And send him from the garden forth to till

The ground whence he was taken, fitter soil.

Michael, this my behest have thou in charge;

Take to thee from among the Cherubim

Thy choice of flaming warriors, lest the Fiend,

Or in behalf of Man, or to invade

Vacant possession, some new trouble raise:

Haste thee, and from the Paradise of God

Without remorse drive out the sinful pair;

From hallowed ground the unholy; and denounce

To them, and to their progeny, from thence

Perpetual banishment. Yet, lest they faint

At the sad sentence rigorously urged,

(For I behold them softened, and with tears

Bewailing their excess,) all terrour hide.

If patiently thy bidding they obey,

Dismiss them not disconsolate; reveal

To Adam what shall come in future days,

As I shall thee enlighten; intermix

My covenant in the Woman’s seed renewed;

So send them forth, though sorrowing, yet in peace:

And on the east side of the garden place,

Where entrance up from Eden easiest climbs,

Cherubic watch; and of a sword the flame

Wide-waving; all approach far off to fright,

And guard all passage to the tree of life:

Lest Paradise a receptacle prove

To Spirits foul, and all my trees their prey;

With whose stolen fruit Man once more to delude.”

He ceased; and the arch-angelic Power prepared

For swift descent; with him the cohort bright

Of watchful Cherubim: four faces each

Had, like a double Janus; all their shape

Spangled with eyes more numerous than those

Of Argus, and more wakeful than to drouse,

Charmed with Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed

Of Hermes, or his opiate rod. Meanwhile,

To re-salute the world with sacred light,

Leucothea waked; and with fresh dews imbalmed

The earth; when Adam and first matron Eve

Had ended now their orisons, and found

Strength added from above; new hope to spring

Out of despair; joy, but with fear yet linked;

Which thus to Eve his welcome words renewed.

“Eve, easily my faith admit, that all

The good which we enjoy from Heaven descends;

But, that from us aught should ascend to Heaven

So prevalent as to concern the mind

Of God high-blest, or to incline his will,

Hard to belief may seem; yet this will prayer

Or one short sigh of human breath, upborne

Even to the seat of God. For since I sought

By prayer the offended Deity to appease;

Kneeled, and before him humbled all my heart;

Methought I saw him placable and mild,

Bending his ear; persuasion in me grew

That I was heard with favour; peace returned

Home to my breast, and to my memory

His promise, that thy seed shall bruise our foe;

Which, then not minded in dismay, yet now

Assures me that the bitterness of death

Is past, and we shall live. Whence hail to thee,

Eve rightly called, mother of all mankind,

Mother of all things living, since by thee

Man is to live; and all things live for Man.”