Page:Paradise lost by Milton, John.djvu/418

Then lose it to a stranger, that the true
Anointed King, Messiah, might be born
Barred of his right; yet at his birth a star,360
Unseen before in heaven, proclaims him come,
And guides the eastern sages, who inquire
His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold.
His place of birth a solemn Angel tells
To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night;
They gladly thither haste, and, by a quire
Of squadroned Angels, hear his carol sung.
A Virgin is his mother, but his sire
The Power of the Most High. He shall ascend
The throne hereditary, and bound his reign370
With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the heavens."
He ceased, discerning Adam with such joy
Surcharged, as had, like grief, been dewed in tears,
Without the vent of words, which these he breathed:
"O prophet of glad tidings, finisher
Of utmost hope! now clear I understand
What oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain;
Why our great Expectation should be called
The Seed of Woman. Virgin Mother, hail!
High in the love of Heaven, yet from my loins380
Thou shalt proceed, and from thy womb the Son