So saying, he caught him up, and without wing
Of hippogrif, bore through the air sublime,
Over the wilderness, and o'er the plain,
Till underneath them fair Jerusalem
The holy city lifted high her towers
And higher yet the glorious temple rear'd
Her pile, far off appearing like a mount
Of alabaster, topp'd with golden spires.
There on the highest pinnacle he set
The Son of God, and added thus in scorn :—
"There stand if thou wilt stand; to stand upright Will ask thee skill; I to thy Father's house Have brought thee, and highest placed; highest is
Now show thy progeny; if not to stand,
Cast thyself down; safely if Son of God;
For it is written, He will give command
Concerning thee to his angels; in their hands
They shall uplift thee, lest at any time
Thou chance to dash thy foot against a stone."
"Non Hydra secto corpore firmior
Vinci dolentem crevit in Herculem."-HORACE.
DIXERAT; et Christum rapit, adreptumque per auras
Sustulit æthereas secum, neque sustulit ala
Pegasea, campos super et deserta locorum.
Sub peditas Solyma adparet, pulcherrima rerum,
Urbs sacrata Deo; qua sidera vertice pulsant
Æthereo turres, claraque excelsius arce
Fulget opus templi, montis candentis ad instar,
Culmina cui nectunt auratam mille coronam.
Hic ubi summus apex surgit, te deinde locavit,
Nate Deo, et risu dat talia verba maligno.
"Sta si stare velis; recte non stare valebis Arte nisi emira; vectum jam patris ad ædem, In summa pius arce, decet quem summa, locavi, Ut generis des indicium; sin stare recuses, Dejice te pronum; Divi si filius audis, Tutus eris; nonne arcanæ dixere tabellæ Te superos servare, Dei mandata secutos, Scilicet ut tollant manibus te forte labantem Ne gradus offensus procumbat in obvia saxa ?"
To whom thus Jesus: "Also it is written,
"Tempt not the Lord thy God,"" he said and stood; But Satan smitten with amazement fell.
As when Earth's son Antæus (to compare
Small things with greatest) in Irassa strove
With Jove's Alcides, and oft foil'd still rose,
Receiving from his mother Earth new strength
Fresh from his fall, and fiercer grapple join'd,
Throttled at length in th' air, expired and fell;
So after many a fall the tempter proud
Renewing fresh assaults amidst his pride
Fell whence he stood to see his victor fall.
And as that Theban monster that proposed
Her riddle, and him who solved it not, devour'd,
That once found out and solved, for grief and spite
Cast herself headlong from the Ismenian steep;
So struck with dread and anguish fell the fiend,
And to his crew, that sat consulting, brought
(Joyless triumphals of his hoped success)
Ruin and desperation and dismay,
Who durst so proudly tempt the Son of God.
So Satan fell; and straight a fiery globe
Of angels on full sail of wing flew by,
Who on their plumy oars received him soft
From his uneasy station, and upbore
As on a floating couch through the blithe air,
There in a flowery valley set him down.
Huic Jesus: "Nonne hæc etiam mandata dederunt
'Ne vires exquire Dei;'" stetit ille locutus:
At subitum horrescens visum, delabitur hostis.
Ac veluti (si parva licet conponere magnis)
Terrigena Antæus Libyca certavit arena
In natum Jovis Alciden; vi sæpe subactus
Sæpe resurgebat, genitrix nam Terra novatas
Addiderat vires; conlecta at sævior ira,
Fortior et lapsu, conexit corpore corpus ;
Aere suspensus, faucesque obstrictus ibidem,
Procidit exanimis, vitamque exhalat in auras.
Haud aliter Satanas, Christi vi sæpe subactus,
Sæpe resurgebat, nova non minus acer in arma,
Unde tamen steterat, victorem ut labier alte
Scilicet adspiceret, victus delabitur ipse.
Thebanosque velut pestis Thebana vorabat,
Ambages, sua jussa, nisi exsolvisse valerent;
Mox eadem frendensque ira, frendensque dolore,
Explicito nodo, se præcipitavit in undas,
Sic cecidit motus luctuque metuque vicissim
Lucifer; inde suis jam consiliantibus adfert
(Scilicet optati monumenta haud læta triumphi)
Excidium, spesque amissas, pavidumque timorem,
Adgressus te, Nate Deo; sic ille superbus
Labitur; adspiciunt lapsum, properantque per auras
Remigio alarum superi, flammata corona,
Mollibus ut Christum plumis statione molesta
Extollant; lecto ille velut fluitante recumbens
Aera per vacuum fertur, vallisque recessus
On a green bank, and set before him spread
A table of celestial food, divine
Ambrosial fruits pluck'd from the tree of life,
And from the fount of life ambrosial drink.
That soon refresh'd him wearied, and repair'd
What hunger, if aught hunger, had impair'd,
Or thirst, and, as he fed, angelic quires
Sung heavenly anthems of his victory
Over Temptation and the Tempter proud.
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