R. iv. 100-102.)
"AND WITH MY HELP THOU MAY'ST." With the devil's help and not without
can this glorious revolution be achieved! "For him," is the Divine
reply, "I was not sent." The attack is then directly pressed.
"The kingdoms of the world, to thee I give;
For, giv'n to me, I give to whom I please,
No trifle; yet with this reserve, not else,
On this condition, if thou wilt fall down
And worship me as thy superior lord."
(P. R. iv. 163-7.)
This, then, is the drift and meaning of it all. The answer is taken
verbally from the gospel.
"'Thou shalt worship
The Lord thy God, and only Him shalt serve.'"
(P. R. iv. 176-7.)
That is to say, Thou shalt submit thyself to God's commands and God's
methods and thou shalt submit thyself to NO OTHER.
Omitting the Athenian and philosophic episode, which is unnecessary and
a little unworthy even of the Christian poet, we encounter not an
amplification of the Gospel story but an interpolation which is entirely
Milton's own. Night gathers and a new assault is delivered in darkness.
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