The Forbidden Fruit
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A thousand years
and six hours of the hours,
without guile, without danger, it has been heard,
Adam was in Paradise. 1
O God our help, whom champions prove,
who fashioned all with perfect justice,
not bright the matter of our theme (?) 2
the King who spake an admonition with them.
Prince who gave a clear admonition.
(The figures in brackets after the title of the chapters
are the numbers of the poems or cantos in the text.)
1 There seems to be some error here. According to Gen. v. 3,
Adam lived altogether nine hundred and thirty years, as the poet
states further on (p. 43).
a The meaning of this line is not clear. The above is con-
jectural.
IV. THE FALL AND EXPULSION FROM
PARADISE, (viii.)
THE Devil was jealous thereat 1. 1105
with Adam and his children,
their being here, without evil,
in their perfect bodies (on their passage) to heaven.
All the living creatures in the flesh
my Holy King has created them,
outside Paradise without strife
Adam it is who used to order them.
At the time when out of every quarter
the hosts of the seven heavens used to gather round my
High King,
every fair corporeal creature
used to come together to Adam.
Each of them out of his place cheerfully, 1
at his call to adore him ;
to Adam, joyous the custom,
they used to come to delight him.
1 Lit. " prosperously."
