Thou and all Angels conversant on earth
With man or men's affairs, how I begin
To verify that folemn message late,
On which I fent thee to the Virgin pure
In Galilee, that fhe fhould bear a fon
Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God;
Then toldst her doubting how these things could be
To her a virgin, that on her should come
The Holy Ghoft, and the pow'r of the Highest
O'er-shadow her: this man born and now up-grown,
To fhew him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expose
To Satan; let him tempt and now affay
His utmost subtlety, because he boasts
And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng 145
Of his apoftafy; he might have learnt
Less overweening fince he fail'd in Job,
Whose conftant perfeverance overcame
Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
He now shall know I can produce a man
Of female feed, far abler to resist
All his folicitations, and at length
All his vaft force, and drive him back to Hell,
Winning by conqueft what the first man lost
By fallacy furpris'd. But firft I mean
To exercise him in the wilderness,
There he shall first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth
To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes,
By humiliation and strong sufferance:
His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength,
And all the world, and mass of finful flesh;
That all the Angels and ethereal Powers,
They now, and men hereafter may discern,
From what confummate virtue I have chose
This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son,
To earn falvation for the fons of men.
So spake th' eternal Father, and all Heaven
Admiring stood a space, then into hymns
Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd,
Circling the throne and finging, while the hand
Sung with the voice, and this the argument.
Victory' and triumph to the Son of God
Now entring his great duel, not of arms,
But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles.
The Father knows the Son; therefore fecure
Ventures his filial virtue, though untry'd,
Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er feduce,
Allure, or terrify, or undermine.
Be frustrate all ye ftratagems of Hell,
And devilish machinations come to nought.
So they in Heav'n their odes and vigils tun'd: Mean while the Son of God, who
Lodg'd in Bethabara where John baptiz'd,
Mufing and much revolving in his breast,
How beft the mighty work he might begin
Of Saviour to mankind, and which way firft
Publish his God-like office now mature,
One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading,
And his deep thoughts, the better to converse
With folitude, till far from track of men,
Thought following thought, and step by step led on, He enter'd now the bord'ring desert wild,
And with dark shades and rocks environ'd round,
His holy meditations thus purfu'd.
O what a multitude of thoughts at once
Awaken'd in me fwarm, while I confider
What from within I feel myself, and hear
What from without comes often to my ears,
Ill forting with my present state compar'd!
When I was yet a child, no childish play
To me was pleasing; all my mind was fet
Serious to learn and know, and thence to do
What might be public good; myself I thought
Born to that end, born to promote all truth,
All righteous things: therefore above my years,
The law of God I read, and found it sweet,
Made it my whole delight, and in it
To fuch perfection, that ere yet my age
Had measur'd twice fix years, at our great feast 210 I went into the temple, there to hear
The teachers of our law, and to propose
What might improve my knowledge or their own;
And was admir'd by all: yet this not all
To which my Spirit afpir'd; victorious deeds
Flam'd in my heart, heroic acts, one while
To rescue Ifrael from the Roman yoke,
Then to fubdue and quell o'er all the earth
Brute violence and proud tyrannic power,
Till truth were freed, and equity restor❜d:
Yet held it more humane, more heav'nly first
By winning words to conquer willing hearts,
And make persuasion do the work of fear;
At least to try, and teach the erring soul
Not wilfully mis-doing, but unware
Misled; the ftubborn only to fubdue.
These growing thoughts my mother soon perceiving
By words at times cast forth inly rejoic'd,
And faid to me apart, High are thy thoughts
O Son, but nourish them and let them foar
To what highth sacred virtue and true worth
Can raise them, though above example high;
By matchless deeds express thy matchless Sire.
For know, thou art no son of mortal man;
Though men efteem thee low of parentage,
Thy Father is th' eternal King who rules
All Heav'n and Earth, Angels and Sons of men;
A messenger from God foretold thy birth
Conceiv'd in me a virgin, he foretold
Thou should'st be great and fit on David's throne,
And of thy Kingdom there should be no end.
At thy nativity a glorious quire
Of Angels in the fields of Bethlehem fung
To fhepherds watching at their folds by night,
And told them the Meffiah now was born
Where they might see him, and to thee they came, Directed to the manger where thou lay'ft,
For in the inn was left no better room:
A ftar, not seen before, in Heav'n appearing
Guided the wise men thither from the east,
To honor thee with incense, myrrh, and gold,
By whose bright course led on they found the place,
Affirming it thy ftar new grav'n in Heaven,
By which they knew the king of Ifrael born.
Juft Simeon and prophetic Anna, warn'd
By vision, found thee in the temple', and spake
Before the altar and the vefted priest,
Like things of thee to all that present stood.
This having heard, strait 'I again revolv'd
The law and prophets, fearching what was writ 260
Concerning the Meffiah, to our scribes
Known partly, and soon found of whom they spake
I am; this chiefly, that my way must lie
Through many a hard assay ev'n to the death,
Ere I the promis'd kingdom can attain,
Or work redemption for mankind, whose sins
Full weight must be transferr'd upon my head.
Yet neither thus difhearten'd or dismay'd,
The time prefix'd I waited, when behold
The Baptist (of whose birth I oft had heard,
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