Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/92

This my long sufferance and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn shall never taste;
But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more,200
That they may stumble on and deeper fall;
And none but such from mercy I exclude.—
But yet all is not done; Man disobeying,
Disloyal, breaks his feälty, and sins
Against the high supremacy of Heaven,
Affecting Godhead, and, so losing all,
To expiate his treason hath nought left,
But, to destruction sacred and devote,
He with his whole posterity must die,
Die he or justice must; unless for him210
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
Say, heavenly Powers, where shall we find such love?
Which of ye will be mortal, to redeem
Man's mortal crime, and just the unjust to save?
Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear?"
He asked, but all the heavenly quire stood mute,
And silence was in Heaven; on Man's behalf
Patron or intercessor none appeared,
Much less than durst upon his own head draw220
The deadly forfeiture and ransom set.
And now without redemption all mankind