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Book 3.
Paradiſe loſt.

Interpreter through higheſt Heav'n to bring,
Where all his Sons thy Embaſſie attend;
And here art likelieſt by ſupream decree
670Like honour to obtain, and as his Eye
To viſit oft this new Creation round;
Unſpeakable defire to fee, and know
All theſe his wondrous works, but chiefly Man,
His chief delight and favour, him for whom
All theſe his works ſo wondrous he ordaind,
Hath brought me from the Quires of Cherubim
Alone thus wandring. Brighteſt Seraph tell
In which of all theſe ſhining Orbes hath Man
His fixed ſeat, or fixed ſeat hath none,
680But all theſe ſhining Orbes his choice to dwell;
That I may find him, and with ſecret gaze,
Or open admiration him behold
On whom the great Creator hath beſtowd
Worlds,and on whom hath all theſe graces powrd;
That both in him and all things, as is meet,
The Univerſal Maker we may praiſe;
Who juſtly hath drivn out his Rebell Foes
To deepeſt Hell, and to repair that loſs
Created this new happie Race of Men
690To ſerve him better: wiſe are all his wayes.
So ſpake the falſe diſſembler unperceivd;
For neither Man nor Angel can diſcern
Hypocriſie, the only evil that walks
Inviſible, except to God alone,
By his permiſſive will, through Heav'n and Earth:
And oft though wiſdom wake, ſuſpicion ſleeps
At wiſdoms Gate, and to ſimplicitie
Reſigns her charge, while goodneſs thinks no ill