In rea'fon, and is judicious, is the scale
By which to heav'nly love thou may'ft afcend,
Not funk in carnal pleafure, for which cause
Among the beafts no mate for thee was found.

To whom thus half abash'd Adam reply'd.
Neither her outfide form'd so fair, nor ought
In procreation common to all kinds
(Though higher of the genial bed by far,
And with mysterious reverence I deem)
So much delights me, as thofe graceful acts,
Those thousand decencies that daily flow
From all her words and actions mix'd with love
And sweet compliance, which declare unfeign'd

αλλά αγεπεί, αρχομένον απο των δε των καλων εκείνο ενεκα το καλό, αν επανιέναι ώσπερ επαναβαθμοις χρωμένου απο ενΘ επι δυο, και απο δυαν επι παια τα καλά σως ματα, και απο των καλων σωμα των επι τα καλα επιτηδεύματα, και απο των καλών επιτηδευμα των επι τα καλα μαθηματα ες' αν απο των μαθηματων επ' εκείνο το μαθημα τελευτήση, ὁ εςιν εκ αλλά η αυτό εκεινε το καλο μας θημα, και γνω αυτο τελευτῶν ὁ Esi naλor. Plat. Conviv. p. 211. tom. 3. Edit. Serrani This is the more probable from what Milton fays in the account which he gives of himfelf." Thus from the laureat fraternity of poets, riper years,

595

600

Union

" and the ceafelefs round of study "and reading, led me to the fhady fpaces of philofophy; but chiefly

to the divine volumes of Plato, " and his equal Xenophon: where "if I fhould tell ye what I learnt "of chastity and love, I mean that "which is truly fo" &c. Apol. for Smeltymn. p. r. Vol. 1. Edit 1738. Thyer.

591. and is judicious,] To be judicious means here to choole proper qualities in Eve for the object of love; to love her only for what is truly amiable: not for the fenfe of touch whereby mankind is propagated, ver. 579, &c; but for what Adam found higher in her fociety, human, and rational, ver. 586, &c. Pearce.

595. To

Union of mind, or in us both one foul;
Harmony to behold in wedded pair

More grateful than harmonious found to th' ear.
Yet these subject not; I to thee disclose

What inward thence I feel, not therefore foil'd,
Who meet with various objects, from the sense
Variously representing; yet ftill free

Approve the beft, and follow what I

approve.

605

To love thou blam'ft me not, for love thou fay'st
Leads up to Heav'n, is both the way and guide;

Bear with me then, if lawful what I ask ;

610

Love not the heav'nly Spi'rits, and how their love 615 Express they, by looks only', or do they mix

Extracted; for this cause he shall forgo

Father and mother, and to' his wife adhere;
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul.
She heard me thus, and though divinely brought,
Yet innocence and virgin modefty,

Her virtue and the confcience of her worth,

501

That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won, Not obvious, not obtrufive, but retir'd,

The more defirable, or to fay all,

that he was not only afleep, but intranc'd too, by which he faw all that was done to him, and underfood the mystery of it, God informing his understanding in his ecstasy.

-

Hume.

and to' bis wife adhere] 498 Adhærebit uxori fuæ, as it is in the vulgar Latin; fall cleave unto his wife, fays the English Bible. But we will fet down the whole paffage in Genefis at length, that the reader may compare it with our author. Gen. II. 23, 24. And Adam Said, This is now bone of my bones, and fief of my flesh; fhe fhall be called Woman, because he was taken out of Man. Therefore fhall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto bis wife; and they shall be one fefb. How has Milton improv'd upon the laft words, and they shall be one flesh;

and what an admirable climax has he form'd?

And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one foul.

505 Nature

And by the way we may observe, that there may be great force and beauty in a verfe, that confils all of monofyllables. It is true indeed that

ten low words oft creep in one dull line:

but there are feveral monofyllable verfes in Milton as ftrong and fublime, as beautiful and harmonious, as can poffibly be written. No number of fyllables can equal the force of these monofyllables, II. 621. and 950.

Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens,

and fhades of death. And swims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.

And abundance of other inftances might eafily be cited. And certainly monofyllables ufed properly add much to the ftrength and conciseness of our language.

502. Her virtue and the confcience of her worth,] Dr. Bentley

proposes to read,

Hor

Nature herself, though pure of finful thought,
Wrought in her fo, that seeing me, the turn'd;
I follow'd her, the what was honor knew,
And with obfequious majesty approv'd
My pleaded reason. To the nuptial bower

I led her blushing like the morn: all Heaven,
And happy conftellations on that hour
Shed their felecteft influence; the earth
Gave fign of gratulation, and each hill;

510

Joyous

Her virtue and her consciousness of nature. We mention this because worth, the paffage hath been misunderstood

The word confcience (fays he) is here by Dr. Bentley, and may be fo again by others.

taken in a fignification unwarranted by ufe. But the fact is quite otherwife; for in our English verfion of the Bible the word is often used in this fenfe: thus in Hebr. X. 2. fhould bave had no more conicience of fins. 1 Cor. VIII. 7. Some with confcience of the idol eat. And thus confcientia is afed by the Latin authors, as in Cicero de Senect. Confcientia bene aftæ vitæ jucundiffima eft.

Pearce.

305. or to Jay all, &c.] The conftruction of the whole paffage is this, Though fhe was divinely brought, yet innocence and virgin modely, her virtue and the confcience of her worth, or to fay all, nature herself wrought in her fo, that feeing me the turn'd. Wrought is the verb, and the nominative cafes are innocence and virgin modefty, virtae and confcience of worth, and

509. And with obfequious majefly

approv'd] How exactly does our author preferve the fame character of Eve in all places where he fpeaks of her! This obfequious majefty is the very fame with the cop fubmiffion, modeft pride in the fourth book, and both not unlike what Spenfer has in his Epithalamium. Behold how goodly my fair Love doth lie

515

Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airs
Whisper'd it to the woods, and from their wings
Flung rofe, flung odors from the spicy fhrub,
Difporting, till the amorous bird of night
Sung fpoufal, and bid hafte the evening star
On his hill top, to light the bridal lamp.
Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought
My story to the fum of earthly blifs

Glad earth perceives, and from her

bolom pours Unbidden herbs, and voluntary flow'rs

There golden clouds conceal the heav'nly pair,

Steep'd in foft joys, and circumfus'd with air

Celeftial dews, defcending o'er the ground,

स

Perfume the mount, and breathe

Ambrofia round. Pope. But Milton has greatly improv'd this, as he improves every thing, in the imitation. In all his copies of the beautiful paffages of other authors he fudioufly varies and difguiles them, the better to give himself the air of an original, and to make by his additions and improvements what he borrowed the more fairly his own; the only regular way of acquiring a property in thoughts taken from other writers, if we may believe Horace, whole laws in poetry are of undoubted authority. De Art.

Poet. 131

Publica materies privati juris erit, fi

520

Which

Nec circa vilem patulumque mora.
beris orbem,

Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere
fidus
Interpres, &c.

For what originally others writ,
May be fo well disguis'd, and fo
improv'd,

That with fome justice it may pass for yours:

But then you must not copy trivial things,

Nor word for word too faithfully tranflate. Rofcommon.

Milton indeed in what he borrows from Scripture, obferves the contrary rule, and generally adheres minutely, or rather religiously, to the very words as much as poffible of the original.