Of thee those forty days none hath regard,
Forty and more deserted here indeed.”
To whom thus Jesus:
“What conclud’st thou hence?
They all had need. I, as thou see’st, have none.”
“How hast thou hunger then?” Satan replied.
“Tell me, if food were now before thee set,
Would’st thou not eat?”
“Thereafter as6808 I like6809
The giver,” answered Jesus.
“Why should that
Cause thy refusal?” said the subtle fiend.
“Hast thou not right to all created things?
Owe not all creatures, by just right, to thee
Duty and service, nor to stay till bid,
But tender 6810 all their power?6811 Nor mention I
Meats by the law unclean, or offered first
To idols—those young Daniel6812 could refuse.
Nor proffered by an enemy—though who
Would scruple6813 that, with want 6814 oppressed? Behold!
Nature ashamed (or, better to express,
Troubled) that thou shouldst hunger, hath purveyed6815
From all the elements her choicest store,
To treat thee as beseems, and as her Lord
With honor. Only deign to sit and eat.”
He spoke no dream, for as his words had end
Our Savior, lifting up his eyes, beheld
In ample space under the broadest shade
A table richly spread in regal mode,
With dishes piled and meats of noblest sort
And savor,6816 beasts of chase, or fowl of game,
In pastry built,6817 or from the spit, or boiled,
Grisamber6818 steamed—all fish, from sea or shore,
Freshet6819 or purling6820 brook, of shell or fin,
And exquisitest name,6821 for which was drained
Pontus,6822 and Lucrine Bay,6823 and Afric coast.
Alas! how simple,6824 to these cates6825 compared,
Was that crude apple that diverted6826 Eve!
And at a stately6827 sideboard,6828 by the wine
That fragrant smell diffused,6829 in order stood
Tall stripling6830 youths rich-clad, of fairer hue
Than Ganymede6831 or Hylas.6832 Distant more,
Under the trees now6833 tripped,6834 now solemn stood6835
Nymphs of Diana’s train, and Naiades
With fruits and flowers from Amalthea’s horn,6836
And ladies of the Hesperides,6837 that seemed
Fairer than feigned6838 of old, or fabled since
Of fairy damsels met in forest wide
By knights of Logres,6839 or of Lyonesse,6840
Lancelot, or Pelléas, or Pellenore.6841
And all the while harmonious airs were heard
Of chiming6842 strings or charming pipes, and winds
Of gentlest gale6843 Arabian odors fanned
From their soft wings, and Flora’s6844 earliest smells.
Such was the splendor. And the Tempter now
His invitation earnestly renewed:
“What doubts6845 the Son of God to sit and eat?
These are not fruits forbidd’n. No interdict6846
Defends6847 the touching of these viands6848 pure.
Their taste no knowledge works (at least of evil)
But life preserves, destroys life’s enemy,
Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.
All these are Spirits of air, and woods, and springs,
Thy gentle6849 ministers,6850 who come to pay
Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their Lord.
What doubt’st thou, Son of God? Sit down and eat.”
To whom thus Jesus temperately6851 replied:
“Said’st thou not that to all things I had right?
And who withholds my pow’r that right to use?
Shall I receive by gift what of my own,
When and where likes me best, I can command?
I can at will, doubt not, as soon as thou,
Command a table in this wilderness,
And call swift flights of Angels ministrant,
Arrayed in glory, on my cup t’ attend.
Why should’st thou, then, obtrude6852 this diligence6853
In vain, where no acceptance it can find?
And with my hunger what hast thou to do?
Thy pompous6854 delicacies6855 I contemn,6856
And count thy specious6857 gifts no gifts, but guiles.”
To whom thus answered Satan, malcontent:6858
“That I have also power to give thou see’st.
If of that pow’r I bring thee voluntary
What I might have bestowed on whom I pleased,
And, rather,6859 opportunely6860 in this place
Chose to impart to thy apparent6861 need,
Why should’st thou not accept it? But I see
What I can do or offer is suspect.
Of these things others quickly will dispose,
Whose pains have earned the far-fet 6862 spoil.”
With that
Both table and provision vanished quite,6863
With sound of harpies’ wings and talons heard.
Only the importune6864 Tempter still remained,
And with these words his temptation pursued:
“By hunger, that each other creature tames,
Thou art not to be harmed, therefore not moved.
Thy temperance,6865 invincible besides,
For no allurement yields to appetite,
And all thy heart is set on high designs,
High actions. But wherewith to be achieved?
Great acts require great means of enterprise.6866
Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,
A carpenter thy father known, thyself
Bred up in poverty and straits6867 at home,
Lost in a desert here and hunger-bit.
Which way, or from what hope, dost thou aspire
To greatness? Whence authority deriv’st?6868
What followers, what retinue6869 canst thou gain,
Or6870 at thy heels the dizzy 6871 multitude,
Longer than thou canst feed them on6872 thy cost?
Money brings honor, friends, conquest, and realms.
What raised Antipater 6873 the Edomite, 6874
And his son Herod, placed on Judah’s throne
(Thy throne), but gold, that got him puissant friends?
Therefore, if at great things thou would’st arrive,
Get riches first, get wealth, and treasure heap6875 —
Not difficult, if thou hearken to me.
Riches are mine, fortune is in my hand.
They whom I favor thrive in wealth amain,6876
While virtue, valor, wisdom, sit in want.”
To whom thus Jesus patiently replied:
“Yet wealth without these three6877 is impotent
To gain dominion, or to keep it, gained.6878
Witness those ancient empires of the earth,
In height of all their flowing wealth dissolved,
But men endued with these6879 have oft attained,
In lowest poverty, to highest deeds:
Gideon,6880 and Jephtha,6881 and the shepherd lad6882
Whose offspring on the throne of Judah sat
So many ages, and shall yet regain
That seat, and reign in Israel without end.
Among the heathen (for throughout the world
To me is not unknown what hath been done,
Worthy of memorial) canst thou not remember
Quintius,6883 Fabricius,6884 Curius,6885 Regulus?6886
For I esteem those names of men so poor
Who could do mighty things, and could contemn
Riches, though offered from the hand of kings.
And what in me seems wanting6887 but that I
May also, in this poverty, as soon
Accomplish
what they did, perhaps, and more?
Extol not riches, then, the toil 6888 of fools,
The wise man’s cumbrance, if not snare, more apt
To slacken virtue and abate6889 her edge6890
Than prompt her to do aught6891 may merit praise.
What if with like 6892 aversion I reject
Riches and realms! Yet not for that6893 a crown,
Golden in show, is but a wreath of thorns—
Brings dangers, troubles, cares, and sleepless nights
To him who wears the regal diadem,6894
When on his shoulders each6895 man’s burden lies.
For therein stands6896 the office of a king,
His honor, virtue, merit, and chief praise
That for the public all this weight he bears.
“Yet he who reigns within himself, and rules6897
Passions, desires, and fears, is more a king—
Which every wise and virtuous man attains.
And who attains not, ill aspires to rule
Cities of men, or headstrong multitudes,
Subject 6898 himself to anarchy within,
Or lawless passions in him, which he serves.
But to guide nations in the way of truth
By saving6899 doctrine, and from error lead
To know and, knowing, worship God aright,
Is yet more kingly. This attracts the soul,
Governs the inner man, the nobler part;
That other o’er the body only reigns,
And oft by force, which to a generous6900 mind
So reigning can be no sincere delight.
“Besides, to give a kingdom hath been thought
Greater and nobler done, and to lay down6901
Far more magnanimous,6902 than to assume.6903
Riches are needless, then, both for themselves
And for thy reason why they should be sought,
To gain a scepter, oftest better missed.”6904
BOOK III
So spoke the Son of God, and Satan stood
A while as mute, confounded6905 what to say,
What to reply, confuted 6906 and convinced6907
Of his weak arguing and fallacious6908 drift.6909
At length, collecting 6910 all his serpent wiles,
With soothing words renewed, him6911 thus accosts:
“I see thou know’st what is of use to know,
What best to say canst say, to do canst do.
Thy actions to thy words accord, thy words
To thy large heart give utterance due: thy heart
Contains of good, wise, just, the perfect shape.
Should kings and nations from thy mouth consult 6912
Thy counsel would be as the oracle
Urim and Thummim,6913 those oraculous gems
On Aaron’s breast, or tongue of seers6914 old
Infallible. Or wert thou sought to deeds
That might require the array6915 of war, thy skill
Of conduct would be such that all the world
Could not sustain thy prowess, or subsist 6916
In battle, though against thy few in arms.6917
“These godlike virtues wherefore dost thou hide?
Affecting6918 private life, or more obscure
In savage wilderness, wherefore deprive
All earth her wonder at thy acts, thyself
The fame and glory—glory, the reward
That sole excites to high attempts the flame
Of most erected6919 spirits, most tempered6920 pure
Ethereal, who all pleasures else despise,
All treasures and all gain esteem as dross,
And dignities and powers, all but the highest?
Thy years are ripe, and over-ripe. The son
Of Macedonian Philip6921 had ere these
Won Asia, and the throne of Cyrus6922 held
At his dispose. Young Scipio had brought down
The Carthaginian pride;6923 young Pompey quelled
The Pontic king,6924 and in triumph had rode.
Yet years, and to ripe years judgment mature,
Quench not the thirst of glory, but augment.
Great Julius,6925 whom now all the world admires,
The more he grew in years, the more inflamed
With glory, wept that he had lived so long
Inglorious. But thou yet art not too late.”
To whom our Savior calmly thus replied:
“Thou neither dost persuade me to seek wealth
For empire’s sake, nor empire to affect 6926
For glory’s sake, by all thy argument.
For what is glory but the blaze6927 of fame,
The people’s praise—if always praise unmixed?
And what 6928 the people but a herd confused,
A miscellaneous rabble,6929 who extol
Things vulgar and, well weighed,6930 scarce worth the praise?
They praise and they admire they know not what,
And know not whom, but as one leads the other.
And what delight to be by such extolled,
To live upon their tongues, and be their talk?
Of whom to be dispraised were no small praise—
His lot who dares be singularly6931 good.
Th’ intelligent among them and the wise
Are few, and glory scarce of few is raised.6932
This is true glory and renown—when God,
Looking on the earth, with approbation marks
The just man, and divulges6933 him through Heav’n
To all His Angels, who with true applause
Recount his praises. Thus He did to Job,
When to extend his fame through Heav’n and earth
(As thou to thy reproach may’st well remember)
He asked thee, ‘Hast thou seen my servant Job?’
Famous he was in Heav’n; on earth less known,
Where glory is false glory, attributed
To things not glorious, men not worthy of fame.
“They err who count it glorious to subdue
By conquest far and wide, to overrun
Large countries, and in field great battles win,
Great cities by assault. What do these worthies
But rob and spoil, burn, slaughter, and enslave
Peaceable nations, neighboring or remote?
Made captive, yet deserving freedom more
Than those their conquerors, who leave behind
Nothing but ruin wheresoe’er they rove,
And all the flourishing works of peace destroy,
Then swell with pride, and must be titled gods,
Great benefactors of mankind, deliverers,
Worshipped with temple, priest, and sacrifice!
One is the son of Jove,6934 of Mars6935 the other,
Till conqueror Death discover 6936 them scarce men,
Rolling in brutish vices, and deformed,6937
Violent or shameful Death their due reward.
“But if there be in glory aught of good,
It may by means far different be attained,
Without ambition, war, or violence—
By deeds of peace, by wisdom eminent,
By patience, temperance. I mention still
Him whom thy wrongs with saintly patience borne,
Made famous in a land and times obscure:
Who names not now with honor patient Job?
Poor Socrates (who next more memorable?)
By what he taught and suffered for so doing,
For truth’s sake suffering death unjust, lives now
Equal in fame to proudest conquerors.
Yet if for fame and glory aught be done,
Aught suffered—if young African6938 for fame
His wasted country freed from Punic6939 rage—
The deed becomes unpraised, the man at least,
And loses, though but verbal, his reward.
Shall I seek glory, then, as vain men seek,
Who sent me, and thereby witness6940 whence I am.”6941
To whom the Tempter, murmuring, thus replied:
“Think not so slight of glory, therein least
Resembling thy great Father. He seeks glory,
And for His glory all things made, all things
Orders and governs, nor content in Heav’n,
By all His Angels glorified, requires
Glory from men, from all men, good or bad,
Wise or unwise, no difference, no exemption.
Above all sacrifice, or hallowed gift,
Glory He requires, and glory He receives,
Promiscuous6942 from all nations, Jew, or Greek,
Or barbarous, nor exception hath declared.
From us, His foes pronounced, glory He exacts.”
To whom our Savior fervently replied:
“And reason,6943 since His Word all things produced,
Though chiefly not for glory as prime end,
But to show forth His goodness, and impart
His good communicable to every soul
Freely. Of whom what could He less expect
Than glory and benediction6944 —that is, thanks—
The slightest, easiest, readiest recompense
From them who could return Him nothing else?
And not returning that, would likeliest render
Contempt instead, dishonor, obloquy?
Hard recompense, unsuitable return
For so much good, so much beneficence!
“But why should man seek glory, who of his own
Hath nothing, and to whom nothing belongs
But condemnation, ignominy, and shame?
Who for so many benefits received
Turned recreant6945 to God, ingrate and false,
And so of all true good himself despoiled,6946
Yet sacrilegious, to himself would take
That which to God alone of right belongs?
Yet so much bounty6947 is in God, such grace,
That who advances His glory, not their own,
Them He Himself to glory will advance.”
So spoke the Son of God, and here again.
Satan had not to answer, but stood struck
With guilt of his own sin—for he himself,
Insatiable of glory, had lost all.
Yet of another plea bethought him soon:
“Of glory, as thou wilt,” said he, “so deem,
Worth or not worth the seeking. Let it pass.
But to a kingdom thou art born—ordained
The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems Page 66
