Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/262

Useful, whence haply mention may arise200
Of something not unseasonable to ask,
By sufferance, and thy wonted favor, deigned.—
Thee I have heard relating what was done
Ere my rememberance; now hear me relate
My story, which perhaps thou hast not heard.
And day is not yet spent; till then thou seest
How subtly to detain thee I devise,
Inviting thee to hear while I relate,—
Fond! were it not in hope of thy reply.
For while I sit with thee I seem in Heaven,210
And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear
Than fruits of palm-tree, pleasantest to thirst
And hunger both, from labor, at the hour
Of sweet repast. They satiate and soon fill,
Though pleasant; but thy words, with grace divine
Imbued, bring to their sweetness no satiety."
To whom thus Raphael answered, heavenly meek:
"Nor are thy lips ungraceful, sire of men,
Nor tongue ineloquent; for God on thee
Abundantly his gifts hath also poured,220
Inward and outward both his image fair:
Speaking or mute all comeliness and grace
Attends thee, and each word, each motion forms.
Nor less think we in Heaven of thee on Earth
Than of our fellow-servant, and inquire
Gladly into the ways of God with Man;