“THE deed that they did, your deceit contrived it.
You got them by guile, against all reason.
For from my palace, from Paradise, impersonating an adder
You fetched them — that which I loved.
“So do not believe, Lucifer, that against the law I fetch them,
But by right and by reason I ransom here my subjects:
‘I am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it.’*
You fetched what was mine from my place, against all reason:
Falsely and feloniously; good faith taught me
To recover them by ransom,* and by no other reason,
So that what you got by guile is won again through Grace.
You, Lucifer, in the likeness of a treacherous adder
Got by guile those that God loved;
And I, who am Lord of heaven, in the likeness of a servant*
have requited your guile with Grace, pitted guile against guile!
And as Adam and all have died through a tree,*
Adam and all through a tree shall return to life;*
And guile is beguiled, and fallen into his own guile:
‘And he is fallen into the ditch which he made.’”*
* See Matthew 5:17.
* Ransom is implied by the Biblical concept of ‘redemption’ (buying back). See Hosea 13:14, Mark 10:45 and 1 Timothy 2:6. The idea of a ‘ransom’ has been widely mocked since the Reformation, but the Church Fathers of East and West (including St Athanasius, St Gregory Nazianzen, St Leo the Great and St John Damascene) all spoke of it. They did however stress, as Langland does, that the devil had absolutely no rights in the matter — he was a kidnapper who lost his victims and never got his price.
* See Philippians 2:11-15.
* That is, through tasting of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Church Fathers stress that the tree was not bad, but Adam was not yet ready for it.
* That is, through the wooden cross on which Christ was crucified. See Brightest Beacon.
* See Psalm 7:15.
Précis
Will dreamt how Christ justified taking human form to gain admittance to Hades, and break out mankind. Since the devil had tricked his way into Paradise to steal mankind from God, it was only fitting that Christ had now tricked his way into Hades and taken mankind back. The devil had fallen into his own trap. (56 / 60 words)
Will dreamt how Christ justified taking human form to gain admittance to Hades, and break out mankind. Since the devil had tricked his way into Paradise to steal mankind from God, it was only fitting that Christ had now tricked his way into Hades and taken mankind back. The devil had fallen into his own trap.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: because, besides, just, otherwise, ought, since, whereas, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Guile. Return. Right.
2 Into. Save. Shall.
3 My. Requite. Saying.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Believe. 2 Eat. 3 Make. 4 Save. 5 People. 6 Place. 7 Destroy. 8 Fall. 9 Claim.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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