Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/230

Say, Goddess, what ensued when Raphaël,40
The affable Archangel, had forewarned
Adam, by dire example, to beware
Apostasy, by what befell in Heaven
To those apostates; lest the like befall
In Paradise to Adam or his race,
Charged not to touch the interdicted tree,
If they transgress, and slight that sole command,
So easily obeyed, amid the choice
Of all tastes else to please their appetite,
Though wandering. He, with his consorted Eve,50
The story heard attentive, and was filled
With admiration and deep muse, to hear
Of things so high and strange, things to their thought
So unimaginable as hate in Heaven,
And war so near the peace of God in bliss,
With such confusion; but the evil, soon
Driven back, redounded as a flood on those
From whom it sprung, impossible to mix
With blessedness. Whence Adam soon repealed
The doubts that in his heart arose; and now60
Led on, yet sinless, with desire to know
What nearer might concern him, how this World
Of heaven and earth conspicuous first began;
When, and whereof created; for what cause;
What within Eden, or without, was done