Sat'st unappal'd in calm and finless peace.
Thus pass'd the night fo foul till morning fair Came forth with Pilgrim fteps in amice gray; Who with her radiant finger still'd the roar Of thunder, chas'd the clouds, and laid the winds, And grifly Spectres which the Fiend had rais'd To tempt the Son of God with terrors dire. And now the Son with more effectual beams Had chear'd the face of Earth, and dry'd the wet From drooping plant, or dropping tree, the birds, Who all things now behold more fresh and green, After a night of storm fo ruinous,
Clear'd up their choicest notes in bush and spray To gratulate the fweet return of morn; Nor yet amidst this joy and brightest morn Was abfent, after all his mischief done, The Prince of darkness, glad would also seem Of this fair change, and to our Saviour came, Yet with no new device, they all were spent, Rather by this his last affront refolv'd, Defp'rate of better course, to yent his rage, And mad defpight to be fo oft repell'd. Him walking on a Sunny hill he found,
Back'd on the North and West by a thick wood,
Out of the wood he starts in wonted shape,
And in a careless mood thus to him faid.
Fair morning yet betides thee Son of God, After a dismal night; I heard the rack As Earth and Sky would mingle; but my felf Was diftant; and these flaws, though mortals fear As dangʼrous to the pillar'd frame of Heav'n,[them Or to the Earth's dark bafis underneath,
Are to the main as inconfiderable,
And harmlefs, if not wholfom, as a fneeze To mans lefs univerfe, and foon are gone; Yet as being oft times noxious where they light On man, beaft, plant, waftful and turbulent, Like turbulencies in th' affairs of men,
Over whose heads they rore, and seem to point, They oft fore-fignifie and threaten ill:
This Tempest at this Defart most was bent; Of men at thee, for only thou here dwell'st.· Did I not tell thee, if thou didst reject The perfect season offer'd with my aid
To win thy deftin'd feat, but wilt prolong All to the push of Fate, pursue thy way
Of gaining David's Throne no man knows when, For both the when and how is no where told, Thou shalt be what thou art ordain'd, no doubt; For Angels have proclaim'd it, but concealing The time and means: each act is rightlieft done, Not when it muft, but when it may be best. If thou obferve not this, be fure to find, What I foretold thee, many a hard assay Of dangers, and adverfities, and pains, E'er thou of Ifrael's Scepter get faft hold; Whereof this ominous night that clos'd thee round, So many terrors, voices, prodigies
May warn thee, as a fure fore-going sign.
So talk'd he, while the Son of God went on And ftaid not, but in brief him anfwer'd thus.
Me worse than wet thou find'ft not; other harm Those terrors which thou speak'ft of, did me none; I never fear'd they could, though noising loud And threat'ning nigh, what they can do as signs Betok❜ning, or ill boding, I contemn
As falfe portents, not fent from God, but thee; Who knowing I fhall reign past thy preventing, Obtrud❜ft thy offer'd aid, that I accepting
At least might seem to hold all pow'r of thee, Ambitious fpirit, and wouldft be thought my God, And storm'ft refus'd, thinking to terrific
Me to thy will, defift, thou art difcern'd
And toil'ft in vain, nor me in vain molest.
To whom the Fiend now fwoln with rage reply'd: Then hear, O Son of David, Virgin-born; For Son of God to me is yet in doubt, Of the Meffiah I have heard foretold
By all the Prophets; of thy birth at length Announc'd by Gabriel with the first I knew, And of th' Angelic Song in Bethlehem field, On thy birth-night, that fung thee Saviour born, From that time feldom have I ceas'd to eye Thy infancy, thy childhood, and thy youth, Thy manhood laft, though yet in private bred; Till at the Ford of Jordan whither all
Flock'd to the Baptift, I among the reft, Though not to be Baptiz'd, by voice from Heav'n Heard thee pronounc'd the Son of God belov❜d. Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view And narrower Scrutiny, that I might learni
In what degree or meaning thou art call'd
The Son of God, which bears no single sense; The Son of God I alfo am, or was,
And if I was, I am; relation ftands;
All men are Sons of God; yet thee I thought In some respect far higher fo declar'd. Therefore I watch'd thy footsteps from that hour, And follow'd thee ftill on to this waste wild, Where by all beft conjectures I collect Thou art to be my fatal enemy.
Good reason then, if I before-hand seek To understand my Adverfary, who And what he is; his wifdom, pow'r,' intent, By parl, or compofition, truce, or league To win him, or win from him what I can. And opportunity I here have had
To try thee, fift thee, and confefs have found thee Proof against all temptation as a rock
Of Adamant, and as a Center, firm
To th' utmost of meer man both wife and good, Not more; for Honours, Riches, Kingdoms, Glory Have been before contemn'd, and may again: Therefore to know what more thou art than man, Worth naming Son of God by voice from Heav'n, Another
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить » |