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Paradise Regained - Book IIIb
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by
danlowlite
Thu Sep 28 2000 at 7:21:00
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With that (such power was given him then), he took
The
Son of God
up to a
mountain high
.
It was a
mountain
at whose verdant feet
A spacious plain outstretched in circuit wide
Lay
pleasant
; from his side two rivers flowed,
The one winding, the other straight, and left between
Fair
champaign
, with less rivers
interveined
,
Then
meeting
joined their tribute to the
sea
.
Fertil of corn the
glebe
, of
oil
, and
wine
;
With herds the
pasture
thronged, with flocks the hills; 260
Huge cities and high-towered, that well might seem
The seats of
mightiest
monarchs
; and so large
The prospect was that here and there was room
For
barren
desert
,
fountainless
and dry.
To this high mountain-top the
Tempter
brought
Our
Saviour
, and new train of words began:--
"Well have we speeded, and o'er hill and dale,
Forest, and field, and flood,
temples
and
towers
,
Cut shorter many a
league
. Here thou behold'st
Assyria, and her empire's ancient bounds, 270
Araxes and the
Caspian
lake
; thence on
As far as Indus east,
Euphrates
west,
And oft beyond; to south the
Persian
bay,
And, inaccessible, the
Arabian
drouth:
Here,
Nineveh
, of length within her wall
Several days' journey, built by
Ninus
old,
Of that first golden monarchy the seat,
And seat of
Salmanassar
, whose success
Israel
in long captivity
still
mourns;
There
Babylon
, the wonder of all tongues, 280
As ancient, but rebuilt by him who twice
Judah
and all thy
Father
David
's house
Led captive, and
Jerusalem
laid waste,
Till
Cyrus
set them free;
Persepolis
,
His city, there thou seest, and
Bactra
there;
Ecbatana
her
structure vast there shews,
And
Hecatompylos
her
hundred
gates;
There Susa by
Choaspes
, amber stream,
The drink of none but kings; of later fame,
Built by
Emathian
or by Parthian hands, 290
The great
Seleucia
,
Nisibis
, and there
Artaxata
,
Teredon
,
Ctesiphon
,
Turning with easy eye, thou may'st behold.
All these the
Parthian
(now some ages past
By great
Arsaces
led, who founded first
That empire) under his
dominion
holds,
From the
luxurious
kings of
Antioch
won.
And just in time thou com'st to have a view
Of his great power; for now the Parthian
king
In
Ctesiphon
hath gathered all his host 300
Against the
Scythian
, whose
incursions
wild
Have wasted
Sogdiana
; to her aid
He marches now in haste. See, though from far,
His
thousands
, in what martial
equipage
They issue forth, steel bows and shafts their arms,
Of equal dread in flight or in pursuit--
All
horsemen
, in which fight they most excel;
See how in
warlike
muster
they appear,
In rhombs, and wedges, and half-moons, and wings."
He looked, and saw what numbers numberless 310
The
city gates
outpoured, light-armed troops
In
coats of mail
and
military pride
.
In mail their horses clad, yet fleet and strong,
Prauncing
their riders bore, the flower and choice
Of many provinces from bound to bound--
From
Arachosia
, from
Candaor
east,
And
Margiana
, to the
Hyrcanian
cliffs
Of
Caucasus
, and dark
Iberian
dales;
From
Atropatia
, and the neigh
b
ouring plains
Of
Adiabene
, Media, and the south 320
Of
Susiana
, to
Balsara
's haven.
He saw them in their forms of battle ranged,
How quick they wheeled, and flying behind them shot
Sharp sleet of
arrowy
showers
against the face
Of their pursuers, and overcame by
flight
;
The field all iron cast a
gleaming brown
.
Nor wanted clouds of foot, nor, on each horn,
Cuirassiers
all in steel for standing fight,
Chariots, or elephants indorsed with towers
Of archers; nor of
labouring
pioners
330
A multitude, with spades and axes armed,
To lay hills plain, fell woods, or valleys fill,
Or where plain was raise hill, or overlay
With bridges rivers proud, as with a
yoke
:
Mules after these,
camels
and
dromedaries
,
And
waggons
fraught with utensils of war.
Such
forces
met not, nor so wide a camp,
When
Agrican
, with all his northern powers,
Besieged
Albracea
, as romances tell,
The city of
Gallaphrone
, from thence to win 340
The fairest of her
sex
,
Angelica
,
His
daughter
, sought by many prowest knights,
Both
Paynim
and the peers of
Charlemane
.
Such and so numerous was their
chivalry
;
At sight whereof the
Fiend
yet more presumed,
And to our
Saviour
thus his words renewed:--
"That thou may'st know I seek not to engage
Thy virtue, and not every way secure
On no slight grounds thy safety, hear and mark
To what end I have brought thee hither, and shew 350
All this fair sight. Thy
kingdom
, though foretold
By
Prophet
or by
Angel
, unless thou
Endeavour
, as thy
Father
David
did,
Thou never shalt obtain: prediction still
In all things, and all men, supposes means;
Without means used, what it
predicts
revokes.
But say thou wert possessed of
David
's throne
By free consent of all, none opposite,
Samaritan
or Je
w
; how couldst thou hope
Long to enjoy it quiet and secure 360
Between two such enclosing enemies,
Roman and
Parthian
? Therefore one of these
Thou must make sure thy own: the
Parthian
first,
By my advice, as nearer, and of late
Found able by
invasion
to annoy
Thy country, and captive lead away her kings,
Antigonus
and old
Hyrcanus
, bound,
Maugre the Roman
. It shall be my task
To render thee the Parthian at dispose,
Choose which thou wilt, by conquest or by
league
. 370
By him thou shalt regain, without him not,
That which alone can truly
reinstall
thee
In David's royal seat, his true successor--
Deliverance of thy
brethren
, those
Ten Tribes
Whose
offspring
in his territory yet serve
In
Habor
, and among the Medes dispersed:
The sons of
Jacob
, two of
Joseph
, lost
Thus long from
Israel
, serving, as of old
Their fathers in the land of
Egypt
served,
This offer sets before thee to deliver. 380
These if from
servitude
thou
shalt
restore
To their inheritance, then, nor till then,
Thou on the throne of
David
in full glory,
From
Egypt
to
Euphrates
and beyond,
Shalt reign, and
Rome
or
Caesar
not need fear."
To whom our
Saviour
answered thus, unmoved:--
"Much
ostentation
vain of fleshly arm
And fragile arms, much instrument of war,
Long in preparing, soon to nothing brought,
Before mine eyes thou hast set, and
in my ear
390
Vented much
policy
, and
projects
deep
Of
enemies
, of
aids
,
battles
, and
leagues
,
Plausible to the world, to me worth
naught
.
Means I must use, thou say'st; prediction else
Will unpredict, and fail me of the throne!
My time, I told thee (and that time for thee
Were better farthest off), is not yet come.
When that comes, think not thou to find me slack
On my part aught
endeavouring
, or to need
Thy politic
maxims
, or that
cumbersome
400
Luggage of war
there shewn me--
argument
Of human weakness
rather than of strength.
My brethren, as thou call'st them, those Ten Tribes,
I must deliver, if I mean to
reign
David's true heir, and his full
sceptre
sway
To just extent over all
Israel
's sons!
But whence to thee this zeal? Where was it then
For
Israel
, or for
David
, or his throne,
When thou stood'st up his tempter to the pride
Of numbering
Israel
--which cost the lives 410
of
threescore
and ten thousand
Israelites
By three days'
pestilence
? Such was thy zeal
To
Israel
then, the same that now to me.
As for those captive tribes, themselves were they
Who wrought their own captivity, fell off
From
God
to worship calves, the deities
Of
Egypt
,
Baal
next and
Ashtaroth
,
And all the
idolatries
of heathen round,
Besides their other worse than heathenish crimes;
Nor in the land of their captivity 420
Humbled
themselves
,
or
penitent
besought
The
God
of their
forefathers
, but so died
Impenitent, and left a race behind
Like to themselves,
distinguishable
scarce
From
Gentiles
, but by
circumcision
vain,
And
God
with idols in their worship joined.
Should I of these the liberty regard,
Who, freed,
as
to their ancient patrimony,
Unhumbled, unrepentant, unreformed,
Headlong would follow, and to their gods perhaps 430
Of
Bethel
and of
Dan
? No; let them serve
Their enemies who serve idols with
God
.
Yet He at length, time to himself best known,
Remembering
Abraham
, by some wondrous
call
May bring them back, repentant and sincere,
And at their passing cleave the
Assyrian
flood
,
While to their native land with joy they
haste
,
As the
Red Sea
and
Jordan
once he cleft,
When to the
Promised Land
their fathers passed.
To his due time and providence I leave them." 440
So spake
Israel
's true
king
, and to the
Fiend
Made answer meet, that made void all his wiles.
So fares it
when with truth falsehood contends
.
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Paradise Regained - Book IVa
Paradise Regained - Contents
Paradise Regained - Book IIIa
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