And full of peace, now tost and turbulent: Superior sway from thus distemper'd breast, 1130 Would thou hadst hearken'd to my words, and stay'd With me, as I besought thee, when that strange Desire of wand'ring this unhappy morn, 1135 I know not whence possess'd thee; we had then 1141 1145 To whom soon mov'd with touch of blame thus Eve. What words have pass'd thy lips, Adam severe ! Imput'st thou that to my default, or will Of wand'ring, as thou call'st it, which who knows But might as ill have happen'd thou being by, Or to thyself perhaps? hadst thou been there, Or here th' attempt, thou could'st not have discern'd Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake ; 1140. Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve The faith they owe;] As Eve had done when she said, ver. 335. And what is faith, love, virtue, unessay'd, &c. 1150 1144. What words have pass'd thy lips, Adam severe !] In imitation of Homer, Iliad. xiv. 83. Ατρείδη ποιον σε επος φυγεν έρκος οδον των ; Thyer. No ground of enmity between us known, 1155 1160 1165 Who might have liv'd and joy'd immortal bliss, Yet willingly chose rather death with thee? And am I now upbraided as the cause Of thy transgressing? not enough severe, It seems, in thy restraint: what could I more? 1170 That lay in wait; beyond this had been force, 1162. To whom then first incens'd Adam replied.] As Adam is now first angry, his speech is abrupt and his sentences broken. Is this the love, Dr. Bentley reads Is this thy love, is this the recompense of mine to thee, of my 1175 love to thee, which was expressed immutable when thou wert lost? 1170. in thy restraint:] This is the reading in all the first editions; but several of the later ones have my restraint. Matter of glorious trial; and perhaps I also err'd in overmuch admiring What seem'd in thee so perfect, that I thought That error now, which is become my crime, She first his weak indulgence will accuse. Thus they in mutual accusation spent The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning, 1183. -in women overtrust ing] Dr. Bentley reads woman, and I should rather prefer it on account of what follows, her will, she will not brook, left to herself &c. though women may be justified, such a transition from the plural to the singular number being not uncommon in the best authors, as in Terence, Eun. ii. i. 10. 1180 1185 Dii boni, quid hoc morbi est? adeon' homines immutarier Ex amore, ut non cognoscas cundem esse? 1185. if evil thence ensue, &c.] Juvenal, Sat. vi. 283. -Nihil est audacius illis Deprensis; iram atque animos a crimine sumunt. Hume. |