Twice by a voice inviting him to eat.
Of thee these forty days none hath regard,
Forty and more deserted here indeed.

315

[hence?

To whom thus Jesus. What conclud'st thou They all had need; I, as thou seest, have none.

How hast thou hunger then? Satan replied. Tell me, if food were now before thee set, Would'st thou not eat? Thereafter as I like The giver, answer'd 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 all their power? nor mention I Meats by the law unclean, or offer'd first To idols, those young Daniel could refuse ; Nor proffer'd by an enemy, though who Would scruple that, with want opprest? behold Nature asham'd, or, better to express, Troubled that thou should'st hunger, hath purFrom all the elements her choicest store

To treat thee as beseems, and as her Lord

With honour, only deign to sit and eat.

320

325

330

[vey'd

335

He spake no dream, for, as his words had end, Our Saviour lifting up his eyes beheld

In ample space under the broadest shade

326 nor] So in Milton's own edition; in most others, 'not.' 334 elements] Juv. Sat. xi. 14.

'Interea gustus elementa per omnia quærunt.' Dunster.

A table richly spread, in regal mode,
With dishes pil'd, and meats of noblest sort
And savour, beasts of chase, or fowl of game,
In pastry built, or from the spit, or boil'd,
Gris-amber steam'd; all fish from sea or ́shore,
Freshet or purling brook, of shell or fin,
And exquisitest name, for which was drain'd
Pontus, and Lucrine bay, and Afric coast.
Alas how simple, to these cates compar'd,
Was that crude apple that diverted Eve!
And at a stately side-board by the wine
That fragrant smell diffus'd, in order stood

340

345

350

340 A table] Then dreamt he saw a table richly spread.' Whiting's Albino, and Bellama, p. 105, (1637.) 340 in regal mode] 'Regales Epulæ.' Apulei Metam. Lib. v. p. 143. ed. Delph.

341 dishes pil'd] Milton's Prose Works, vol. iv. p. 312, (a brief History of Moscovia) Then followed a number more of strange, and rare dishes piled, boiled, roast, and baked,' &c.

344 Gris-amber] Osborne's Memoirs of James I. vol. ii. p. 157, 'a whole pye, reckoned to my lord at ten pounds, being composed of amber-grece, magisterial of pearl, musk.' 345 Freshet] Brown B. Past. b. ii. s. 3. (1616.)

'Now love the freshet, and then love the sea.' Todd. 347 Lucrine] Hor. Epod. ii. 49.

'Non me Lucrina juverint conchylia,'

and Sat. ii. iv. 32.

Dunster.

349 diverted] In the latter sense, 'turn aside,' so Drayton's Owle, 1604.

'Holla! thou wandering infant of my braine,
Whither thus flingst thou; yet divert thy strayne;
Return we back.'

Todd.

Tall stripling youths rich clad, of fairer hue
Than Ganymed or Hylas; distant more
Under the trees now tripp'd, now solemn stood
Nymphs of Diana's train, and Naiades
With fruits and flowers from Amalthea's horn,
And ladies of the Hesperides, that seem'd
Fairer than feign'd of old, or fabled since.
Of fairy damsels met in forest wide
By knights of Logres, or of Lyones,
Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore,

355

360

And all the while harmonious airs were heard Of chiming strings or charming pipes, and winds Of gentlest gale Arabian odours fann'd

From their soft wings, and Flora's earliest smells. Such was the splendour, and the tempter now 366 His invitation earnestly renew'd.

What doubts the Son of God to sit and eat? These are not fruits forbidden; no interdict Defends the touching of these viands pure; Their taste no knowledge works at least of evil, But life preserves, destroys life's enemy, Hunger, with sweet restorative delight.

370

All these are spirits of air, and woods, and springs, Thy gentle ministers, who come to pay

375

Thee homage, and acknowledge thee their lord: What doubt'st thou Son of God? sit down and eat.

353 Ganymed]‘A train of sleek, smooth, beauteous youths

appear'd,

The Ganymedes and Hylasses.'

Mountford's Henry II. act iv. sc. 1.

To whom thus Jesus temperately 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,

385

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,
Array'd in glory, on my cup to attend ;
Why should'st thou then obtrude this diligence,
In vain, where no acceptance it can find?
And with my hunger what hast thou to do?
Thy pompous delicacies I contemn,

And count thy specious gifts no gifts, but guiles.
To whom thus answer'd Satan malecontent.
That I have also power to give thou seest.
If of that power I bring thee voluntary

390

What I might have bestow'd on whom I pleas'd, And rather opportunely in this place

Chose to impart to thy apparent need,

Why should'st thou not accept it? but I see

What I can do or offer is suspect;

398

385 flights] Hamlet, act v. sc. 6.

'And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.'

Newton.

385 ministrant] Cic. Tusc. Disp. 1. c. 26. 'Non ambrosia Deos, aut nectare, aut juventute pocula ministrante;' and Ov. Met. x. 100.

391 no gifts] Sophocl. Ajax. 675,

Dunster.

Εχθρῶν ἄδωρα δῶρα κ' ουκ ὀνήσιμα.

Newton.

400

Of these things others quickly will dispose,
Whose pains have earn'd the far-fet spoil. With that
Both table and provision vanish'd quite

With sound of Harpies' wings and talons heard;
Only the importune tempter still remain'd,
And with these words his temptation pursu'd. 405
By hunger, that each other creature tames,
Thou art not to be harm'd, therefore not mov'd;
Thy temperance invincible besides,

410

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;
Thou art unknown, unfriended, low of birth,
A carpenter thy father known, thy self
Bred up in poverty and straits 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?
What followers, what retinue can'st thou gain?
Or at thy heels the dizzy multitude,

415

420

Longer than thou can'st feed them on thy cost? Money brings honour, friends, conquest, and realms. What rais'd Antipater the Edomite,

And his son Herod plac'd on Judah's throne,

401 far-ft 'fet' 'far-fetched,' used by Chaucer, Spenser,

&c. see Newton's note.

403 Harpies] 'Hark! how the Harpies' wings resound.'

Al. Ross Mel Heliconium, p. 64.

404 importune] Spenser, F. Q. i. xii. 16.

'And often blame the too importune fate.' Newton.