Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/139

Now falling with soft, slumberous weight, inclines
Our eyelids. Other creatures all day long
Rove idle, unemployed, and less need rest;
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heaven on all his ways;620
While other animals unactive range,
And of their doings God takes no account.—
Tomorrow, ere fresh morning streak the east
With first approach of light, we must be risen,
And at our pleasant labor to reform,
Yon flowery arbors, yonder alleys green,
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown.
That mock our scant manuring, and require
More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth.
Those blossoms also, and those dropping guns,630
That lie bestrown, unsightly and unsmooth,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease;
Meanwhile as Nature wills, night bids us rest."
To whom thus Eve with perfect beauty adorned:
"My author and disposer, what thou biddest
Unargued I obey; so God ordains:
God is thy law, thou mine; to know no more
Is woman's happiest knowledge, and her praise.
With thee conversing I forget all time;
All seasons and their change, all please alike.640
Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,