strong, and worldly wise

By simply meek; that suffering for truth’s sake

Is fortitude to highest victory,

And, to the faithful, death the gate of life;

Taught this by his example whom I now

Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest.”

   To whom thus also th’ angel last replied:

“This having learnt, thou hast attained the sum

Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars

Thou knew’st by name, and all th’ ethereal powers,

All secrets of the deep, all nature’s works,

Or works of God in heav’n, air, earth, or sea,

And all the riches of this world enjoyedst,

And all the rule, one empire; only add
⁵⁸¹

Deeds to thy knowledge answerable
⁵⁸²
, add faith,

Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love,

By name to come called charity, the soul

Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath

To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess

A paradise within
⁵⁸⁷
thee, happier far.

Let us descend now therefore from this top

Of speculation; for the hour precise

Exacts our parting hence; and see the guards,

By me encamped on yonder hill, expect

Their motion, at whose front a flaming sword,

In signal of remove, waves fiercely round;

We may no longer stay: go
⁵⁹⁴
, waken Eve;

Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed

Portending good, and all her spirits composed

To meek submission: thou at season fit

Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard,

Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,

The great deliverance by her seed to come

(For by the woman’s seed) on all mankind.

That ye may live, which will be many days,

Both in one faith unanimous though sad,

With cause for evils past
⁶⁰⁴
, yet much more cheered

With meditation on the happy end.”

   He ended, and they both descend the hill;

Descended, Adam to the bower where Eve

Lay sleeping ran before
⁶⁰⁸
, but found her waked;

And thus with words not sad she him received.

   “Whence thou return’st, and whither went’st, I know;

For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,

Which he hath sent propitious, some great good

Presaging, since with sorrow and heart’s distress

Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on;

In me
⁶¹⁵
is no delay; with thee to go,

Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,

Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me

Art all things under Heav’n, all places thou,

Who for my willful crime art banished hence.

This further consolation yet secure

I carry hence; though all by me is lost,

Such favor I unworthy am vouchsafed,

By me the promised seed shall all restore.”

   So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard

Well pleased, but answered not; for now too nigh

Th’ Archangel stood, and from the other hill

To their fixed station, all in bright array

The Cherubim descended; on the ground

Gliding meteorous
⁶²⁹
, as ev’ning mist

Ris’n from a river o’re the marish
⁶³⁰
glides,

And gathers ground fast at the laborer’s heel
⁶³¹

Homeward returning. High in front advanced,

The brandished sword of God before them blazed

Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,

And vapor as the Libyan air adust
⁶³⁵
,

Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat

In either hand the hast’ning Angel caught

Our ling’ring parents, and to th’ eastern gate

Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast

To the subjected
⁶⁴⁰
plain; then disappeared.

They looking back, all th’ eastern side beheld

Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,

Waved over by that flaming brand
⁶⁴³
, the gate

With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms:

Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;

The world was all before them, where to choose

Their place of rest, and providence their guide:

They hand in hand
⁶⁴⁸
with wand’ring steps and slow,

Through Eden took their solitary way.

1–5.
This passage first appeared in 1674, where the long Book 10 of 1667 was divided into the current Books 11 and 12.

1.
bates
: pauses at an inn for refreshment.

7.
second stock
: Noah now takes the place of Adam, but the passage also glances at Christ, the stock onto which we are grafted in Rom. 11.17–27.

11.
I will relate
: Adam’s instruction switches from visions to narrations, and the pace doubles, since the visions of Book 11 were first described and then explained. The six visions in Book 11 are structurally balanced by Michael’s six main speeches in Book 12.

24.
one shall rise
: Nimrod; as in Book 11, proper names and place names are for the time being withheld.

27.
arrogate dominion
: In biblical history, Nimrod is the first tyrant; see Ralegh,
History of the World
, 1.10.1.

30.
Hunting
: In Gen. 10.9, Nimrod is “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

34–35.
as in despite … sov’reignty:
Michael says that Nimrod’s epithet (see previous note) means that he either brazenly defies God or invents the blasphemous doctrine of the divine right of kings.

36.
Nimrod
was sometimes said to derive from the Hebrew
marad
, “to rebel.” The sense is that he is rebelling against God.

38–62.
In presenting Nimrod as the builder of Babel, Milton follows the view of Josephus (
Antiq
. 1.4.2).

41.
The plain
: the site of Babylon;
gurge:
whirlpool.

52.
in derision
: “The Lord shall have them in derision” (Ps. 2.4).

53–54.
to raze … language:
In the context of
Paradise Lost
, this well-known biblical episode suggests both the original names of the rebel angels razed from the Books of Life (1.362–63) and the senseless hissing and spitting of the metamorphosed devils (10.504–77).

60.
hubbub
: reminiscent of Chaos, “a universal hubbub wild/Of stunning sounds and voices all confused” (2.951–52).

62.
Confusion named
:
Babel
was sometimes said to derive from the Hebrew
balal
, “to confound.”

82.
Rational liberty
: the freedom proper to rational animals (but not to the subjected beasts).

84.
right reason
: conscience, innate knowledge of what is just and right. See Hoopes. Michael observes that this faculty was impaired by the Fall, so that true liberty, which is obedience to right reason, was lost in the microcosm of the human soul before it was lost in the macrocosm of human government. Cp. 6.42n.

85.
dividual
: separate.

103.
this heavy curse
: See Noah’s curse on Ham’s sons in Gen. 9.25.

104.
race
: descendants.

111.
one peculiar nation:
Peculiar
, meaning “uniquely favored” and used of the Jews or of Christian believers in phrases such as “peculiar nation” or “peculiar people,” was once a common idiom sanctioned by Bible translation (
OED
B.1.1a).

113.
one faithful man
: Abraham; Milton’s account of him derives from Gen. 11–25.

115.
Bred up in idol-worship
: See Josh. 24.2.

117.
the patriarch
: Noah lived 350 years after the Flood (Gen. 9.28).

130.
Ur
: a city in ancient Babylonia.

131.
Haran
: a city on the Belikh, a tributary of the Euphrates, on the border of Canaan.

132.
servitude
: slaves and servants.

136.
Sechem
: commercial center in Canaan, present-day Nablus.

139–45.
A precise description of the Promised Land, drawn mostly from Num. 34. Its northern border is the district of
Hamath
, its southern the
desert
of Zin, its western the Mediterranean (
great western sea
), and its eastern the river
Jordan, double-founted
because of the supposed confluence of the Jor and the Dan.

140.
Things by their names I call
: Michael calls attention to the sudden reintroduction of place names and (with Abraham in line 152) proper names, hitherto missing from Adam’s second education (see 11.836–37n; 12.24n).

153.
son
: Isaac;
grandchild:
Jacob.

160.
younger son
: Joseph.

165.
Suspected to
: an object of suspicion to.

166.
overgrowth
: excessive growth.

173.
denies
: refuses.

175.
signs and judgments dire
: the ten plagues of Exod. 7–12.

179.
murrain
: a cattle plague.

180.
Botches
: boils;
blains:
pustules;
emboss:
swell.

188.
Palpable darkness
: See 2.406n.

207.
defends
: prevents.

210.
craze
: shatter.

214.
war
: soldiers.

216.
not the readiest way
: The detour was intended to circumvent the warlike Philistines (Exod. 13).

217.
alarmed
: called to arms.

225.
great senate
: the Seventy Elders of Exod. 24.19 and Num. 11.16–30. Milton cites the Sanhedrin as a model senate in
REW
(
MLM
1124).

232–33.
types/And shadows:
prefigurations of Christianity; cp.
shadowy types
(l. 303).

241.
Moses in figure bears
: Moses prefigures Christ as mediator between man and God.

247.
his tabernacle
: the Ark of the Covenant, which contained manna, the tables of the law, and Aaron’s rod.

255.
Seven lamps as in a zodiac
: Josephus,
Antiq.
, 3.6–7, maintained that the seven lamps of the candlestick (Exod. 25.37) represented the seven planets.

265–67.
Sun … overcome:
Paraphrasing the words of Joshua when routing the five Amorite kings at Gibeon (Josh. 10.12–13). The episode appears among the subjects for a tragic poem listed in the
CMS
.

267.
so call the third:
Jacob, who is named
Israel
(“he that strives with God”) by a mysterious wrestling opponent in Gen. 32.24–28.

274.
eyes true op’ning
: Adam alludes to the opening of the eyes Satan falsely promised Eve upon her eating the forbidden fruit (9.706–8, 985, 1053).

277.
His
: Abraham’s.

287.
therefore was law given them
: It is a dictum of Christian (especially Protestant) theology, stemming from Paul, that law can discover sin but not purge it (Rom. 3.19–28, 4.15–16, 5.12–15).

288.
natural pravity
: original sin. See
CD
1.11.

292.
blood of bulls and goats
: “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10.4).

293.
blood more precious
: “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1.19).

295.
imputed
: attributed vicariously.

296.
Justification
: a theological term: “The judgment of God … by virtue of which those who are regenerate … are absolved from sins and from death through Christ’s absolutely full satisfaction, … not by the works of the law but through faith” (
CD
1.22, Yale 6:485).

310.
Joshua … Jesus call
:
Joshua
in Hebrew and
Jesus
in Greek both mean “savior.”

316.
but
: except.

322.
a promise
: “Thy throne shall be established forever,” Nathan promises King David (2 Sam. 7.16).

332.
his next son
: Solomon.

338.
Heaped to the popular sum
: added to the sins of the people.

343–47.
The seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity were foretold in Jer. 25.12 and are described in 2 Kings 25, 2 Chron. 36.

348.
kings
: Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the Persian kings under whom Jerusalem was rebuilt.

349.
disposed
: put in a favorable mood.

350.
re-edify
: rebuild, with spiritual overtones (see Coolidge 23–54).

358.
a stranger
: Antipater, whom Julius Caesar appointed ruler of Judea (now a Roman colony).

360.
Barred of
: barred from;
a star:
the star of Bethlehem, proclaiming Christ the true king.

379.
hail
: See 11.158n.

383.
capital
: both “on the head” and “fatal.”

393.
recure
: heal.

396.
want
: lack.

401.
apaid
: satisfied, the debt paid; see 3.246.

403.
by love
: “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13.10).

406.
Crucifixion for the Jews was an ultimate punishment, virtually damnation (Gal. 3.13). The Romans also regarded it as the “extreme and ultimate punishment of slaves” (Cicero,
Against Verres
, 2.5.169).

409.
Imputed
: See 295n. In the Protestant doctrine of justification, Christ’s obedience is
imputed or
“attributed vicariously” to the faithful Christian, who cannot by means of his own works merit salvation.

415–16.
to the cross … sins:
See Col. 2.14.

423.
fresh as the dawning light
: Although dawn as a symbol of resurrection was commonplace, Milton found great poetry in it; recall the various dawns in
Nativity Ode
and
Lycidas
.

432.
fix far deeper in his head
: The stings of Sin and Death are returned to their source in Satan’s head (Flannagan); see 2.758.

442.
profluent
: flowing; Milton favored baptism in
profluentum aquam
(running water) (
CD
1.28 in
MLM
1280).

447–50.
The universal teaching of the Apostles fulfills the promise to Abraham that all nations (men of faith throughout the world) shall be blessed in his seed.

454.
Prince of Air
: as in Eph. 2.2;
drag in chains:
as in Rev. 20.1.

460.
quick
: living.

467.
period
: end.

470.
shall produce
: The subject of this verb is
goodness
in line 469.

475.
or rejoice
: See Lovejoy 1937 on the tradition of the
felix culpa
or “fortunate fall,” and Danielson (202–27) for a vigorous denial of its relevance to
Paradise Lost
. Milton’s version of the
felix culpa
is the central paradox of the epic. The Fall is not fortunate; the Fall is fortunate. Though Danielson may go too far in excluding the fortunate fall from the poem, he demonstrates that Milton’s is importantly more subdued than some versions
of felix culpa
. Adam wonders whether his sin is the precondition of Christian salvation. But he does not rejoice in his disobedience, emphasizing instead the glorious power of God to create, even from his sin,
goodness immense
(l. 469).

478.
over wrath grace shall abound
: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5.20).

486.
a comforter
: the Holy Spirit.

488.
the law of faith
: Rom. 3.27.

489.
upon their hearts shall write
: See Paul’s contrast between the Old Testament Law, written “on tables of stone,” and the Gospel, written by “the Spirit of the living God” on “fleshly tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3.3).

491.
spiritual armor
: See Eph. 6.11–17.

501.
speak all tongues
: See Mark 16–17, Acts 2.4–7; th
is
miracle is precisely opposite to Babel’s confusion of tongues (ll. 52–59).

508.
grievous wolves
: See Paul’s warning about corrupt priests in Acts 20.29; and see 4.193n.

511–14.
the truth … understood:
Protestants believe that God’s truth in the Scriptures must be apprehended not through church tradition or the teachings of the priesthood but by the individual believer, whose interpretation will ideally be guided by the Holy Spirit.

523–24.
enrolled … engrave:
The oppressive laws binding the Christian conscience will be found neither in biblical writing (
enrolled
) nor in the Spirit’s writing on the heart (see 489n).

527.
living temples
: 1 Cor. 3.16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” Cp. 1.17.