Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/267

Of woe and sorrow.' Sternly he pronounced
The rigid interdiction, which resounds
Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice
Not to incur; but soon his clear aspect
Returned, and gracious purpose thus renewed:
'Not only these fair bounds, but all the Earth
To Thee and to thy race I give; as lords
Possess it, and all things that therein live,340
Or live in sea or air, beast, fish, and fowl.
In sign whereof, each bird and beast, behold!
After their kinds, I bring them to receive
From thee their names, and pay thee feälty
With low subjection. Understand the same
Of fish within their watery residence,
Not hither summoned, since they cannot change
Their element to draw the thinner air.'—
As thus he spake, each bird and beast behold
Approaching two and two; these cowering low350
With blandishment, each bird stooped on his wing.
I named them, as they passed, and understood
Their nature, with such knowledge God endued
My sudden apprehension. But in these
I found not what, methought, I wanted still;
And to the heavenly Vision thus presumed:
"'Oh, by what name, for thou above all these,
Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher.