A Vision, where a tree rises loaden with fruit; four Spirits rise with it, and draw a canopy out of the tree; other Spirits dance about the tree in deformed shapes; after the dance an Angel enters, with a Woman, habited like EVE.

Angel. [Singing.]
Look up, look up, and see,
What heaven prepares for thee;
Look up, and this fair fruit behold,
Ruddy it smiles, and rich with streaks of gold. 
The loaded branches downward bend,
Willing they stoop, and thy fair hand attend. 
Fair mother of mankind, make haste
And bless, and bless thy senses with the taste.

Woman. No, ’tis forbidden; I In tasting it shall die.

Angel. Say, who enjoined this harsh command?

Woman. ’Twas heaven; and who can heaven withstand?

Angel. Why was it made so fair, why placed in sight? 
Heaven is too good to envy man’s delight. 
See, we before thy face will try
What thou so fearest, and will not die.
                 [The Angel takes the fruit, and gives to the Spirits
                  who danced; they immediately put off their deformed
                  shapes, and appear Angels.

Angel. [Singing.]
Behold what a change on a sudden is here! 
How glorious in beauty, how bright they appear! 
Prom spirits deformed they are deities made,
Their pinions at pleasure the clouds can invade,
                            [The Angel gives to the Woman, who eats.
Till equal in honour they rise,
With him who commands in the skies;
Then taste without fear, and be happy and wise.

Woman. Ah, now I believe! such a pleasure I find,
As enlightens my eyes, and enlivens my mind.
                     [The Spirits, who are turned Angels, fly up when
                      they have tasted.
I only repent,
I deferred my content.

Angel. Now wiser experience has taught you to prove,
What a folly it is,
Out of fear to shun bliss. 
To the joy that’s forbidden we eagerly move;
It inhances the price, and increases the love.

Chorus of both. To the joy, &c.

  Two Angels descend; they take the Woman each by the hand, and fly
  up with her out of sight.  The Angel who sung, and the Spirits who
  held the canopy, at the same instant sink down with the tree.

  Enter GABRIEL and ITHURIEL to LUCIFER, who remains.

Gab. What art thou? speak thy name and thy intent. 
Why here alone? and on what errand sent? 
Not from above; no, thy wan looks betray
Diminished light, and eyes unused to day.

Lucif. Not to know me, argues thyself unknown: 
Time was, when, shining next the imperial throne,
I sat in awful state; while such as thou
Did in the ignoble crowd at distance bow.