2. ADAM THE FIRST.

Gendarmes of heaven with flaming swords Thou sent’st in cruel fashion, And drov’st me out of Paradise Without the least compassion. In search of another country, I And my wife from Eden hasted; Thou canst not alter the fact that there The tree of knowledge I tasted. Thou canst not alter the fact that I know Thy weakness and many blunders, However mighty thou seemest to be When wielding death and thunders. O heavens, how pitiful is this Consilium abeundi! I call it a Magnificus Of earth, a Lumen Mundi. I shall not miss the spacious realms Of Paradise one minute. It is no genuine Paradise When trees forbidden are in it. I claim my full unfetter’d rights! The slightest limitation Changes my Paradise at once To hell and desolation.