Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,

Sing, Heavenly Muse, that, on the secret top
of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning how heavens and earth
Rose out of Chaos: or, if Shion hill
Delight thee more and, and Siloa’s brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Thing unattempted yet in prose of rhyme.

They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way.