Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/396

To luxury and riot, feast and dance,
Marrying or prostituting, as befell,
Rape or adultery, where passing fair
Allured them; thence from cups to civil brolls.
At length a reverend sire among them came
And of their doings great dislike declared,720
And testified against their ways: he oft
Frequented their assemblies, whereso met,
Triumphs or festivals, and to them preached
Conversion and repentance, as to souls
In prison, under judgements imminent;
But all in vain. Which when he saw, he ceased
Contending, and removed his tents far off.
Then, from the mountain hewing timber tall,
Began to build a vessel of huge bulk,729
Measured by cubic, length, and breadth, and highth,
Smeared round with pitch, and in the side a door
Contrived, and of provisions laid in large
For man and beast: when lo, a wonder strange!
Of every beast, and bird, and insect small
Came sevens and pairs, and entered in, as taught
Their order; last the sire, and his three sons,
With their four wives; and God made fast the door.
Meanwhile the south-wind arose, and, with black wings
Wide-hovering, all the clouds together drove
From under heaven; the hills, to their supply,740
Vapor and exhalation, dusk and moist,