Paradise Lost

by John Milton

O Heav’n! in evil strait this day I stand Before my Judge, either to undergo Myself the total crime, or to accuse My other self, the partner of my life;36 Whose failing, while her faith to me remains, 130 I should conceal, and not expose to blame By my complaint; but strict necessity Subdues me, and calamitous constraint, Lest on my head both sin and punishment, However insupportable, be all 135 Devolved; though should I hold my peace, yet thou37 Wouldst easily detect what I conceal. This woman whom thou mad’st to be my help,38 And gav’st me as thy perfect gift, so good, So fit, so ácceptáble, so divine, 140 That from her hand I could suspect no ill, And what she did, whatever in itself, Her doing seemed to justify the deed; She gave me of the tree, and I did eat. To whom the sov’reign Presence thus replied. 145 Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey Before his voice, or was she made thy guide, Superior, or but equal, that to her39 Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place Wherein God set thee above her made of thee, 150 And for thee, whose perfection far excelled Hers in all real dignity: adorned40 She was indeed, and lovely to attract Thy love, not thy subjection, and her gifts Were such as under government well seemed, 155 Unseemly to bear rule, which was thy part41 And person, hadst thou known thyself aright.