The Twelfth Book
¶THE ARGUMENT . — The Angel Michael continues, from the Flood, to relate what shall succeed; then, in the mention of Abraham , comes by degrees to explain who that Seed of the Woman shall be which was promised Adam and Eve in the Fall: his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; the state of the Church till his second coming. Adam , greatly satisfied and recomforted by these relations and promises, descends the hill with Michael; wakens Eve , who all this while had [342]slept, but with gentle dreams composed to quietness of mind and submission. Michael in either hand leads them out of Paradise, the fiery Sword waving behind them, and the Cherubim taking their stations to guard the place.
¶As one who, in his journey, bates at noon,Though bent on speed, so here the Archangel pausedBetwixt the world destroyed and world restored,If Adam aught perhaps might interpose;Then, with transition sweet, new speech resumes:—"Thus thou hast seen one world begin and end,And Man as from a second stock proceed.Much thou hast yet to see; but I perceiveThy mortal sight to fail; objects divineMust needs impair and weary human sense.Henceforth what is to come I will relate;Thou, therefore, give due audience, and attend."This second source of men, while yet but few,And while the dread of judgment past remainsFresh in their minds, fearing the Deity,With some regard to what is just and rightShall lead their lives, and multiply apace,Labouring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop,Corn, wine and oil; and, from the herd or flockOft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid,With large wine-offerings poured, and sacred feast,Shall spend their days in joy unblamed, and dwellLong time in peace, by families and tribes,Under paternal rule, till one shall rise,Of proud, ambitious heart, who, not contentWith fair equality, fraternal state,Will arrogate dominion undeservedOver his brethren, and quite dispossessConcord and law of Nature from the Earth—Hunting (and men, not beasts, shall be his game)With war and hostile snare such as refuseSubjection to his empire tyrannous.A mighty Hunter thence he shall be styledBefore the Lord, as in despite of Heaven,Or from Heaven claiming second sovranty,And from rebellion shall derive his name,Though of rebellion others he accuse.[343]He, with a crew, whom like ambition joinsWith him or under him to tyrannize,Marching from Eden towards the west, shall findThe Plain, wherein a black bituminous gurgeBoils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell.Of brick, and of that stuff, they cast to buildA city and tower, whose top may reach to Heaven;And get themselves a name, lest far dispersedIn foreign lands, their memory be lost—Regardless whether good or evil fame.But God, who oft descends to visit menUnseen, and through their habitations walks,To mark their doings, them beholding soon,Comes down to see their city, ere the TowerObstruct Heaven-towers, and in derision setsUpon their tongues a various spirit, to raseQuite out their native language, and, instead,To sow a jangling noise of words unknown.Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loudAmong the builders; each to other calls,Not understood—till, hoarse and all in rage,As mocked they storm. Great laughter was in Heaven,And looking down to see the hubbub strangeAnd hear the din. Thus was the building leftRidiculous, and the work Confusion named."Whereto thus Adam, fatherly displeased:—"O execrable son, so to aspireAbove his brethren, to himself assumingAuthority usurped, from God not given!He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,Dominion absolute; that right we holdBy his donation: but man over menHe made not lord—such title to himselfReserving, human left from human free.But this Usurper his encroachment proudStays not on Man; to God his Tower intendsSiege and defiance. Wretched man! what foodWill he convey up thither, to sustainHimself and his rash army, where thin airAbove the clouds will pine his entrails gross,[344]And famish him of breath, if not of bread?"To whom thus Michael:—"Justly thou abhorr'stThat son, who on the quiet state of menSuch trouble brought, affecting to subdueRational liberty; yet know withal,Since thy original lapse, true libertyIs lost, which always with right reason dwellsTwinned, and from her hath no dividual being.Reason in Man obscured, or not obeyed,Immediately inordinate desiresAnd upstart passions catch the governmentFrom Reason, and to servitude reduceMan, till then free. Therefore, since he permitsWithin himself unworthy powers to reignOver free reason, God, in judgment just,Subjects him from without to violent lords,Who oft as undeservedly enthralHis outward freedom. Tyranny must be,Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse.Yet sometimes nations will decline so lowFrom virtue, which is reason, that no wrong,But justice and some fatal curse annexed,Deprives them of their outward liberty,Their inward lost: witness the irreverent sonOf him who built the Ark, who, for the shameDone to his father, heard this heavy curse,Servant of servants, on his vicious race.Thus will this latter, as the former world,Still tend from bad to worse, till God at last,Wearied with their iniquities, withdrawHis presence from among them, and avertHis holy eyes, resolving from thenceforthTo leave them to their own polluted ways,And one peculiar nation to selectFrom all the rest, of whom to be invoked—A nation from one faithful man to spring.Him on this side Euphrates yet residing,Bred up in idol-worship—Oh, that men(Canst thou believe?) should be so stupid grown,While yet the patriarch lived who scaped the Flood,[345]As to forsake the living God, and fallTo worship their own work in wood and stoneFor gods!—yet him God the Most High voutsafesTo call by vision from his father's house,His kindred, and false gods into a landWhich he will shew him, and from him will raiseA mighty nation, and upon him showerHis benediction so that in his seedAll Nations shall be blest. He straight obeys;Not knowing to what land, yet firm believes.I see him, but thou canst not, with what faithHe leaves his gods, his friends, and native soil,Ur of Chaldxa, passing now the fordTo Haran—after him a cumbrous trainOf herds and flocks, and numerous servitude—Not wandering poor, but trusting all his wealthWith God, who called him, in a land unknownCanaan he now attains; I see his tentsPitched about Sechem, and the neighbouring plainOf Moreh. There, by promise, he receivesGift to his progeny of all that land,From Hamath northward to the Desert south(Things by their names I call, though yet unnamed),From Hermon east to the great western sea;Mount Hermon, yonder sea, each place beholdIn prospect, as I point them: on the shore,Mount Carmel; here, the double-founted stream,Jordan, true limit eastward; but his sonsShall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills.This ponder, that all nations of the EarthShall in his seed be blessed. By that seedIs meant thy great Deliverer, who shall bruiseThe Serpent's head; whereof to thee anonPlainlier shall be revealed. This patriarch blest,Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call,A son, and of his son a grandchild, leaves,Like him in faith, in wisdom, and renown.The grandchild, with twelve sons increased, departsFrom Canaan to a land hereafter calledEgypt, divided by the river Nile;[346]See where it flows, disgorging at seven mouthsInto the sea. To sojourn in that landHe comes, invited by a younger sonIn time of dearth—a son whose worthy deedsRaise him to be the second in that realmOf Pharaoh. There he dies, and leaves his raceGrowing into a nation, and now grownSuspected to a sequent king, who seeksTo stop their overgrowth, as inmate guestsToo numerous; whence of guests he makes them slaves,Inhospitably, and kills their infant males:Till, by two brethren (those two brethren callMoses and Aaron) sent from God to claimHis people from enthralment, they return,With glory and spoil, back to their promised land.But first the lawless tyrant, who deniesTo know their God, or message to regard,Must be compelled by signs and judgments dire:To blood unshed the rivers must be turned;Frogs, lice, and flies must all his palace fillWith loathed intrusion, and fill all the land;His cattle must of rot and murrain die;Botches and blains must all his flesh imboss,And all his people; thunder mixed with hail,Hail mixed with fire, must rend the Egyptian sky,And wheel on the earth, devouring where it rolls;What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain,A darksome cloud of locusts swarming downMust eat, and on the ground leave nothing green;Darkness must overshadow all his bounds,Palpable darkness, and blot out three days;Last, with one midnight-stroke, all the first-bornOf Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten woundsThe River-dragon tamed at length submitsTo let his sojourners depart, and oftHumbles his stubborn heart, but still as iceMore hardened after thaw; till, in his ragePursuing whom he late dismissed, the seaSwallows him with his host, but them lets pass,As on dry land, between two crystal walls,[347]Awed by the rod of Moses so to standDivided till his rescued gain their shore:Such wondrous power God to his Saint will lend,Though present in his Angel, who shall goBefore them in a cloud, and pillar of fire—By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire—To guide them in their journey, and removeBehind them, while the obdurate king pursues.All night he will pursue, but his approachDarkness defends between till morning-watch;Then through the fiery pillar and the cloudGod looking forth will trouble all his host,And craze their chariot-wheels: when, by command,Moses once more his potent rod extendsOver the sea; the sea his rod obeys;On their imbattled ranks the waves return,And overwhelm their war. The race electSafe towards Canaan, from the shore, advanceThrough the wild Desert—not the readiest way,Lest, entering on the Canaanite alarmed,War terrify them inexpert, and fearReturn them back to Egypt, choosing ratherInglorious life with servitude; for lifeTo noble and ignoble is more sweetUntrained in arms, where rashness leads not on.This also shall they gain by their delayIn the wide wilderness: there they shall foundTheir government, and their great Senate chooseThrough the twelve Tribes, to rule by laws ordained.God, from the Mount of Sinai, whose grey topShall tremble, he descending, will himself,In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpet's sound,Ordain them laws—part, such as appertainTo civil justice; part, religious ritesOf sacrifice, informing them, by typesAnd shadows, of that destined Seed to bruiseThe Serpent, by what means he shall achieveMankind's deliverance. But the voice of GodTo mortal ear is dreadful: they beseechThat Moses might report to them his will,[348]And terror cease; he grants what they besought,Instructed that to God is no accessWithout Mediator, whose high office nowMoses in figure bears, to introduceOne greater, of whose day he shall foretell,And all the Prophets, in their age, the timesOf great Messiah shall sing. Thus laws and ritesEstablished, such delight hath God in menObedient to his will that he voutsafesAmong them to set up his Tabernacle—The Holy One with mortal men to dwell.By his prescript a sanctuary is framedOf cedar, overlaid with gold; thereinAn ark, and in the Ark his testimony,The records of his covenant; over theseA mercy-seat of gold, between the wingsOf two bright Cherubim; before him burnSeven lamps, as in a zodiac representingThe heavenly fires. Over the tent a cloudShall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night,Save when they journey; and at length they come,Conducted by his Angel, to the landPromised to Abraham and his seed. The restWere long to tell—how many battles fought;How many kings destroyed, and kingdoms won;Or how the sun shall in mid-heaven stand stillA day entire, and night's due course adjourn,Man's voice commanding, 'Sun, in Gibeon stand,And thou, Moon, in the vale of Aialon,Till Israel overcome!'—so call the thirdFrom Abraham, son of Isaac, and from himHis whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win."Here Adam interposed:—"O sent from Heaven,Enlightener of my darkness, gracious thingsThou hast revealed, those chiefly which concernJust Abraham and his seed. Now first I findMine eyes true opening, and mv heart much eased,Erewhile perplexed with thoughts what would becomeOf me and all mankind; but now I seeHis day, in whom all nations shall be blest—[349]Favour unmerited by me, who soughtForbidden knowledge by forbidden means.This yet I apprehend not—why to thoseAmong whom God will deign to dwell on EarthSo many and so various laws are given.So many laws argue so many sinsAmong them; how can God with such reside?"To whom thus Michael:—"Doubt not but that sinWill reign among them, as of thee begot;And therefore was law given them, to evinceTheir natural pravity, by stirring upSin against Law to fight, that, when they seeLaw can discover sin, but not remove,Save by those shadowy expiations weak,The blood of bulls and goats, they may concludeSome blood more precious must be paid for Man,Just for unjust, that in such righteousness,To them by faith imputed, they may findJustification towards God, and peaceOf conscience, which the law by ceremoniesCannot appease, nor man the moral partPerform, and not performing cannot live.So Law appears imperfect, and but givenWith purpose to resign them, in full time,Up to a better covenant, disciplinedFrom shadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit,From imposition of strict laws to freeAcceptance of large grace, from servile fearTo filial, works of law to works of faith.And therefore shall not Moses, though of GodHighly beloved, being but the ministerOf Law, his people into Canaan lead;But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call,His name and office bearing who shall quellThe adversary Serpent, and bring backThrough the world's wilderness long-wandered ManSafe to eternal Paradise of rest.Meanwhile they, in their earthly Canaan placed,Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sinsNational interrupt their public peace,[350]Provoking God to raise them enemies—From whom as oft he saves them penitent,By Judges first, then under Kings; of whomThe second, both for piety renownedAnd puissant deeds, a promise shall receiveIrrevocable, that his regal throneFor ever shall endure. The like shall singAll Prophecy—that of the royal stockOf David (so I name this king) shall riseA son, the Woman's Seed to thee foretold,Foretold to Abraham as in whom shall trustAll nations, and to kings foretold of kingsThe last, for of his reign shall be no end.But first a long succession must ensue;And his next son, for wealth and wisdom famed,The clouded Ark of God, till then in tentsWandering, shall in a glorious Temple enshrine.Such follow him as shall be registeredPart good, part bad; of bad the longer scroll:Whose foul idolatries and other faults.Heaped to the popular sum, will so incenseGod, as to leave them, and expose their land,Their city, his Temple, and his holy Ark,With all his sacred things, a scorn and preyTo that proud city whose high walls thou saw'stLeft in confusion, Babylon thence called.There in captivity he lets them dwellThe space of seventy years; then brings them back,Remembering mercy, and his covenant swornTo David, stablished as the days of Heaven.Returned from Babylon by leave of kings,Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of GodThey first re-edify, and for a whileIn mean estate live moderate, till, grownIn wealth and multitude, factious they grow.But first among the priests dissension springs—Men who attend the altar, and should mostEndeavour peace: their strife pollution bringsUpon the Temple itself; at last they seizeThe sceptre, and regard not David's sons;[351]Then lose it to a stranger, that the trueAnointed King Messiah might be bornBarred of his right. Yet at his birth a Star,Unseen before in heaven, proclaims him come,And guides the eastern sages, who inquireHis place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold:His place of birth a solemn Angel tellsTo simple shepherds, keeping watch by night;They gladly thither haste, and by a quireOf squadroned Angels hear his carol sung.A Virgin is his mother, but his sireThe Power of the Most High. He shall ascendThe throne hereditary, and bound his reignWith Earth's wide bounds, his glory with the Heavens."He ceased, discerning Adam with such joySurcharged as had, like grief, been dewed in tears,Without the vent of words; which these he breathed:—"O prophet of glad tidings, finisherOf utmost hope! now clear I understandWhat oft my steadiest thoughts have searched in vain—Why our great Expectation should be calledThe Seed of Woman. Virgin Mother, hail!High in the love of Heaven, yet from my loinsThou shalt proceed, and from thy womb the SonOf God Most High; so God with Man unites.Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruiseExcept with mortal pain. Say where and whenTheir fight, what stroke shall bruise the Victor's heel."To whom thus Michael:—"Dream not of their fightAs of a duel, or the local woundsOf head or heel. Not therefore joins the SonManhood to Godhead, with more strength to foilThy enemy; nor so is overcomeSatan, whose fall from Heaven, a deadlier bruise,Disabled not to give thee thy death's wound;Which he who comes thy Saviour shall recure,Not by destroying Satan, but his worksIn thee and in thy seed. Nor can this be,But by fulfilling that which thou didst want,Obedience to the law of God, imposed[352]On penalty of death, and suffering death,The penalty to thy transgression due,And due to theirs which out of thine will grow:So only can high justice rest appaid.The Law of God exact he shall fulfilBoth by obedience and by love, though loveAlone fulfil the Law; thy punishmentHe shall endure, by coming in the fleshTo a reproachful life and cursed death,Proclaiming life to all who shall believeIn his redemption, and that his obedienceImputed becomes theirs by faith—his meritsTo save them, not their own, though legal, works.For this he shall live hated, be blasphemed,Seized on by force, judged, and to death condemnedA shameful and accursed, nailed to the CrossBy his own nation, slain for bringing life;But to the cross he nails thy enemies—The Law that is against thee, and the sinsOf all mankind, with him there crucified,Never to hurt them more who rightly trustIn this his satisfaction. So he dies,But soon revives; Death over him no powerShall long usurp. Ere the third dawning lightReturn, the stars of morn shall see him riseOut of his grave, fresh as the dawning light,Thy ransom paid, which Man from Death redeems—His death for Man, as many as offered lifeNeglect not, and the benefit imbraceBy faith not void of works. This godlike actAnnuls thy doom, the death thou shouldst have died,In sin for ever lost from life; this actShall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength,Defeating Sin and Death, his two main arms,And fix far deeper in his head their stingsThan temporal death shall bruise the Victor's heel,Or theirs whom he redeems—a death like sleep,A gende wafting to immortal life.Nor after resurrection shall he stayLonger on Earth than certain times to appear[353]To his disciples—men who in his lifeStill followed him; to them shall leave in chargeTo teach all nations what of him they learnedAnd his salvation, them who shall believeBaptizing in the profluent stream—the signOf washing them from guilt of sin to lifePure, and in mind prepared, if so befall,For death like that which the Redeemer died.All nations they shall teach; for from that dayNot only to the sons of Abraham's loinsSalvation shall be preached, but to the sonsOf Abraham's faith wherever through the world;So in his seed all nations shall be blest.Then to the Heaven of Heavens he shall ascendWith victory, triumphing through the airOver his foes and thine; there shall surpriseThe Serpent, Prince of Air, and drag in chainsThrough all his realm, and there confounded leave;Then enter into glory and resumeHis seat at God's right hand, exalted highAbove all names in Heaven; and thence shall come,When this World's dissolution shall be ripe,With glory and power, to judge both quick anddead—To judge the unfaithful dead, but to rewardHis faithful, and receive them into bliss,Whether in Heaven or Earth; for then the EarthShall all be Paradise, far happier placeThan this of Eden, and far happier days."So spake the Archangel Michael; then paused,As at the World's great period; and our Sire,Replete with joy and wonder, thus replied:—"O Goodness infinite, Goodness immense,That all this good of evil shall produce,And evil turn to good—more wonderfulThan that which by creation first brought forthLight out of darkness! Full of doubt I stand,Whether I should repent me now of sinBy me done and occasioned, or rejoiceMuch more that much more good thereof shall spring—[354]To God more glory, more good-will to menFrom God—and over wrauth grace shall abound.But say, if our Deliverer up to HeavenMust reascend, what will betide the few,His faithful, left among the unfaithful herd,The enemies of truth. Who then shall guideHis people, who defend? Will they not dealWorse with his followers than with him they dealt?""Be sure they will," said the Angel; "but fromHeavenHe to his own a Comforter will send,The promise of the Father, who shall dwell,His Spirit, within them, and the law of faithWorking through love upon their hearts shall write,To guide them in all truth, and also armWith spiritual armour, able to resistSatan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts—What man can do against them not afraid,Though to the death; against such crueltiesWith inward consolations recompensed,And often supported so as shall amazeTheir proudest persecutors. For the Spirit,Poured first on his Apostles, whom he sendsTo evangelize the nations, then on allBaptized, shall them with wondrous gifts endueTo speak all tongues, and do all miracles,As did their Lord before them. Thus they winGreat numbers of each nation to receiveWith joy the tidings brought from Heaven: at length,Their ministry performed, and race well run,Their doctrine and their story written left,They die; but in their room, as they forewarn,Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves,Who all the sacred mysteries of HeavenTo their own vile advantages shall turnOf lucre and ambition, and the truthWith superstitions and traditions taint,Left only in those written Records pure,Though not but by the Spirit understood.Then shall they seek to avail themselves of names,[355]Palaces, and tides, and with these to joinSecular power, though feigning still to actBy spiritual; to themselves appropriatingThe Spirit of God, promised alike and givenTo all believers; and, from that pretense,Spiritual laws by carnal power shall forceOn every conscience—laws which none shall findLeft them enrowled, or what the Spirit withinShall on the heart engrave. What will they thenBut force the Spirit of Grace itself, and bindHis consort, Liberty? what but unbuildHis living temples, built by faith to stand—Their own faith, not another's? for, on Earth,Who against faith and conscience can be heardInfallible? Yet many will presume:Whence heavy persecution shall ariseOn all who in the worship persevereOf Spirit and Truth; the rest, far greater part,Will deem in outward rites and specious formsReligion satisfied; Truth shall retireBestuck with slanderous darts, and works of FaithRarely be found. So shall the World go on,To good malignant, to bad men benign,Under her own weight groaning, till the dayAppear of respiration to the justAnd vengeance to the wicked, at returnOf Him so lately promised to thy aid,The Woman's Seed—obscurely then foretold,Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord;Last in the clouds from Heaven to be revealedIn glory of the Father, to dissolveSatan with his perverted World; then raiseFrom the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,New Heavens, new Earth, Ages of endless dateFounded in righteousness and peace and love,To bring forth fruits, joy and eternal bliss."He ended; and thus Adam last replied:—"How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blest,Measured this transient World, the race of Time,Till Time stand fixed! Beyond is all abyss—[356]Eternity, whose end no eye can reach.Greatly instructed I shall hence depart,Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fillOf knowledge, what this vessel can contain;Beyond which was my folly to aspire.Henceforth I learn that to obey is best,And love with fear the only God, to walkAs in his presence, ever to observeHis providence, and on him sole depend,Merciful over all his works, with goodStill overcoming evil, and by smallAccomplishing great things—by things deemed weakSubverting worldly-strong, and worldly-wiseBy simply meek; that suffering for Truth's sakeIs fortitude to highest victory,And to the faithful death the gate of life—Taught this by his example whom I nowAcknowledge my Redeemer ever blest."To whom thus also the Angel last replied:—"This having learned, thou hast attained the sumOf wisdom; hope no higher, though all the starsThou knew'st by name, and all the ethereal powers,All secrets of the Deep, all Nature's works,Or works of God in heaven, air, earth, or sea,And all the riches of this world enjoy'dst,And all the rule, one empire. Only addDeeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith;Add virtue, patience, temperance; add love,By name to come called Charity, the soulOf all the rest: then wilt thou not be lothTo leave this Paradise, but shalt possessA Paradise within thee, happier far.Let us descend now, therefore, from this topOf speculation; for the hour preciseExacts our parting hence; and, see! the guards,By me encamped on yonder hill, expectTheir motion, at whose front a flaming sword,In signal of remove, waves fiercely round.We may no longer stay. Go, waken Eve;Her also I with gende dreams have calmed,[357]Portending good, and all her spirits composedTo meek submission: thou, at season fit,Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard—Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,The great deliverance by her seed to come(For by the Woman's Seed) on all mankind—That ye may live, which will be many days,Both in one faith unanimous; though sadWith cause for evils past, yet much more cheeredWith meditation on the happy end."He ended, and they both descend the hill.Descended, Adam to the bower where EveLay sleeping ran before, but found her waked;And thus with words not sad she him received:—"Whence thou return'st and whither went'st I know;For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,Which he hath sent propitious, some great goodPresaging, since, with sorrow and heart's distressWearied, I fell asleep. But now lead on;In me is no delay; with thee to goIs to stay here; without thee here to stayIs to go hence unwilling; thou to meArt all things under Heaven, all places thou,Who for my wilful crime art banished hence.This further consolation yet secureI carry hence: though all by me is lost,Such favour I unworthy am voutsafed,By me the Promised Seed shall all restore."So spake our mother Eve; and Adam heardWell pleased, but answered not; for now too nighThe Archangel stood, and from the other hillTo their fixed station, all in bright array,The Cherubim descended, on the groundGliding meteorous, as evening mistRisen from a river o'er the marish glides,And gathers ground fast at the labourer's heelHomeward returning. High in front advanced,The brandished sword of God before them blazed,Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,And vapour at the Libyan air adust,[358]Began to parch that temperate clime; whereatIn either hand the hastening Angel caughtOur lingering Parents, and to the eastern gateLed them direct, and down the cliff as fastTo the subjected plain—then disappeared.They, looking back, all the eastern side beheldOf Paradise, so late their happy seat,Waved over by that flaming brand; the gateWith dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms.Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;The world was all before them, where to chooseTheir place of rest, and Providence their guide.They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,Through Eden took their solitary way.