on Earth, the dinner given to the Angel, for which Eve
gathers

Fruit of all kinds, in coat
Rough or smooth rined, or bearded husk, or shell,

and heaps them, with bountiful hand, on the table of raised turf, we are
not perfectly at ease with our hosts. Not all the dignity of Adam, nor
all the beauty of Eve, can make us forget that they are nut-eaters, that
they have not the art of cooking, and do not ferment the juice of the
grape. A short stay in Eden teaches us the sad truth that we are
dependent, not only for the pleasures of our life, but even for many of
the dearest pleasures of our imagination, on the devices "introduced by
the necessities of sin." We cannot settle down in the midst of this
"enormous bliss"; we wander through the place, open-mouthed with wonder,
like country visitors admiring the Crown jewels, and then--we long to be
at home.

There are no children in any of Milton's poems. The introduction, in
_Paradise Lost_, of a real human child, such as Shakespeare brings into
_Coriolanus_ or _Macbeth_, would be like the bringing of a spark of fire
into a powder magazine. None of these edifying speeches could be made in
the presence of such an auditor, or such a critic. The whole system would
be blown into fragments; the artificial perspective that Milton preserves
with so great care would lose its glamour at a touch. Hell and Heaven and
Eden would dissolve away like the baseless fabric of a vision, a
scholar's nightmare, if once they were subjected to the free scrutiny of
a child.

_Paradise Lost_ will not bear--it could at no time, not even in the most
theological of ages, have borne--the more searching tests of realism, of
verisimilitude, and credibility. It is all the greater skill in the poet
that by his careful handling of our imagination and feelings he actually
does produce "that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment which
constitutes poetic faith." The less it will endure the trial as a system
or theory of the universe, the more wonderful does it appear as a work of
art. By the most delicate skill of architecture this gigantic filamented
structure has been raised into the air. It looks like some enchanted
palace that has lighted on the ground for a moment, resting in its
flight. It is really the product of the most elaborate and careful
engineering science; the strains and stresses put on every part of the
material have been calculated and allowed for. The poise an