7
TUE
PARADISE LOST
BY
JOHN MILTON
WITH NOTES
MPLANATORY AND CRITICAL.
ZDITEO BT
REV. JAMES ROBERT BOYD,
Mti.mv wliosc genius had angelic
AIM fed on manna. COWPKR.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY A. S. BARNES & CO
CINCINNATI: II. W. DERBY & CO.
Entered econling to Act of ("onfrreit. in MM veir 1880, by
BAKER AND 8CIMBNER.
hi the < leiVt Office of the Oittnct Court of the United Mm* for the Southern
District of New York.
C. W. BENEDICT,
Sttreotypi'*
tOl William it N T
STACK ANNEX
REASONS
FOR PREPARING THIS AMERICAN EDITION.
PARADISE LOST is, by common consent, pronounced to be a work of
transcendent genius and taste. It takes rank with the Iliad of Homer,
and with the ^Eneid of Virgil, as an Epic of incomparable merit. Dry-
den was by no means extravagant in the praise whfch he bestowed
upon it in his well-known lines ;
" Three poets in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn :
The first in loftiness of thought surpassed ;
The next in majesty ; in both the last.
The force of nature could no further go :
To make a third, she joined the other two."
Its praise is often on the lips of every man endowed with the most
moderate literary qualifications : but the work has been read by com-
paratively few persons. How few even of educated men can affirm
that they have so read and understood it, as to appreciate all its parts ?
How does this happen ? Is the poem considered unworthy of their
most careful perusal 1 Is it not inviting to the intellect, the imagina-
tion, and the sensibilities? Is it not acknowledged to be superior to
any other poetic composition, the Hebrew writings only excepted, to
whose lofty strains of inspired song the blind bard of London was s
greatly indebted for his own subordinate inspiration ?
If inquiry should extensively be made, it will be ascertained that
Paradise Lost, is but little read, less understood, and still less appre-
ciated ; though it may be found on the shelves of almost every library,
or upon the parlor table of almost every dwelling. Every school boy,
4 REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION.
and every school girl has read some beautiful extracts from it, and lias
heard it extolled as an unrivalled production ; and this is about all that
is usually learned in regard to it, or appreciated. The question returns,
and it is one of some literary interest, how is this treatment of the
Paradise Lost to be accounted for? To this inquiry the following ob-
servations will, it is hoped, be considered appropriate and satisfactory.
It is pre-eminently a learned work ; and has been well denominated
" a book of universal knowledge. 11 In its naked form, in its bare text,
it can be understood and appreciated by none but highly educated per-
sons. The perusal of it cannot fail to be attended with a vivid im-
pression of its great author's prodigious learning, and of the immense
stores which he brought into use in its preparation. As one of his
editors, (Sir Egerton Brydges,) remarks, " his great poems require
such a stretch of mind in the reader, as to be almost painful. The
most amazing copiousness of learning is sublimated into all his concep-
tions and descriptions. His learning never oppressed his imagination ;
and his imagination never obliterated or dimmed his learning; but
even these would not have done without the addition of a great heart,
and a pure and lofty mind. The poem is one which could not have
been produced solely by the genius of Milton, without the addition of
an equal extent and depth of learning, and an equal labor of reflection.
It has always a great compression. Perhaps its perpetual allusion to
all past literature and history were sometimes carried a little too far
for the popular reader; and the latinised style requires to be read with
the attention due to an ancient classic. 1 ' To read it, therefore, intelli-
gently and advantageously, no small acquaintance is needed with
classical and various learning.
While large portions of the poem are sufficiently lucid for the com-
prehension of ordinary reader^ there is frequently introduced an oh-
fcure paragraph, sentence, clause, or word ; which serves to break up
the continuity of the poem in the reader's mind, to obstruct his pro-
gress, to apprise him of his own ignorance or obtuseness, and thus to
create no small degree of dissatisfaction. The obscurity arises, in
some cases, from the highly learned character of the allusions to an-
cient history and mythology ; in other cases, from great inversion of
REASON'S FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION. 5
style, from the use of Latin and Greek forms of expression ; from pe-
culiar modes of spelling; from references to exploded and unphiloso-
phical notions in astronomy, chemistry, geology, and philosophy, with
which but few persons are familiar.
Besides all this, it has been truly observed by the writer before
quoted, that " Milton has a language of his own; I may say invented
by himself. It is somewhat hard but it is all sincere : it is not ver-
nacular, but has a latinised cast, which requires a little time to recon-
cile a reader to it. It is best fitted to convey his own magnificent
ideas ; its very learnedness impresses us with respect. It moves with
a gigantic step : it does not flow like Shakspeare's style, nor dance
like Spenser's. Now and then there are transpositions somewhat
alien to the character of the English language, which is not well cal-
culated for transposition ; bul in Milton this is perhaps a merit, be-
cause his lines are pregnant with deep thought and sublime imagery
which requires us to dwell upon them, and contemplate them over and
over. He ought never to be read rapidly."
Such being some of the characteristics of Paradise Lost, it i& ot
difficult to account for its general neglect, and for the scanty satisfac-
tion experienced by most persons in the attempt to read it. Much of
it. as we have remarked, cannot be understood; it abounds in too
many passages that convey to none but the learned any etea,i idea:
thus the common reader is repelled, and the sublimities Bind beag.t.ie^
of this incomparable poem are known, ouly as. echoes irp.m, \\}$ pages
of criticism, of course inadequately.
Not long since even a well-educa,te4 and popular preacher was
asked how be managed in reading Paradise Lost ? His honest and
truthful answer was, that he skipped over the hard places, and read the
easier ; that be did not pretend fully to understand, or to appreciate
(he entire poem ; but admitted that not a few passages were not far
from being a dead letter to him, requiring for their just interpretation
more research and study than he was willing or able to bestow. The
fact undoubtedly is, that since a poem is addressed chiefly to the irnr
agination and the sensibilities; since it is read with a view to plea-
surable excitement, and not taken up as a production to be severely
6 REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION.
studied ; since a demand for mental labor and research interferes with
the entertainment anticipated, in most cases the Paradise Lost is, on
this account, laid aside, though possessing the highest literary merit,
for poems of an inferior cast, but of easier interpretation.
It is possible also that the pious spirit which animates the entire
poem, and the theological descriptions which abound in several of the
Books, may, to the mass of readers, give it a repulsive aspect, and
cause them, though unwisely, to prefer other productions in which
these elements are not found.
To the causes now enumerated, rather than to those assigned by Dr.
Johnson may be referred the result which he thus describes: "Para-
dise Lost is one of the books which the reader admires and lays down,
and forgets to take up again. None ever wished it longer than it is.
Its perusal i a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for in-
struction, retire harassed and overburdened, and look elsewhere for
recreation : we desert our master, and seek for companions."
But if there no remedy for this neglectful treatment of the finest poeti-
cal composition in our language ? May not something be done to pre-
pare American readers generally to appreciate it, and, in the perusal,
to gratify their intellects and regale their fancy, among its grandeurs
and beauties, and also among its learned allusions, and scientific infor-
mations 1
The attainment of this important end is the design of the present
edition : it is therefore furnished with a large body of notes ; with
notes sufficiently numerous and full, it is presumed, to clear up the ob-
scurities to which we have referred ; to place the unlearned reader, so
far as the possession of the information requisite to understand the
poem is concerned, on the same level with the learned; and to direct
attention to the parts most deserving of admiration, and to the grounds
upon which they should be admired. The editions hitherto published
in this country, it is believed, are either destitute of notes, or the notes
are altogether too few and too brief to afford the aid which is generally
required.
About half a cen'ury after the publication of the Paradise Lost,
its reputation was much advanced by a series of papers which came
REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION. 7
out weekly in the celebrated Spectator, from the graceful pen ot
Addison. "These," as Hallam justly remarks, "were perhaps
superior to any criticisms that had been written in our language, and
we must always acknowledge their good sense, their judiciousness,
and the vast service they did to our literature, in setting the Paradise
Lost on its proper level." But modern periodicals, and modern
essays are fast crowding out the once familiar volumes of that excel-
lent British classic ; and those once famous criticisms are now seldom
met with, so that modern readers, with rare exceptions, derive from
them no benefit in the reading of the Paradise Lost.
The Editor has evinced his own high sense of their value, and has,
moreover, rendered them far more available to the illustration of the
poem, than they are, as found in the Spectator, by selecting such criti-
cisms as appeared to him to possess the highest merit, and distributing
them in the form of notes, to the several parts of the poem which they
serve to illustrate and adorn. After this labor had been performed,
however, and a principal part of the other notes had been prepared, it
was ascertained with some surprise, on procuring a London copy of
Bp. Newton's edition of Milton, now quite scarce, that the same course
had a century ago been pursued by him ; though the same pains had
not been taken by Newton to distribute in detail to every part of the
poem the criticisms of Addison. Besides this, he introduced them
entire, and thus occupied his pages with much matter quite inferior to
that which has been provided, in this edition, from recent sources.
The notes of the present edition will be found to embrace, besides
much other matter, all that is excellent and worth preservation in
those of Newton, Todd, Brydges, and Stebbing; comprehending also
some of the richest treasures of learned and ingenious criticism which
the Paradise Lost has called into existence, and which have hithertc
been scattered through the pages of many volumes of Reviews and
miscellaneous literature : and these have been so arranged as to illus-
trate the several parts of the poem to which tbey relate.
It was not deemed important to occupy space in the discussion of
certain questions, more curious than useful or generally interesting,
relating to some earlier authors, to whom it has been alleged that Mil-
6 REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION.
ton was greatly indebted for the plan and some prominent features of
the Paradise Lost. Yet it has been a pleasant, and more profitable
task, to discover by personal research, and by aid of the research of
others, those parts of classical authors a familiar acquaintance with
which has enabled the learned poet so wonderfully to enrich and adorn
bis beautiful production. These classic gems of thought and expres-
sion hare been introduced in the notes, only for the gratification of
those persons who are able to appreciate the language of the Roman
and Grecian poets ; and who may have a taste for observing the coin-
cidences between their language and that of the great master of Eng-
lish verse.
Not long before the composition of Paradise Lost, Milton thus
epeaks of the qualifications which he regarded as requisite and which
he hoped to employ in preparing it: "A work not to be raised from
the heat of youth or the vapors of wine ; nor to be obtained of dame
Memory and her siren daughters, but by devout prayer to that Eternal
Spirit, whocan enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out
his Seraphim with the hallowed fire of his altar, to touch and purify
the lips of whom he pleases. To this must be added industrious and
select reading, steady observation, insight into all seemly and generous
arts and affairs/'
This, I am convinced,' says Sir E. B. already quoted, ' is the true
origin of Paradise Lost. Shakspeare's originality might be still more
impugned, if an anticipation of hints and similar stories were to be
taken as proof of plagiarism. In many of the dramatist's most beauti-
ful plays the whole tale is borrowed ; but Shakspeare and Milton
turn brass into gold. This sort of passage hunting has been carried a
great deal too far, and has disgusted and repelled the reader of feeling
and taste. The novelty is in the raciness, the life, the force, the just
association, the probability, the truth ; that which is striking because
it is extravagant is a false novelty. He who borrows to make patches
is a plagiarist ; but what patch is there in Milton ? All is inter-
woven and forms part of one web. No doubt the holy bard was al-
ways intent upon sacred poetry, and drew his principal inspirations
from Scripture. This distinguishes his style and spirit from all other
REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION. 9
poets ; and gives him a solemnity which has not been surpassed, save >
in the book whence welled that inspiration.'
The Editor is fully aware of the boldness of the attempt to furnish
a full commentary on such a poem as this : he is also painfully sensi-
ble that much higher qualifications than he possesses could profitably
and honorably be laid out in the undertaking. He has long wondered,
and regretted, that such an edition of Paradise Lost, as the American
public needs, has not been furnished ; and in the absence of a better,
he offers this edition, as adapted, in his humble opinion, to render a
most desirable and profitable service to the reading community, while
it may contribute, as he hopes, to bring this poem from the state of
unmerited neglect into which it has fallen, and cause it to be more
generally read and studied, for the cultivation of a literary taste and
for the expansion of the intellectual and moral powers.
Ours is an age in which the best writings of the seventeenth century
have been generally republished, and thus have been put upon a new
career of fame and usefulness. Shakspeare has had, for more than
half a century, his learned annotators, without whose aid large por-
tions of his plays would be nearly unintelligible. He has been hon-
ored with public lectures also, to illustrate his genius, and to bring
to view his masterly sketches of the human heart and manners.
There have recently started up public readers also, by whose popular
exertions he has been brought into more general admiration. It seems
to be full time that a higher appreciation of the great epic of Milton
than has hitherto prevailed among us, and that a more extended use-
fulness also, should be secured to it, by the publication of critical and
explanatory notes, such a^the circumstances of the reading class ob-
viously require.
Ever valuable will it be, for its varied learning, for its exquisit
beauties of poetic diction and measure ; for its classical, scientific and
scriptural allusions; for its graphic delineations of the domestic state
and its duties; for its adaptation, when duly explained and understood,
to enlarge the intellect, to entertain the imagination, to improve lite-
rary taste, and cultivate the social and the devout affections ; for its
grand account of creation, providence, and redemption, embracing a
10 REASONS FOR PREPARING THIS EDITION.
most beautiful narrative and explanation of some of the most interest
ing events connected with the history of our race. Nor should men-
tion be omitted, of those excellent counsels, and maxims of conduct
which it so frequently suggests, conveyed in language too appropriate
and beautiful to be easily erased from the memory, or carelessly disre-
garded.
Tn conclusion, we may confidently adopt the words of Brydges, who
has said, that to study Milton's poetry is not merely the delight of every
accomplished mind, but it is a duty. He who is not conversant with it,
cannot conceive how far the genius of the Muse can go. The bard,
whatever might have been his inborn genius, could never have at-
tained this height of argument and execution but by a life of laborious
and holy preparation ; a constant conversance with the ideas sug-
gested by the sacred writings; the habitual resolve to lift his mind
and heart above earthly thoughts ; the incessant exercise of all the
strongest faculties of the intellect ; retirement, temperance, courage,
hope, faith. He had all the aids of learning; all the fruit of all the
wisdom of ages ; all the effect of all that poetic genius, and all that
philosophy had achieved. His poetry is pure majesty; the sober
strength, the wisdom from above, that instructs and awes. It speaks
as an oracle ; not with a mortal voice. And indeed, it will not be too
much to say, that of all uninspired writings, Milton's are the most
worthy of profound study by all minds which would know the crea-
tiveness, the splendor, the learning, the eloquence, the wisdom, to
which the human intellect can attain.
NOT*. The names of the authors most frequently quoted will be indi-
cted simply by the initial letters : those authors are Addison, Newton, E.
Brydges, Todd, Hume, Kitto, Richardson, Thyer, Stebbing and Pearce. The
Introductory Remarks upon the several Books are, generally, those found in
Sir Egerton Brydges' edition, with the omission of such remarks as were
leemed either incorrect, or of little interest and importance.
BOOK I.
THE ARGUMENT.
THIS I irst Book proposes, first, in brief, the whole subject, Man's disobe-
dience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise, wherein he was placed : then
touches the prime cause of his fall, the Serpent, or rather Satan in the ser-
pent ; who revolting from God, and drawing to his side many legions of
Angels, was, by the command of God, driven out of Heaven, with all his
crew, into the great deep. Which action passed over, the poem hastens into
the midst of things, presenting Satan with his Angels now fallen into Hell,
described here, not in the centre (for Heaven and Earth may be supposed as
yet not made, certainly not yet accursed) but in a place of utter darkness,
fitliest called Chaos : here Satan with his Angels lying on the burning lake,
thunderstruck and astonished, after a certain space recovers, as from confu-
sion, calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him ; they confer of
their miserable fall. Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the
same manner confounded : they rise ; their numbers, array of battle, their
chief leaders named, according to the idols known afterward in Canaan and
the countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech, comforts them
with hope yet of regaining Heaven, but tells them lastly of a new world
and new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy
or report in Heaven ; for that Angels were long before this visible creation,
was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To fipd out the truth of this
prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers to a full council. What
his associates thence attempt. Pandemonium, the palace of Satan, rises, sud-
denly built out of the deep : the infernal peers there sit in council.
BOOK I.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THIS Book on the whole is so perfect from beginning to end, that it would
be difficult to find a single superfluous passage. The matter, the illustra-
tions and the allusions, are historically, naturally, and philosophically true.
The learning is of every extent and diversity ; recondite, classical, scientific,
antiquarian. But the most surprising thing is, the manner in which he vivi-
fies every topic he touches : he gives life and picturesqueness to the driest
catalogue of buried names, personal or geographical. They who bring no
learning, yet feel themselves charmed by sounds and epithets which give a
vague pleasure, and stir up the imagination into an indistinct emotion.
Poetical imagination is the power, not only of conceiving, but of creating
embodied illustrations of abstract truths, which are sublime, or pathetic, or
beautiful ; but those ideas, which Milton has embodied, no imagination but
his own would have dared to attempt ; none else would have risen ' to the
height of this great argument.' Every one else would have fallen short of
it, and degraded it.
Among the miraculous acquirements of Milton, was his deep and familial
intimacy with all classical and all chivalrous literature ; the amalgamation in
his mind of all the philosophy and all the sublime and ornamental literature of
the ancients, and all the abstruse, the laborious, the immature learning of
those who again drew off* the mantle of time from the ancient treasures ol
genius, and mingled with thorn their own crude conceptions and fantastic
theories. He extracted from this mine all that would aid the imagination
without shocking the reason. He never rejected philosophy ; but where it
was fabulous, only offered it as ornament.
In Milton's language though there is internal force and splendor, there is
outward plainness. Common readers think thai it sounds and looks like
prow?. This is one of its attractions; while all that is stilted, and decorated,
and affected, soon fatigues and satiates.
Johnson says that " an inconvenience of Milton's design is, that it requires
th description of what cannot be described, the agency of spirits. He saw
BOOK I. 13
that immateriality suppHed no images, and that he could not show angels
acting but by instruments of action : he therefore invested them with form
and matter. This, being necessary, was therefore defensible, and he should
have secured the consistency of his system by keeping immateriality out of
sight, and enticing his reader to drop it from his thoughts." Surely this was
quite impossible, for the reason which Johnson himself has given. The im-
agination, by its natural tendencies, always embodies spirit. Poetry deals
in pictures, though not exclusively in pictures. - E. B.
Upon the interesting topic here thus summarily though satisfactorily dis-
posed of, Macaulay has furnished the following, among other admirable
remarks : *
The most fatal error which a poet can possibly commit in the manage-
ment of his machinery, is that of attempting to philosophise too much.
Milton has been often censured for ascribing to spirits many functions of
which spirits must be incapable. But these objections, though sanctioned by
eminent names, originate, we venture to say, in profound ignorance of the art
of poetry.
What is spirit ? What are our own minds, the portion of spirit with
which we are best acquainted ? We observe certain phenomena. We can-
not explain them into material causes. We therefore infer that there exists
something which is not material, but of this something we have no idea.
We can define it only by negatives. We can reason about it only by sym-
bols. We use the word but we have no image of the thing ; and the busi-
ness of poetry is with images, and not with words. The poet uses words
indeed, but they are merely the instruments of his art, not its objects. They
are the materials which he is to dispose in such a manner as to present a
picture to the mental eye. And, if they are not so disposed, they are no
more entitled to be called poetry than a bale of canvas and a box of colors
are to be called a painting.
Logicians may reason about abstractions, but the great mass of mankind
can never feel an interest in them. They must have images. The strong
tendency of the multitude in all ages and nations to idolatry can be explained
on no other principles. The first inhabitants of Greece, there is every rea-
son to believe, worshipped one invisible Deity ; but the necessity of having
something more definite to adore produced, in a few centuries, the innumera-
ble crowd of gods and goddesses. In like manner the ancient Persians
tho ight it impious to exhibit the Creator under a human form. Yet even
they transferred to the sun the worship which, speculatively, they consid-
ered due only to the supreme mind. The history of the Jews is the record
of a continual struggle between pure Theism, supported by the most terrible
sanctions, and the strangely fascinating desire of having some visible and
tangible object of adoration. Perhaps none of the secondary causes which
Giblx>n has assigned for the rapidity with which Christianity spread over
the world, while Judaism scarcely ever acquired a proselyte, operated more
powerfully than this feeling. Got!, the uncreated, the incomprehensible, the
14 PARADISE LOST.
invisible, attracted but few worshippers. A philosopher might admire so
noble a conception ; but the crowd turned away in disgust from words which
presented no image to their minds. It was before Deity embodied in a hu-
man form, walking among men, partaking of their infirmities, leaning on
their bosoms, weeping over their graves, slumbering in the manger, bleeding
on the cross, that the prejudices of the synagogue, and the doubts of the
Academy, and the pride of the Portico, and the forces of the lictor, and the
swords of thirty legions, were humbled in the dust.
Soon after Christianity had achieved its triumph, the principle which had
fated it began to corrupt it. It became a new Paganism. Patron saints
assumed the offices of household gods. St. George took the place of Mars.
St. Elmo consoled the mariner for the loss of Castor and Pollux. The vir-
gin Mary and Cecilia succeed to Venus and the Muses. The fascination of
sex and loveliness was again joined to that of celestial dignity ; and the
homage of chivalry was blended with that of religion. Reformers have
often made a stand against these feelings ; but never with more than appa-
rent and partial success. The men who demolished the images in cathedrals
have not always been able to demolish those which were enshrined in their
minds. It would not be difficult to show that in politics the same rule holds
good. Doctrines, we are afraid, must generally be embodied before they
can excite strong public feeling. The multitude is more easily interested for
the most unmeaning badge, or the most insignificant name, than for the most
important principle.
From these considerations, we infer that no poet who should affect that
metaphysical accuracy for the want of which Milton has been blamed,
would escape a disgraceful failure, still, however, there was another extreme,
which, though one less dangerous, was also to be avoided. The imagina-
tions of men are in a great measure under the control of their opinions. The
most exquisite art of a poetical coloring can produce no illusion when it is
employed to represent that which is at once perceived to be incongruous and
absurd. Milton wrote in an age of philosophers and theologians. It was
necessary therefore for him to abstain from giving such a shock to their un-
derstandings, as might break the charm which it was his object to throw
over their imaginations. This is the real explanation of the indistinctness
and inconsistency with which he has often been reproached. Dr. Johnson
acknowledges that it was absolutely necessary for him to clothe his spirits
with material forms. u But," says he, u he should have secured the consis-
tency of his system, by keeping immateriality out of sight, and seducing the
reader to drop it from his thoughts." This is easily said : but what if he
could not seduce the reader to drop it from hit thoughts ? What if the con-
trary opinion had taken so full a possession of the minds of men, as to leave
no room even for the quati-belief which poetry requires ? Such we suspect
to have been the case. It was impossible for the poet to adopt altogether
the material or the immaterial system. He therefore took his stand on the
debateable ground. He left the whole in ambiguity. He has doubtless, by
BOOK I. 15
so doing, laid himself open to the charge of inconsistency. But, though phi-
losophically in the wrong, we cannot but believe that he was poetically in
the right. This task, which almost any other writer would have found im-
practicable, was easy to him. The peculiar art which he possessed of com-
municating his meaning circuitously, through a long succession of associated
ideas, and of intimating nore than he expressed, enabled him to disguise
those incongruities which AC could not avoid.
The spirits of Milton are unlike those of almost all other writers. His
fiends, in particular, are wonderful creations. They are not metaphysical
abstractions. They are not wicked men. They are not ugly beasts. They
have no horns, no tails. They have just enough in common with human
nature to be intelligible to human beings. Their characters are, like their
forms, marked by a certain dim resemblance to those of men, but exagger-
ated to gigant ; c dimensions and veiled in mysterious gloom.
PARADISE LOST.
OF man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, a
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
1. As in the commencement of the Iliad, of the Odyssey, and of tne
JEneid, so here the subject of the poem is the first announcement that is
made, and precedes the verb with which it stands connected, thus giving it
due prominence. Besides the plainness and simplicity of the exordium, there
is (as Newton has observed) a further beauty in the variety of the numbers,
which of themselves charm every reader without any sublimity of thought
or pomp of expression ; and this variety of the numbers consists chiefly in
the pause being so artfully varied that it falls upon a different syllable in
almost every line. Thus, in the successive lines it occurs after the words
ditobtdimct. trrt, world, Eden, ttf, Mute. In Milton's verse the pause is con-
tinually varied according to the sense through all the ten syllables of which
it is composed ; and to this peculiarity is to be ascribed the surpassing har-
mony of his numbers.
4. Eden : Here the whole is put for a part. It was the loss of Paradite
only, the garden, the most beautiful part of Eden ; for after the expulnon of
our first parents from Paradise we read of their pursuing their solitary way
in Eden, which was an extensive region.
5. Regain, Src. : Compare XII. 463, whence it appears that in the opinion
of Milton, aAer the general conflagration, the whole earth would be formed
into another, and more beautiful, Paradise than the one that was lost.
6. Mute: One of those nine imaginary heathen divinities, that were
BOOK I. 17
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginuing, how the heav'ns and earth
Rose out of Chaos. ^ Or tf Sion hill 10
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God ; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian Mount, while it pursues If*
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
And chiefly Thou, Spirit, that dost prefer
thought to preside over certain arts and sciences, is here, in conformity to
classical custom, addressed. Secret top : set apart, interdicted. The Israel-
ites, during the delivery of the law, were not allowed to ascend that moun-
tain.
7. Horeb and Sinai were the names of two contiguous eminences of the
same chain of mountains. Compare Exod. iii. 1, with Acts vii. 30.
8 S/iepherd: Moses. Exod. iii. 1.
12. Oracle : God's temple ; so called from the divine communications
which were there granted to men.
15. The jlonian Mount; or Mount Helicon, the fabled residence of the
Muses, in Bceotia, the earlier name of which was Aonia. Virgil's Eclog. vi.
65. Georg. iii. 11.
16. Things unattended: There were but few circumstances upon which
Milton could raise his poem, and in everything which he added out of his
own invention he was obliged, from the nature of the subject, to proceed
with the greatest caution ; yet he has filled his story with a surprising num-
ber of incidents, which bear so close an analogy with what is delivered in
holy writ that it is capable of pleasing the most delicate reader without
giving offence to the most scrupulous. A.
17. Chiefly Thou, O Spirit : Invoking the Muse is commonly a matter of
mere form, wherein the (modern) poets neither mean, nor desire to be
thought to mean, anything seriously. But the Holy Spirit, here invoked, is
too solemn a name to be used insignificantly : and besides, our author, in the
beginning of his next work, ' Paradise Regained,' scruples not to say to the
same Divine Person
' Inspire
A Thou art wont, my proropte 1 song, else mute."
This address therefore _is no mere formality. HEYLIN.
It is thought by Bp. Newton that the poet is liable to the charge of enthu
tiasm ; having expected from the Divine Spirit a kind and degree of inspira-
tion similar to that which the writers of the sacred scriptures enjoyed. The
2
18 PARADISE LOST.
Before all temples the upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st ; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread 20
Dovelike sat'st brooding on the vast abyss,
And madest it pregnant : What in me is dark,
Illumine ; what is low, raise and support ;
That to the height of this great argument
I may assert eternal Providence, 25
And justify the ways of God to Men.
Say tirst, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell ; say first what cause
Moved our grand parents, in that happy state,
Favor'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off 30
widow of Milton was accustomed to affirm that he considered himself as in-
spired ; and this report is confirmed by a passage in his Second Book on
Church Government, already quoted in our preliminary observations.
24. The hri^hl of the argument is precisely what distinguishes this poem
of Milton from all others. In other works of imagination the difficulty lies
in giving sufficient elevation to the subject ; here it lies in raising the imagi-
nation up to the grandeur of the subject, in adequate conception of its mighti-
ness, and in finding language of such majesty as will not degrade it A
genius less gigantic and less holy than Milton's would have shrunk from the
attempt. Milton not only does not lower ; but he illumines the bright, and
enlarges the great : he expands his wings, and " sails with supreme domin-
ion" up to the heavens, parts the clouds, and communes with angels and un-
embodied spirits. E. B.
27. The poets attribute a kind of omniscience to the Muse, as it enables
them to speak of things which could not otherwise be supposed to cotne to
their knowledge. Thus Homer, Iliad ii. 485, and Virgil, JEn. vii. 643.
Milton's Muse, being the Holy Spirit, must of course be omniscient. N.
30. Greatness, is an important requisite in the action or subject of an
epic poem ; and Milton here surpasses both Homer and Virgil. The anger
of Achilles embroiled the kings of Greece, destroyed the heroes of Troy, and
engaged all the gods in factions. ^Eneas' settlement in Italy produced the
Ciesars and gave birth to the Roman empire. Milton's subject does not de-
termine the fate merely of single persons, or of a nation, but of an entire
species. The united powers of Hell are joined together lor the destruction
of mankind, which they effected in part and wouM have completed, had not
Omnipotence itself interposed. The principal acton are man in his greatest
perfection, and woman in her highest beauty. Th . .ire the fallen
; th Messiah thir friend, and the Almighty their Protect or. IP
BOOK I. 19
From their Creator, and trangress his will
For one restraint, lords of the world besides ?
Who first seduced them to that foul revolt ?
Th' infernal Serpent : he it was whose guile,
Stirr'd up with envy and revenge, deceived 35
The mother of mankind, what time his pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his host
Of rebel Angels ; by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in glory 'bove his peers,
He trusted to have equall'd the Most High, 40
If he opposed ; and with ambitious aim
Against the throne and monarchy of God,
Raised impious war in Heav'n, and battle proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurl'd headlong naming from th' ethereal sky, 45
With hideous ruin and combustion, down
To bottomless perdition ; there to dwell
In adamantine chains and penal fire,
short, everything that is great in the whole circle of being, whether within
the range of nature or beyond it, finds a place in this admirable poem. A.
u The sublimest of all subjects (says Cowper) was reserved for Milton ;
and, bringing to the contemplation of that subject, not only a genius equal to the
best of the ancients, but a heart also deeply impregnated with the divine
truths which lay before him, it is no wonder that he has produced a compo-
sition, on the whole, superior, to any that we have received from former ages
But he who addresses himself to the perusal of this work with a mind en-
tirely unaccustomed to serious and spiritual contemplation, unacquainted
with the word of God, or prejudiced against it, is ill qualified to appreciate
the value of a poem built upon it, or to taste its beauties.
32. One restraint : one subject" of restraint the tree of knowledge o/
good and evil.
34. Serpent. Compare Gen. iii. 1 Tim. ii. 14. John viii. 44.
38. Jltpiring: 1 Tim. iii. 6.
39. In glory : a divine glory, such as God himself possessed. This
charge is brought against him, V. 725 ; it is also asserted in line 40 ; again iu
VI. 88, VII. 140.
46. Ruin is derived from ruo, and includes the idea of falling with vio-
lence and precipitation : combustion is more than flaming in the foregoing
line ; it is burning in a dreadful manner. N.
. 48. Chain* Compare with Epistle of Judt v. 8. Also, /Eschylus
Prometh. 6.
20 PARADISE LOST.
Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arras.
* Nine times the space that measures day and night 50
To mortal men, he with his horrid crew
Lay vanquish 'd, rolling in the fiery gulf,
Confounded though immortal : But his doom
Reserved him to more wrath ; for now the thought
Both of lost happiness and lasting pain 55
Torments him ; round he throws his baleful eyes,
That witness'd huge affliction and dismay,
Mix'd with obdurate pride and steadfast hate :
At once, as far as angels' ken, he views
The dismal situation waste and wild : 60
A dungeon horrible on all sides round,
As one great furnace flamed ; yet from those flames
No light ; but rather darkness visible
Served only to discover sights of woe,
Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 65
And rest can never dwell .hope never comes,
That comes to all : but torture without end
Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed :
Such place eternal justice had prepared 70
50. Nine hmet the spare, Ift. Propriety sometimes requires the use of
circumlocution, as in this case. To have said win* dayt and night* would not
have been proper when talking of a period before the creation of the sun,
and consequently before time was portioned out to any being in that man-
ner. CAMPBELL, Phil. Rhet.
52 3. The nine days' astonishment, in which the angels lay entranced
after their dreadful overthrow and fall from heaven, before they could recover
the use either of thought or speech, is a noble circumstance and very finely
imagined. The division of hell into seas of fire, and into firm ground
(227-8) impregnated with the same furious element, with that particular
circumstance of the exclusion of hope from those infernal regions, are in-
stances of the same great and fruitful invention. A.
63. Darknett visible : gloom. Absolute darkness is, strictly s]>eakir.g, in-
visible; but where there is a gloom only, there is so much light remaining
as serves to show that there are objects, and yet those objects cannot be di-j-
anctly seen. Compare with the Penseroso, 79, 80 :
\\ lieie glowing ember* through Uie room
TYach light to counterfeit e gloom.'* II
BOOK I. ^ 21
For those rebellious ; here their pris'n ordained
In utter darkness, and their portion set
As far removed from God and light of heaven,
As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole.
how unlike the place from whence they fell ! 75
There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed
With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
He soon discerns, and welt'ring by his side
One next himself in power, and next in crime,
Long after known in Palestine, and named 80
Beelzebub. To whom th' Arch-Enemy,
And thence in Heav'n call'd Satan, with bold words
72. Utter, has the same meaning as the word outer, which is applied to
darkness in the Scriptures. Spenser uses utter in this sense.
74. Thrice as far as it is from the centre of the earth (which is the centre
of the world, (universe,) according to Milton's system, IX. 103, and X. 671,)
to the pole of the world ; for it is the pole of the universe, far beyond the
pole of the earth, which is here called the utmost pole. It is observable that
Homer makes the seat of hell as far beneath the deepest pit of earth as the
heaven is above the earth, Iliad viii. 16 ; Virgil makes it twice as far,
/Eneid vi. 577 ; and Milton thrice as far : as if these three great poets had
stretched their utmost genius, and vied with each other, in extending bis
idea of Hell farthest. N.
75. The language of the inspired writings (says Dugald Stewart) is on
this as on other occasions, beautifully accommodated to the irresistible im-
pressions of nature ; availing itself of such popular and familiar words as up-
wards and downwards, above and below, in condescension to the frailty of the
human mind, governed so much by sense and imagination, and so little by
the abstractions of philosophy. Hence the expression of fallen angels,
which, by recalling to us the eminence from which they fell, communicates,
in a single word, a character of sublimity to the bottomless abyss. WORKS
vol. iv. 288.
77. Fire. Compare with Mark ix. 45, 46.
81. Beelzebub. Compare with Mat. xii. 24. 2 Kings i. 2. The word
means god of flies. Here he is made second to Satan.
82. Satan. Many other names are assigned, to this arch enemy of God and
man, in the sacred scriptures. He is called the Devil, the Dragon, the Evil One,
the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, the Prince of this World, the Prince of the
power of the air, the God of this World, Apollyon. Abaddon, Belial, Beel-
zebub.
Milton, it will be seen, applies some of these terms to other evil angels.
22 PARADISE LOST.
Breaking the horrid silence thus began :
If thou beest he ; but how fallen ! how changed
From him who, in the happy realms of light 85
Cloth'd with transcendent brightness didst outshine
Myriads though bright ! If he whom mutual league,
United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
And hazard in the glorious enterprise,
Join'd with me once, now misery hath join'd 90
In equal ruin : into what pit thou seest
From what height fall'n, so much the stronger proved
He with his thunder d&nd till then who knew
The force of those dire arms ? yet not for those
Nor what the potent victor in his rage 95
The term Satan denotes adversary : the term Devil denotes an accuser,
See Kitlo's Bib. Cycl.
Upon the character of Satan as described by Milton, Hazlitt has penned an
admirable criticism, which will be found at the end of Book I.
84. The confusion of mind felt by Satan is happily shown by the abrupt
and halting manner in which he commences this speech. Fallen ; see Isaiah
xiv. 12. Changed : see Virg. JEn, ii. 274 :
' Hei mihi quails erat ! Quantum muUtus ab illo !' '
93. He with hit thunder. There is an uncommon beauty in this expres-
sion. Satan disdains to utter the name of God, though he cannot but ac-
knowledge his superiority. So again, line 257. N. .
94. Thou: compare JE&ch. Prometh. 991.
95116. Amidst those impieties which this enraged spirit utters in vari-
ous parts of the poem, the author has taken care to introduce none that is
Dot big with absurdity, and incapable of shocking a religious reader ; hit
words, as the poet himself describes them, bearing only a "semblance of
worth, not substance." He is likewise with great art described as owning
his adversary to be Almighty. Whatever perverse interpretation he puts
on the justice, mercy, and other attributes of the Supreme Being, he fre-
quently confesses his omnipotence, that being the perfection he was forced
to allow, and the only consideration which could support his pride under the
shame of his defeat. A.
Upon this important point Dr. Channing has made the following observa-
tions : " Some have doubted whether the moral effect of such delineations
(as Milton has given) of the stormy and terrible workings of the soul is
good ; whether the interest felt in a spirit so transcendently evil as Satan
favors our sympathies with virtue. But our interest fastens, in this and like
CAMS, on what is not evil. We gaze on Satan with an awe not unmixed
BOOK I. 23
Can else inflict, do I repent or change,
Though changed in outward lustre, that fix'd mind
And high disdain from sense of injured merit,
That with the Mightiest raised me to contend,
And to the fierce contention brought along 100
Innumerable force of Spirits arm'd,
That durst dislike his reign, and me preferring,
His utmost pow'r with adverse pow'r opposed
In dubious battle on the plains of Heav'n,
And shook his throne. What though the field be lost ? 105
All is not lost ; th' unconquerable will
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield :
And what is else not to be overcome ;
That glory never shall his wrath or might 1 10
Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
With suppliant knee, and deify his pow'r,
Who from the terror of this arm so late
Doubted his empire ; that were low indeed !
That were an ignominy and shame beneath 115
This downfall ? since by fate the strength of Gods
And this empyreal substance cannot fail;
with mysterious pleasure, as on a miraculous manifestation of the power ofiir.nd.
What chains us, as with a resistless spell, in such a character, is spiritual
might (might of soul) , made visible by the racking pains which it over-
powers. There is something kindling and ennobling in the consciousness
however awakened, of the energy which resides in mind ; and many a vir-
tuous man has borrowed new strength from the force, constancy, and daunt-
less courage of evil agents."
109. And what, <tc. : "And if there be any thing else (besides these par-
ticulars) which is not to be overcome." If, as some prefer, a point of in-
terrogation be placed after overcome, Satan, with great energy, will then
ask, What else, thou having this undaunted spirit, is to be unvanquished,
though the field be lost? 110. That glory : The glory of an unconquerable
will, Ac. 114. Doubted hi* empire : That is, doubted the stability of it
116. Fate. Satan supposes the angels to subsist by necessity, and repre-
sents them of an empyreal, that is, fiery substance, as the Scripture does, Ps.
civ. 4. Heb. i. 7. Satan disdains to submit, since the angels (as he says) are
necessarily immortal and cannot be destroyed, and since too they are nowr
improved in experience.
24 PARADISE LOST.
Since through experience of this great event
In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced,
We may with more successful hope resolve 120
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconcileable to our grand foe,
-Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of heav'n.
So spake th' apostate Angel, though in pain, 125
Vaunting aloud, but rack'd with deep despair :
And him thus answer'd soon his bold compeer.
Prince, Chief of many throned powers !
That led the embattled Seraphim to war
Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds 130
Fearless, endangered heavVs perpetual King,
And put to proof his high supremacy,
Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate ;
Too well I see and rue the dire event,
That with sad overthrow and foul defeat 135
Hath lost us heav'n, and all this mighty host
In horrible destruction laid thus low,
As far as Gods and heav'nly essences
Can perish ; for the mind and spirit remains
Invincible, and vigor soon returns, 140
Though all our glory extinct, and happy state
Here swallow'd up in endless misery.
But what if he our conqu'ror (whom I now
Of force believe almighty, since no less
Than such could have overpower'd such force as ours)
Have left us this our spirit and strength entire 146
Strongly to suffer and support our pains,
That we may so suffice his vengeful ire,
Or do him mightier service as his thralls
By right of war, whate'er his business be 160
Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy deep ;
What can it then avail, though yet we feel
129. Seraphim. Compare with Isaiah vi. 2 6. An order of angels new
the throne of God-
BOOK I. 25
Strength undiminish'd, or eternal being.
To undergo eternal punishment ? 155
Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend replied :
Fall'n Cherub, to be weak is miserable
Doing or suffering : but of this be sure,
To do aught good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our sole delight, 16 *
As being the contrary to his high will
Whom we resist. If then his providence
Out of our evil seek to bring forth good,
, Our labor must be to pervert that end,
And out of good still to find means of evil ; 165
Which oft-times may succeed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
His inmost counsels from their destined aim.
But see, the angry victor hath recall'd
His ministers of vengeance and pursuit 170
Back to the gates of Heav'n ; the sulph'rous hail
Shot after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid
The fiery surge, that from the precipice
Of Heav'n received us falling ; and the thunder,
Wing'd with red lightning and impetuous rage, 175
Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now
To bellow through the vast and boundless deep,
Let us not slip th' occasion, whether scorn
157. Cherub. One of an order of angels next in rank to a seraph. Com-
pare with Gen. iii. 24. Ezek. ch. x.
169. The account here given by Satan differs materially from that which
Raphael gives, book vi. 880, but this is satisfactorily explained by referring
to the circumstances of the two relators. Raphael's account may be con-
sidered as the true one ; but, as Newton remarks, in the other passages Sa
tan himself is the speaker, or some of his angels ; ajid they were too prouo
and obstinate to acknowledge the Messiah for their conqueror ; as their
rebellion was raised on his account, they would never own his superiority ;
they would rather ascribe their defeat to the whole host of heaven than to
him alone. In book vi. 830 the noise of his chariot is compared to the
sound of a numerous lutst ; and perhaps their fears led them to think that they
were really pursued by a numerous army. And what a sublime idea does
it give us of the terrors of the Messiah, that he alone should be as lormida-
ble, as if the whole host of Heaven were in pursuit of them.
26 PARADISE LOST.
Or satiate fury yield it from our foe.
Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, 180
The seat of desolation, void of light,
I Save what the glimm'ring of these livid flames
Casts pale and dreadful ? Thither let us tend
From off the tossing of these fiery waves,
There rest, if any rest can harbor there, 18ft
And reassembling our afflicted powers,
Consult how we may henceforth most offend
Our enemy, our own loss how repair,
How overcome this dire calamity,.
What reinforcement we may gain from hope, 190
., If not, what resolution from despair.
Thus Satan talking to his nearest mate
With head uplift above the wave, and eyes
That sparkling blazed, his other parts 'besides
Prone on the flood, extended long and large, 195
Lay floating many a rood-, in bulk as huge
As whom the fables name of monstrous size ;
Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove-,
J92. The incidents, in the passage that follows, to which Addison calls at-
tention, are, Satan's being the first that wakens out of the general trance, his
posture on the burning lake, his rising from it, and the description of his
shield and spear; also his call to the fallen angels that lay plunged and stupi-
fied in the sea of fire. (314 5.)
193. Prone on the flood, somewhat like those two monstrous serpepts de-
scribed by Virgil ii. 206 :
Pectora quorum inter fluctut arrecta, juba-que
Sanguines exiuperant and as ; pan ctrtera pontura
Pone legit
196. Rood, (ft. : a rood is the fourth part of an acre, so that the bulk of
Satan is expressed by the same sort of measure, as that of one of the giants
.11 Virgil, &n. vi. 596 :
Per tola norem cni jufrra corpus
Porrigitur.
And also that of the old dragon in Spenser's Fairy Queen, book i.
' That with hii largeness measured much land."
N.
l98. TUnnian, or Earth-born :
Genus antiquum tsjrss, TiUnia pubes
JEn. vi. 580
ROOK I. 27
Briareos, or Typhon, whom the den
By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast 200
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean stream ;
Him haply slumb'ring on the Norway foam
The pilot of some small night-founder'd skiff
Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, 205
With fixed anchor in his scaly rind
Moy/s by^^^ide under the lea, while night
Invest^ tnosea^ and, wislftd morn delays :
Here Milton commences that train of learned allusions which was among
his peculiarities, and which he always makes poetical by some picturesque
epithet, or simile. E. B.
199. Briareos, a fabled giant (one of the Titans) possessed of a hundred
hands. " Et centumgeminus Briareus." Virg. JEn. vi. 287.
201. Leviathan, a marine animal finely described in the book of Job, ch.
xli. It is supposed by some to be the whale ; by others, the crocodile, with
less probability. See Brande's Cyc.
202. Swim the ocean-stream : What a force of imagination is there in thia
last expression ! What an idea it conveys of the size of that largest of
created beings, as if it shrunk up the ocean to a stream, and took up the sea
* in its nostrils as a very little thing ! Force of* style is one of Milton's great
excellencies. Hence, perhaps, he stimulates us more in the reading, and less
afterwards. The way to defend Milton agams3y}*impugners is to take
UW.
vm
down the book and read it.
This line is by some found fault vmh as inharmonious ; but good taste ap-
proves its structure, as being on this account better suited to convey a just
idea of the size of this monster.
204. Night-foundered : overtaken by the night, and thus arrested in its
course. The metaphor, as Hurne observes, is taken from a foundered horse
that can go no further.
207. Under the lee: in a place defended from the wind.
208. Inverts the sea: an allusion to the figurative description of Nigh
given by Spenser :
By this the drooping daylight 'gan to fa IP.
And yield his room to sad succeeding night,
WHo with htr sable mantle ''gun to shade
The fact of Earth."
Milton also, in the same taste, speaking of the moon, IV. 609:
'And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.'
28 PARADISE LOST.
So stretch 'd out huge in length the Arch -Fiend lay
Chain'd on the burning lake, nor ever thence 210
Had ris'n or heaved his head, but that the will
And high permission of all-ruling Heav'n
Left him at large to his own dark designs,
That with reiterated crimes he might
Heap on himself damnation, while he sought 215
Evil to others, and enraged might see
How all his malice served but to brim;
Infinite goodness, grace, and .m^rc^shev^n -
On Man, by him seduced ; but oti^fcjLMlf.. . v
Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance pour'd. 220
Forthwith upright he rears from off the pool
His mighty stature ; on each hand the flames
Driv'n backward slope their pointing spires, and roll'd
In billows, leave i' th- 1 midst a horrid vale.
Then with expandea wings^he stcttf'hQ flight 226
Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air,
209. There are many examples in Milton of musical expression, or ot an
adaptation of the sound and movement of the verse to the meaning of the
passage. This line is an insdyje. By its great length,*and peculiar stric-
ture, being composed of monosyllables, it is admirably adapted to convey the *
idea of immense * 17 - C - l^fH
210. Chained on th^N^wing laJce: There seems to be an^ajltision here toi
the legend of Prometheus, one^nW^^kns, who was exposed to the wrath
of Jupiter on account of his having taught mortals the arts, and especially
the use of fire, which "he was said to have stolen from heaven, concealed in a
reed. According to another story he was actually the creator of men, or at,
least inspired them with thought and sense.
His punishment was to be chained to a rock on Caucasus, where a vulture
perpetually gnawed his liver; from which he was finally rescued by Her-
cules. This legend has formed the subject of the grandest of all the jjootical
illustrations of Greek supernatural belief, the Promttheut Bound of ^Eschy-
lus. Many have recognized in the indomitable resolution of this suffering
Titan, and his stern endurance of the evils inflicted on him by a power with
which he Lid vainly warred for supremacy, the prototype of the arch-fiend
of Milton. BRAJCDE.
226 7. That felt unusual tceight : This conceit (as Thyer remarks) it
borrowed from Spenser, who thus describes the old dragon, book i.
' Then with his waving wingi tliipU) cii wid
Himself np high he lift* I from the ground.
BOOK I.
29
That felt unusual weight ; till on dry land
*- He lights, as if it were land that ever burn'd
With solid, as the lake with liquid fire ;
"> And such appear'd in hue, as when the force 230
Of subterranean wind transports a hill
Torn from Pelorus, or the sbattcr'd side
Of thund'ring ^Etna, whose combustible
And fuel'd entrails thence conceiving fire,
And with strong flight did forcibly divide
The yielding air, which nigh toofeehle found
Her flitting parts, and clement unsound,
To bear so greqffiiceight."
229. Liquid fire. Virg. EC. vi. 33. " Et liquid! simul ignis. N.
230. There are several noble similies and allusions in the first book of
Paradise Lost. And here it must be observed that when Milton alludes
either to things or persons he never quits his simile until it rises to some
very great idea, which is often foreign to the occasion that gave birth to it.
The simile does not perhaps occupy above a line or two, but the poet runs
on with the hint until he has raised out of it some brilliant image or senti-
ment adapted to inflame the mind of the reader and to give it that sublime
kind of entertainment which is suitable to the nature of an heroic poem.
In short, if we look into the poems of Homer, Virgil, and Milton, we must
observe, that as the great fable is the soul of each poem, so, to give their
works the greater variety, the episodes employed by these authors may be
regarded as so many short fables, their similies as so many short episodes,
and their metaphors as so many short similies. If the comparisons in the
first book of Milton, of the sun in an eclipse, of the sleeping leviathan, of the
bees swarming about their hive, of the fairy dance, be regarded in this light
the great beauties existing in each of these passages will readily be dis-
covered. A.
231. Wind : this should be altered to winds, to agree with the reading in
line 235 ; or that should be altered to agree with this.
232. Pelorus : the eastern promontory of Sicily.
234. Thence conceiving fire : the combustible and fuelled entrails, or interior
contents, of the mountain, are here represented as taking fire, as the result of
the action of the subterranean wind, in removing the side of the mountain.
The fire thus kindled was sublimed with mineral fury, that is. was heightened
by the rapid combustion of mineral substances of a bituminous nature. The
poet seems to have in his mind the description of ^.tna by Vhgil (book iii
572, 578.)
Sed horrificis juxta tonat ^Ktna minis,
Interdiimqnc atrttm prorumpit <l aitliera nubem,
Turbine fumantem picen. et camlcnte fnill'i ;
Attollitque globo* flammarum, et si Icra lambit ;
90 PARADI6K LOST.
Sublimed with min'ral fury, aid the winds, 235
^ And leave a singed bottom all involved
With stench and smoke ; such resting found the sole
Of unblost feet. Him follow'd his next mate,
Both glorying to have 'scap'd the Stygian flood
As Gods, and by their own recover'd strength, 240
Not by the sufPrance of Supernal Power.
Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,
Said then the lost Arch- Angel, this the seat
That we must change for heav'n, this mournful gloom
For that celestial light ? Be it so, since he 245
Who now is Sovran can dispose and bid
What shall be right : farthest from him is best,
Whom reason hath equall'd, force hath made supreme
Above his equals. Farewell happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells : Hail horrors, hail 250
Infernal world, and thou profonndcst Ilrll
Receive thy new possessor ; one who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. 255
Interdum icopnlos arnliaque viscera montii
Erigttenictani. liquefactaque ttxa tub auras
Cam gemitu glomerat, fundoqne excitutt imo.
239. Stygian flood ; an expression here of the same import with infernal
food, alluding to the fabulous river Styx of the lower world, which the poets
represented as a broad, dull and sluggish stream.
246. Sovran : from the Italian word sovrano.
250. Dr. Charming, writing upon Satan's character as drawn by the poet
observes : " Hell yields to the spirit which it imprisons. The intensity of
its fires reveals the intense passion and more vehement will of Satan ; and
the mined archangel gathers into himself the sublimity of the scene which
surrounds him. This forms the tremendous interest of these wonderful
books. We see mind triumphant over the most terrible powers of nature
We see unutterable agony subdued by energy of soul."
Addison remarks that Milton has attributed to Satan those sentiments
which are every way answerable to his character, and suited to a created
being of the most exalted and most depraved nature; as in this passage,
which descrilies him as taking possession of his place of tonne-Is, 250 263.
253 5. These are some of the extravagances of the Stoics, and could not
BOOK I.
31
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less than he
Whom thunder hath made greater ? Here at least
We shall be free ; th' Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence : 260
Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition, though in hell ;
Y Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.
But wherefore let we then our faithful friends,
Th' associates and copartners of our loss, 265
Lie thus astonish'd on th' oblivious pool,
And call them not to share with us their part
In this unhappy mansion, or once more
With rallied arms to try what may be yet
Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more lost in Hell ? 270
So Satan spake ; and him Beelzebub
Thus answer'd : Leader of those armies bright,
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd,
If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge
Of hope in fears and dangers, heard so oft 275
In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
Of battle when it raged, in all assaults
Their surest signal, they will soon resume
New courage and revive, though now they lie
Grov'ling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, 280
be better ridiculed than they are here by being put into the mouth of Satan
in his present situation. THYER.
Shakspeare, in Hamlet, says :
There is nothing either good or bad, but
Thinking makes it so.
254. This sentiment is the great foundation on which the Stoics build,
their whole system of ethics. S.
263. This sentiment is an improvement of that which is put by ^Eschy-
Uis into the mouth of Prometheus, 965 ; and it was a memorable saying of
Julius Caesar that he would rather be the first man in a village, than the
second in Rome. Compare Virg. Georg. i. 36. N.
The lust of power and the hatred of moral excellence are Satan's promi-
nent characteristics.
276. Edge of battle : from the Latin word acies, which signifies both the
edge of a weapon and also an array in battle array. See book VI. 103 ?]
32 PARADISE LOST.
As we ere while, astounded and amazed,
No wonder, fall'u such a pernicious height.
He scarce had ceased when the superior Fiend
Was moving tow'rd the shore ; his pond'rous shield
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, 285
Behind him cast ; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, 290
Rivers, or mountains, on her spotty globe.
His spear, to equal which the tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
Of some great ammiral, were but a wand,
He walk'd with to support uneasy steps 295
Over the burning marie ; not like those steps
On Heaven's azure, and the torrid clime
Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire :
Nathless he so endured, till on the beach
Of that inflamed sea he stood, and call'd 300
His legions, Angel forms, who lay entranced
287. Homer and Ossian describe in a like splendid manner the shields of
their heroes.
288. Galileo : He was the first who applied the telescope to celestial ob-
servations, and was the discoverer of the satellites of Jupiter in 1C10, which,
in honor of his patron, Cosmo Medici he called the Mediccan ttars. From
the tower of St. Mark he showed the Venetian senators not only the satel-
lites of Jupiter but the crescent of Venus, the triple appearance of Saturn,
and the inequalities on the Moon's surface. At this conference he also en-
deavored to convince them of the tnith of the Copernican system.
289 00. Fetolf: a city of Tuscany. Valdarno, the valley of Arno, in the
same district The very sound of these names is charming.
v. j :i I. Ammiral: the obsolete form of admiral, the principal ship in a fleet.
The idea contained in this passage, may, as Dr. Johnson suggest*, be
drawn from the following lines of Cowley ; b'.it, who does not admire the
*ast improvements in form ? He says of Goliath,
- His uprtr, the trunk was of n lofty tree,
Which nature meant tome tall ship's matt should be.' 1
Compare Horn. Odys. ix. 322. JEn. iii. 659. Tasso, canto vL 40.
299. Nathlnt: nevertheless
/fr^'w
BOOK I. 33
Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks
In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades
High over-arch'd irabow'r ; or scatter'd sedge
Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion arm'd 305
Hath vex'd the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
Busiris and his Memphian chivalry,
While with perfidious hatred they pursued
The sojourners of Groshen, who beheld
From the safe shore their floating carcasses 310
And broken chariot wheels : so thick bestrewn,
Abject and lost lay these, covering the flood,
Under amazement of their hideous change.
He call'd so loud, that all the hollow deep
302, &c. : Here we see the impression of scenery made upon Milton's
mind in his youth, when he was at Florence. This is a favorite passage
with all readers of descriptive poetry. E. B.
302. Autumnal leaves. Compare Virgil's lines, JEn. vi. 309 :
Quam multa in sylvis autumn! frigore primo
Lnjisa cadunt foiia.
" That as the leaves in autumn strow the woods."
DRYDEN.
But Milton's comparison is the more exact by far ; it not only expresses a
multitude but also the posture and situation of the angels. Their lying con-
fusedly in heaps covering the lake is finely represented by this image of the
leaves in the brooks. N.
303. Vallombrosa : a Tuscan valley : the name is composed of vallis and
umbra, arid thus denotes a shady valley.
305. Orion arw'rf: Orion is a constellation represented in the figure of an
armed man, and supposed to be attended with stormy weather, assurgens
fluctu nimbosns Orion, Virg. JEn. i. 539. The Red Sea abounds so much
with sedge that in the Hebrew Scriptures it is called the Sedgy Sea. The
wind usually drives the sedge in great quantities against the shore. N.
306. JJiairis: Bentley objects to Milton giving this name to Phaiaoh since
history does not support him in i*. But Milton uses the liberty of a poet in
giving Pharaoh this name, because some had already attached it to him.
Chivalry, denotes here those who use horses in fight, whether by riding
on them, or riding in chariots drawn by them. See line 765. Also Para-
dise Regained iii. 343, compared with line 328.
308. Perfidious : he permitted them to leave the country, but afterwards
pursued them.
ii
34 PARADISE LOST.
Of Hell resounded. Princes, Potentates, 315
Warriors, the flow'r of heav'n, once yours, now lost,
If such astonishment as this can seize
Eternal spirits ; or have ye chos'n this place
After the toil of battle to repose
Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find 320
To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven ?
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
T' adore the conqueror ? who now beholds
Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood
With scattered arms and ensigns, till anon 325
His swift pursuers from heav'n gates discern
Th' advantage, and descending tread us down
Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts
Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf.
Awake, arise, or be for ever fall'n. 330
They heard, and were abash'd, and up they sprung
Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
Nor did they not perceive the evil plight 335
In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel ;
Yet to their gen'ral's voice they soon obey'd
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram's son, in Egypt's evil day,
Waved round the coast, up call'd a pitchy cloud 340
Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken M all the land of Nile :
80 numberless were those bad Angels seen
>15. This magnificent call of Satan to his prostrate host could have been
.tlen by nobody but Milton. E. B.
">25. Anon: Soon.
329. An allusion seems here to be made to the JEneid, book i. 44-5.
Ilium, ex(|'irmntcm tranifixo prctore flammas,
Tuilunc corripuit. Kr|iiiliH|iie infixit acuto.
338. dmramt ion : Moses. See Exod. x.
341. Warping: Moving like waves; or, working themselves forward. H.
BOOK I. 35
Hov'ring on wing under the cope of Hell 345
'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires ;
Till, as a signal giv'n, th' uplifted spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct
Their course, in even balance down they light
On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain ; 350
A multitude, like which the populous north
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhcne or the Danaw, when her barb'rous sons
Came like a deluge on the south, and spread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian sands. 355
Forthwith from ev'ry squadron and each band
The heads and leaders thither haste where stood
Their great commander ; Godlike shapes and forms
Excelling human, princely dignities,
And Pow'rs that erst in Heaven sat on thrones ; 360
Though of their names in heav'nly records now
Be no memorial, blotted out and rased
By their rebellion from the books of life.
Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve
Got them new names, till wand'ring o'er the earth, 365
345. Cope: Roof.
352. Frozen loins : In Scripture children are said to come out of tlie loins,
Gen. xxxv. 1 1 . The term frozen is here used only on account of the cold-
ness of the climate. Rhcne and Danaw, the one from the Latin, the other
from the German, are chosen because uncommon. Barbarous : The Goths,
Huns, and Vandals, wherever their conquests extended, destroyed the monu-
ments of ancient learning and taste. Beneath Gibraltar : That is, southward
of it, the northern portion of the globe being regarded as uppermost. N.
The three comparisons relate to the three different states in which these
fallen angels are represented. When abject and lying supine on the lake,
they are fitly compared to vast heaps of leaves which in autumn the poet
himself had observed to bestrew the water-courses and bottoms of Vallom-
brosa. When roused by their great leader's objurgatory summons, they are
compared, in number, with the countless locusts of Egypt. The object of
the third comparison is to illustrate their number when assembled as sol-
diers on the firm brimstone, and here they are compared with the most nu-
merous body of troops wliich history had made mention of. DUNSTER.
360. Ertt: Formerly.
364-375. The subject of Paradise Lost is the origin of evil an event, in
36 PARADISE LOST.
Thro' God's high fluff 'ranee for the trial of man,
By falsities and lies the greatest part
Of mankind they corrupted, to forsake
God their Creator, and th' invisible
Glory of him that made them to transform 370
Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,
And Devils to adore for Deities :
Then were thoy known to men by various names,
And various idols through the Heathen world. 375
Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who last
Roused from the slumber, on that fiery couch,
At their great emp'ror's call, as next in worth
Came singly where he stood on the bare strand,
While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof. 380
The chief were those who from the pit of Hell
Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix
Their seats long after next the seat of God,
Their altars by his altar, Gods adored
Among the nations round, and durst abide 385
ito nature connected with everything important in the circumstances of hu-
man existence ; and, amid these circumstances, Milton saw that the Fnbltt of
Paganism were too important and poetical to be omitted. As a Chri.-tian
he was entitled wholly to neglect them, but as a poet he chose to treat them
not as the dreams of the human mind, but as the delusions of infernal exist-
ences. Thus anticipating a beautiful propriety for all classical allusions ;
thus connecting and reconciling the co-existence of fable and of truth ; and
thus identifying the fallen angels with the deities of " gay religions full of
pomp and gold," he yoked the heathen mythology in triumph to his subject,
and clothed himself in the spoils of super.-tition. KDI.NB. ENCYC.
This subject ia again presented in the last note on Book I.
369. Rom. i. 18-25. 372. Religion* : That is, religions rites.
375. Holt: Heathen idols' are here described as the ii-pn f there
demons. Addison remarks that the catalogue of evil spirits has abundance
of learning in it and a very agreeable turn of poetry, which rises in a great
measure from its describing the places where they were worshipped, by
those beautiful marks of rivers so frequent among the ancient poets. The
author had doubtless in this place Homers catalogue of ships, and Vir^il'.-s
list of warriors in his view.
376. When they apostatised, they acquired new and dishonorable name*.
BOOK I. 37
Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, throned
Between the Cherubim ; yea, often placed
Within his sanctuary itself their shrines, .
Abominations ; and with cursed things
His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned, 390
And with their darkness durst affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid king, besmear'd with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears,
Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud
Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd thro' fire 395
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite
Worshipp'd in Rabba and ner wat'ry plain,
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such
Audacious neighborhood, the wisest heart 400
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
. His temple right against the temple of God,
On that opprobrious hill ; and made his grove
The pleasant valo of Hinnom, Tophet thence
387. Cherubim : The golden figures placed over the ark in the Hebrew sanc-
tuary, Exod. xxv. See also 2 Kings xix. 15 " O Lord God of Israel, which
dwellest between the Cherubim."
392. Moloch : The national God of the Ammonites ; properly denomi-
nated horrid, since to him children were offered in sacrifice. Consult 2
Kings xxiii. 10-13. The characters ascribed to Moloch anil Belial prepare
us for their respective speeches and behaviour in the second and sixth books.
397-8. Rabba, or Kabbah, was the principal city of the Ammonites,
twenty miles northeast of Jericho, and on the east side of the Jordan. Jlr-
gob is not far distant. Bashan is a large district of country lying east of the
Sea of Tiberias, celebrated for its cattle, and its oaks. At the time of the
conquest of Canaan by the Hebrews, the Ammonites occupied the country
east of Jordan, from the river Jlriwn, which empties into the Dead Sea to
:he river Jabbok. The vale of Hinnom was near Jerusalem.
403. Solomon built a temple to Moloch on the Mount of Olives (1 Kings
xi. 7) : it is hence called that opprobrious (or infamous) hill.
404. Tophet: In the Hebrew, drum; this and other noisy instruments
being used to drown the cries of the miserable children who were offered to
this idol ; and (iclminu. or the valley of Hiiuioni, is in several places of the
New Testament, and by our Saviour himself, made the name and type of
hell. N.
38 PARADISE LOST.
And black Gehenna call'd, the type of Hell. 405
Next Cheiuos, the obscene dread of Moab's sons,
From Aroar to Nebo, and the wild
Of southmost Abarim ; in Hesebon
And Horonaiiu, Scon's realm, beyond
The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines, 410
And Eleale to th' Asphaltic pool.
Peor his other name, when he enticed
Israel in Sittim, on their march from Nile,
To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe.
Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged 415
E'en to that bill of scandal, by the grove
Of Moloch homicide ; lust hard by hate ;
Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell.
406. Chtmo* : The god of the Moabites. Consult 1 Kings xi. 6, 7. 2 Kings
xxiii. 13. It is supposed to be same as Baal-Peor, and as Priapus. Numb,
xxv. 1-9.
408. Hescbon (Heshbon) : Twenty-one miles east of the mouth of the
Jordan. Its situation is still marked by a few broken pillars, several large
( cisterns and wells, together with extensive ruins which overspread a high
hill, commanding a wild and desolate scenery on every side. Jlbarim is a
chain of mountains running north and south, east of the Dead Sea ; Piigah is
some eminence in this chain at the northern part, and Airio is supposed to be
the summit of Pisgah, nearly opposite Jericho. It was here that the great
leader of the Israelites was favored with a view of the land of promise, and
yielded up his life at the command of the Lord, n. c. 1451. Aroar (Aroer)
was a place situated on the river Arnon. which formed the northern bound-
ary of the kingdom of Moab. Scon (Sihon) was king of the Amorites.
Sibma was half a mile from Heshbon ; Ele.iK, two and a half miles south of
it. The Atphnltic pool is the Dead Sea. Sittim is written Shittim in the
Bible.
415. Orgia: Wild, frantic rites. The term is generally applied to the
feasts of Bacchus, but is equally applicable to the obscene practices connected
with the worship of Chemos, or Peor.
417. Lutt hard by hate: The figure contained in this verse conveys a
strong moral truth. Had it not been, however, that the music of the verse
would have been injured, the idea would have been more correct by the
transposition of the words lust and hate. S.
Our author might perhaps have in view Spenser's Mack of Cupid, where
Anger, Strife, &c., are represented as immediately following Cupid in the
procession. T
BOOK I. 39
With these came they, who from the bord'ring flood
Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts 420
Eygpt from Syrian ground, had general names
Of Baalim and Ashtaroth ; those male,
These feminine ; for spirits, when they please,
Can either sex assume, or both ; so soft
And uncorn pounded is their essence pure 425
Not tied nor manacled with joint or limb ;
Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones,
Like cumbrous flesh ; but, in what shape they choose
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,
Can execute their aery purposes, 430
And works of love or enmity fulfil.
For those tbr mce of Israel oft forsook
419. Bordering /M/e-a . The Euphrates formed the eastern border of the pro-
mised land, Gen. x 6 . It may be called old from the very early historic
mention of it in Gti. <i. 1*. See also Ps. Ixxx. 11.
420. Brook : Probahlv the brook Besor.
422. Baalim and Jlstaroth : There were many of these deities (so called) in
Syria and adjacent regions. The sun and the stars are supposed to be in-
tended under these names.
423. Milton probably derived these notions from a passage in a Greek
author of antiquity, who, in a dialogue concerning Demons, tells a story of
one appearing in the form of a woman, and upon this it is asserted that they
can assume either sex, take what shape and color they please, and contract
and dilate themselves at pleasure. N.
423. Spirits : The nature of spirits is here set forth, and the explanation
of the manner in which spirits transform themselves by contraction or en-
largement is introduced with great judgment, to make way for several sur-
prising accidents in the sequel of the poem. There follows a passage near
the very end of the first book, which is what the French critics call marvel-
lous, but at the' same time is rendered probable when compared with this
passage. As soon as the infernal palace is finished, we are told, the multi-
tude and rabble of spirits shnmk themselves into a small compass, that there
alight be room for such a numberless assembly in this capacious hall. But
i* is the poet's refinement upon this thought which is most to be admired,
and which indeed is very noble in itself. For he tells us, that notwithstand-
ing the vulgar among the fallen spirits contracted their forms, those of the
first rank and dignity btill preserved their natural dimensions. Consult the
lart ten lines of the first book. A.
432. Thou : Those demon*. 433. Strength : Jehovah.
40 PARADISE LOST.
Their living Strength, and unfrequented left
His righteous altar, bowing lowly down
To bestial gods ; for which their heads as low 435
Bow'd down in battle, sunk before the spear
Of despicable foes. With these in troop
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians call'd
Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns
To whose bright image nightly by the moon 440
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs ;
In Sion also not unsung, where stood
Her temple on th' offensive mountain, built
By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large,
Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell 445
To idols foul. Thamtnuz came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured
The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties all a summer's day ;
While smooth Adonis from his native rock 450
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded : the love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat ;
Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch
Ezckiel saw, when by the vision led, 455
His eye survey 'd the dark idolatries
438. Jerern. vii. 18; zliv. 17, 18. 1 Kings xi. 5. 2 Kings xxiii. 13.
443. Offensive : So called on account of the idolatrous worship there per-
formed ; in other places called by Milton, for the same reason, the mountain
of corruption, opprobrious kill, and hill of scandal.
444. Uxorious king : Solomon, who was too much influenced by his wives.
451. Thammuz : This idol is the same as the Phenician Adonis. Ezek.
viii. 14. Adonis, in the heathen mythology, was a beautiful youth, son of
Cinyrus. king of Cyprus, beloved by Venus, and lulled by a wild boar, to the
great regret of the goddess. It is also the name of a river of Phenicia, on the
lank* of which Adonis, or Thammuz as he u called in the East, was sup-
posed to have been killed. At certain seasons of the year this river acquires
a high red color by the rains washing up red earth. The ancient poets as-
cribed this to a sympathy in the river fur the death of Adonis. This season
was observed as a festival in the adjacent country. To these circumstance*
Milton has here beautifully alluilpd. BKAN:>>:'S Cvc.
BOOK I. 41
Of alienated Judah. Next came one
Who mourn'd in earnest, when the captive ark
Maim'd his brute image, head and hands lopp'd off
In his own temple, on the grunsel edge, 460
Where he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers :
Dagon his name, sea-monster, upward man
And downward fish : yet had his temple high
Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and AscaJon, 465
And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds.
Him follow'd Rimmon, whose delightful seat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also 'gainst the house of God was bold : 470
A leper once he lost, and gain'd a king ;
Ahaz his sottish conqu'ror, whom he drew
God's altar to disparage and displace
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious offerings, and adore the gods 475
Whom he had vanquish'd. After these appear'd
A crew, who, under names of old renown,
460. Grunsel edge: Groundsill edge the threshold of the gate of the
temple.
462- Dagon : A god of the Philistines. Consult Judges xvi. 23. 1 Sam. v.
4 ; vi. 17.
467. Rimmon : A god of the Syrians. Consult 2 Kings v. 18.
467-9. The power of Milton's mind is stamped on every line. The fer-
vour of his imagination melts down and renders malleable, as in a furnace,
the most contradictory materials. Milton's learning has all the effect of in-
tuition. He describes objects, of which he could only have read in books,
with the vividness of actual observation. His imagination has the force of
nature. He makes words tell as pictures, as in these lines. The word /tirirf,
here used, gives us all the sparkling effect of the most perfect landscape
There is great depth of impression in his descriptions of the objects of all the
different senses, whether colours, or sounds, or smells ; the same absorption of
mind in whatever engaged his attention at the time. He forms the most in-
tense conceptions of things, and then embodies them by a single stroke of his
pen. HAZLITC.
471. 2 Kings viii. xvi. 10. 2 Chron. xxviii. 23.
42 PARADISE LOST
Osiris, Iris, Orus, and their train,
With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused
Fanatic Egypt and her priests, to seek 480
Their wandering gods disguised in brutish forms
Rather than human. Nor did Israel 'scape
Th' infection, when their borrow'd gold composed
The calf in Oreb ; and the rebel king
Doubled that sin in Bethel and in Dan, 4S5
Likening his Maker to the grazed ox ;
Jehovah, who in one night when he pass'd
From Kgypt marching, equall'd with one stroke
Both her first-born, and all her bleating gods.
Belial came last, than whom a spirit more lewd 490
Fell not from heaven, or more gross to love
Vice for itself : to whom no temple stood,
Nor altar smoked ; yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who fill'd 495
478. Oriris, one of the principal Egyptian gods, was brother to Isis, and
the father of Orus (Horus) . Osiris was worshipped under the form of the
sacred bulls. Apis and Mnevis; and as it is usual in the Egyptian symboli-
cal language to represent their deities with human forms, and with the heads
of the animals which were their representatives, we find statues of Osiris
with the horns of a bull. ANTHON.
The reason alleged for worshipping their gods under the monstrous forms
of bulls, cats, &c., is the fabulous tradition that when the Giants invaded hea-
ven, the gods were so affrighted that they fled into Egypt, and there concealed
themselves in the shapes of various animals. See Ovid Met. v. 319. N.
483. Infection : The Israelites, by dwelling so long in Egypt, were infected
with the superstitions of the Egyptians. E. B.
48-1. Oreb : Horeb. Rebel king : Jeroboam. Consult 1 Kings xii. 26-33.
485. Doubled that rin, by making two golden calves, probably in imitation
of the Egyptians among whom he had been, who worshipped two oxen ;
one called Apis, at Memphis, the metropolis of Upper Egypt; the other
called Mnevis, at Hieropolis, the chief city of Lower Egypt. Bethel and Dan
were at the southern and northern extremities of Palestine. See Psalm
cvi. 20. N.
480. Bleating god* : Sheep ; and hence shepherds who raised sheep to kill
for food were " an abomination" to the Egyptians.
495. Elf i ton* : Consult 1 Sam. ii.
BOOK I. 43
With lust and violence the house of God ?
In courts and palaces he also reigns,
And in luxurious cities, where the noise
Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers,
And injury and outrage : and when night 500
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine
Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
Exposed a matron, to avoid worse rape. 505
These were the prime in order and in might :
The rest were long to tell, though far renown'd,
Th' Ionian gods, of J avail's issue held
Gods, yet confess'd later than Heaven and Earth,
Their boasted parents : Titan, Heav'n's first-born, 510
With his enormous brood, and birthright seized
By younger Saturn : he from mightier Jove,
His own and Rhea's son, like measure found ;
So Jove usurping reign'd : these first in Crete
And Ida known, thence on the snowy top 515
Of cold Olympus, ruled the middle air,
Their highest heav'n ; or on the Delphian cliff,
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds
Of Doric land ; or who with Saturn old
Fled over Adria to th' Hesperian fields, 520 .
And o'er tlie Celtic roam'd the utmost isles.
502. Flown: A better reading is blown, inflated. Virg. EC. vi. 15.
504. Gibeah : Consult Judges xix. 14-30.
506. Prime: Being mentioned in the oldest records, the Hebrew.
508. Javan : The fourth son of Japhet, from whom the lonians and the
Greeks are supposed to have descended.
509. Heaven and Earth : The god Uranus, and the goddess Gaia.
510-521. Titan was their eldest son: he was the father of the Giants
and his empire was seized by his younger brother Saturn, as Saturn's was by
Jupiter, the son of Saturn and Rhea. These first were known in the island
of Crete, now Candia, in which is Mount Ida, where Jupiter is said to have
been born ; thence passed over into Greece, and resided on Mount Olymput
in Thessaly : the itnowy top of raid Olympus, as Homer calls it, Iliad i. 420. xviii.
615, which mountain afterwards became the name of Heaven among their
44 PARADISE LOST.
All these and more came flocking ; but with looks
Downcast and dump ; yet such wherein appear'd
Obscure some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost 525
In loss itself: which on his count'nance cast
Like doubtful hue : but he, his wonted pride
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth, not substance, gently raised
Their fainting courage, and dispell'd their fears. 530
Then straight commands, that at the warlike sound
Of trumpets loud and clarions be uprear'd
His mighty standard ; that proud honor claim 'd
Azazel as his right, a cherub tall ;
Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurl'd 535
Th' imperial ensign ; which, full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor, streaming to the wind,
With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed
Seraphic arms and trophies ; all the while
Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds : 540
At which the universal host up-sent
A shout, that tore hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand banners rise into the air, 545
With orient colors waving : with them rose
A forest huge of spears ; and thronging helms
Appear'd, and serried shields in thick array
worshippers ; or on the Delphian cliff, Parnassus, on which was seated the
city of Delphi, famous for the temple and oracle of Apollo ; or in IXx/ona, a
city and wood adjoining, sacred to Jupiter ; and through all the bound $ of Doric
(and, that is. of Greece, Doris being a part of Greece ; or fitd over Hadria,
the Adriatic sea, to the Hesperian fieldt, to Italy ; and o'er the Celtic, France
and the other countries overrun by the Celts ; roamed the utmost itlei, Great
Britain, Ireland, the Orkneys, Thulc, or Iceland, Ultima Thule, as it is called,
the utmost boundary of the world. N.
534. Jlzazel : The name signifies brave in retreating.
543. Reign, in the sense of regnttm, kingdom.
546. Orient: Brilliant
BOOK r. 45
Of depth immeasurable : anon they move
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood 550
Of flutes and soft recorders ; such as raised
To height of noblest temper heroes old
Arming to battle ; and instead of rage
Deliberate valor breath'd, firm and unmoved
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat 555
Nor wanting power to mitigate and 'suage,
With solemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase
Anguish, and doubt, and fear, and sorrow, and pain
From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they,
Breathing united force, with fixed thought, 560
Moved on iu silence, to soft pipes, that charm 'd
Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil : and now
Advanced in view they stand ; a horrid front
Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise
Of warriors old with order'd spear and shield, 565
Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose : he through the armed files
Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse
The whole battalion views, their order due,
Their visages and stature as of gods : 570
Their number last he sums. And now his heart
Distends with pride, and hardening in his strength
Glories ; for never since created man
Met such embodied force, as, named with these,
Could merit more than that small infantry 575
548. Serried shields : Locked one within another, linked and clasped to-
gether, from the French serrer, to lock, to shut close. HUME.
550. There were three kinds of music among the ancients ; the Lydian,
the most melancholy ; the Phrygian, the most lively ; and the Dorian, the
most majestic, (exciting to cool and deliberate courage. N.) Milton has
been very exact in employing music fit for each particular purpose. S.
551. Recorders: Flageolets.
060. Homer's Iliad, iii. 8. 568. Traoerte : across.
575. All the heroes and armies that ever were assembled were no more
than pigmies in comparison with these angels. N. See note on !' >ok
L 780.
46 PARADISE LOST.
Warr'd on by cranes : though all the giant brood
Of Phlcgra with th' heroic race werejoin'd
That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side
Mix'd with auxiliar gods ; and what resounds
In fable or romance of Uther's son 680
Begirt with British and Armoric knights ;
And all who since, baptized or infidel,
Jousted in Aspramont, or Montalban,
Damasco, or Marocco, or Trebisond,
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore, 585
When Charlemagne with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabia. Thus far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed
Their dread commander : he, above the rest
In shape and gesture proudly eminent," 590
Stood like a tower ; his form had uot yet lost
. 577. Phlegm : The earlier name of the peninsula Pallene in Macedonia
and the fabled scene of a conflict between the gods and the earth-born
Titans.
580. Uther was the father of king Arthur. This and the following allu
ions are derived from the old romances on the subject. Charlemagne is
said not to have died at Fontarabia, but some years after, and in peace. S.
581. Armoric: Celtic those on the sea-coast of Brittany in the north-
west part of France.
583. Jousted: Engaged in mock fights on horseback. Jlspramont and
Montulban : Fictitious names of places mentioned in Orlando Furioso.
585. Biterta : Formerly called Utica. The Saracens are referred to as
being sent thence to Spain. Fontarabia: Afortined town in Biscay, in Spain,
near France.
590-99. Here, says Burke, is a very noble picture ; and in what does this
poetical picture consist ? in images of a town, an archangel, the sun rising
through mists, or in an eclipse, the ruin of monarchs, and the revolutions of
kingdoms. The mind is hurried out of itself by a crowd of great and con-
fased images, which affect because they are crowded and confused: for
separate them, and you lose much of the greatness ; join them, and you in-
fallibly lose the clearness. There are reasons in nature why the obscure
idea, when properly conveyed, should be more affecting than the clear. It
is our (comparative) ignorance of things that causes all our admiration, and
chiefly excite* our passions. Knowledge and acquaintance make the most
striking causes affect but little. It is thus with th* vulgar, and all men art
at th vulgar in what they do not understand.
BOOK r. 47
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than archangel ruin'd, and the excess
Of glory obscured ; as when the sun, ne*v riflen.
Looks through the horizontal misty air 595
Shorn of his beams ; or from behind the moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs. Darken'd so, yet shone
Above them all the Arch-angel : but his face 600
Deep scars of thunder had intrench M, and care
Sat on his faded cheek ; but under brows
Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride
Waiting revenge ; cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorse and passion, to behold 605
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
595-6. When Milton sought license to publish his poem, the licenser was
strongly inclined to withhold it, on the ground that he discovered treason in
this noble simile of the sun eclipsed ! a striking example of the acute remark
of Lord Lyttleton, that "the politics of Milton at that time brought his
poetry into disgrace ; for it is a rule with the English to see no good in a
man whose politics they dislike." T.
597. Eclipse : Derived from a Greek word which signifies to fail, to faint
or swoon away ; since the moon, at the period of her greatest brightness,
falling into the shadow of the earth, was imagined by the ancients to sicken
and swoon, as if she were^ going to die. By some very ancient nations she
was supposed, at such times, to be in pain ; and, in order to relieve her fan-
cied distress, they lifted torches high in the atmosphere, blew horns and
tmmpets, beat upon brazen vessels, and even, after the eclipse was over, they
offered sacrifices to the moon. The opinion also extensively prevailed, that
it was in the power of witches, by their spells and charms, not only to
darken the moon, but tp bring her down from her orbit, and to compel her to
shed her baleful influences upon the earth. In solar eclipses, also, especially
when total, the sun was supposed to turn away his face in abhorrence of
some atrocious crime, that had cither been pei petrated, or was about to be
perpetrated, and to threaten mankind with everlasting night, and the destruc-
tion of the world. To such superstitions Milton, in this passage, alludes.
OLMSTED'S LETTERS ON ASTROX.
No where is the person of Satan described with more sublimity than in
this part of the poem.
600. Intrenched : Cut into, made trenches there. N.
60. Fdlowt. The nice moral discrimination displayed in this line, is
worthy of notice.
48 PARADISE G'JST.
(Far other once beheld in bliss), condemned
For ever now to have their lot in pam :
Millions of Spirits for his fault amerced
Of heaven, and from eternal splendours flung 610
For his revolt, yet faithful how they stood,
Their glory wither'd: as when Heav'n's fire
Hath scath'd the forest oaks, or mountain pines,
With singed top their stately growth tho' bare
Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepared 615
To speak ; whereat their doubled ranks they bend
From wing to wing, and half inclose him round
With all his peers. Attention held them mute.
Thrice he essay'd, and thrice, in spite of scorn,
Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth. At last 620
Words interwove with sighs found out their way.
myriads of immortal Spirits, Powers
Matchless, but with th' Almighty, and that strife
Was not inglorious, though the event was dire,
As this place testifies, and this dire change, 625
Hateful to utter ; but what power of mind,
Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth
Of knowledge past or present, could have fear'd
How such united force of Gods, how such
As stood like these, could ever know repulse; 630
For who can yet believe, though after loss,
That all these puissant legions, whose exile
609. Amerced: Judicially deprived. See Horn. Odys. viii. 64.
611. Yet faithful: We must refer to line 605, and thence supply here "to
behold."
619. Allusion to Ovid. Met. xi. 41.0 :
Ter conata loqui, ter fletibui ora rigavit,
620. Tear*, turh at angel* twp . Like Homer's ichor of the gals, which
was different from the blood of mortals. This weeping of Satan on sun-ey-
ing his numerous host, and the thoughts of their wretched state, put one it
mind of the story of Xerxes, weeping at the sight of his immense army, ami
reflecting that they were mortal, at the time that he was hastening them t<
their fate, and to the intended destruction of the most polished people in th<
world, to gratify his own vain glory. N.
BOOK I. 49
Hath emptied Heav'n, shall fail to re-ascend
Self-raised, and repossess their native seat ?
For me, be witness all the host of Heav'n, 635
If counsels different, or danger shunn'd
By me, have lost our hopes. But he who reigns
Monarch in Heav'n, till then as one secure
Sat on his throne, upheld by old repute,
Consent, or custom, and his regal state 640
Put forth at full, but still his strength conceal'd,
Which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.
Henceforth his might we know, and know our own,
So as not either to provoke or dread
New war, provoked ; our better part remains 645
To work in close design, by fraud or guile,
What force effected not ; that he no less
At length from us may find, who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.
Space may produce new worlds ; whereof so rife 650
There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long
Intended to create, and therein plant
A generation, whom his choice regard
Should favour equal to the sons of Heav'n :
Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps 656
Our first eruption, thither or elsewhere :
For this infernal pit shall never hold
Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' abyss
Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts
Full counsel must mature : Peace is despair'd, 660
For who can think submission ? War then, War,
Open or understood, must be resolved.
He spake : and, to confirm his words, out flew
633. Emptied: An instance of arrogant boasting and falsehood.
642. Tempted our attempt : Words which, though well-chosen and signifi-
cant enough, yet of jingling and unpleasant sound, and, like marriages be-
tween persons too near of kin, to be avoided.
650. Rife : Prevalent. This /om, or report, serves to exalt the dignity
and importance of our race.
662. Underload : Not declared.
4
60 PARADISE LOST.
Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs
Of mighty Cherubim : the sudden blase 665
Far round illumined Hell. Highly they raged
Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped arms
Clash'd on their sounding shields the din of war,
Hurling defiance tow'rd the vault of Heaven.
There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top 670
Belch 'd fire and rolling smoke ; the rest entire
Shone with a glossy scurf, undoubted sign
That in his womb was hid metallic ore,
The work of sulphur. Thither wing'd with speed
A num'rous brigade hasten 'd : as when bands 675
Of pioneers, with spade and pickaxe arm'd,
Forerun the royal camp to trench a field,
Or cast a rampart. Mammon led them on ;
Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell
From Heav'n : for e'en in Heav'n his looks and thoughts 680
Were always downward bent, admiring more
The riches of HeavVs pavement, trodden gold,
Than aught divine or holy else enjoy'd
In vision beatific. By him first
Men also, and by his suggestion taught, 685
064. Drawn from the thigh* : A Homeric expression, Iliad, i. 190, more dig-
nified than ' drawn from the sides."
668. Clothed : Alluding to a custom among Roman soldiers of striking
their shields with their swords, when they applauded the speeches of their
commanders.
671. Belched: An idea borrowed, perhaps, from an expression of Virgil
(JEn. iii. 576) , eructant, in describing ^Etna.
674. Tht tcork of tulphur : Metals were in the the time of Milton supposed
to consist of two component parts, mercury, as the basis, or metallic matter ;
and sulphur as the binder or cement, which fixes the fluid mercury into a co-
herent, malleable mass. So Jonson in the Alchemist, Act 2, Scene 3 :
' It turn* to sulphur, or to quicksilver.
Who are the parent* of all other metals."
678. Mammon : The god of riches ; the same as the Pluto of the Greeks
and Romans. Tne delineation of his character and agency by Milton,
abounds in literary beauties.
683. Sugge$tion: Milton here alludes to a superstitious opinion formerly
BOOK I. 51
Kansack'd the centre, and with impious hands
Rifled the bowels of their mother earth
For treasures better hid. Soon had his crew
Open'd into the hill a spacious wound,
And digg'd out ribs of gold. Let none admire 690
That riches grow in Hell ; that soil may best
Deserve the precious bane. And here let those
Who boast in mortal things, and wond'ring tell
Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings,
Learn how their greatest monuments of fame, 695
And strength, and art, are easily outdone
By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour
What in an age they with incessant toil
And hands innumerable scarce perform.
Nigh on the plain in many cells prepared, 700
That underneath had veins of liquid fire
Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude
With wond'rous art founded the massy ore,
Severing each kind, and scumm'd the bullion dross ;
A third as soon had form'd within the ground 705
A various mould, and from the boiling cells
current with the miners, that there is a sort of demons who have much to
do with minerals, being frequently seen occupying themselves with the va-
rious processes of the workmen. So tltat Milton (as Warburton remarks)
poetically supposes Mammon and his clan to have taught the sons of earth by
example and practical instruction, as well as precept and mental suggestion.
687. Compare Ovid Met. i. 138, &c. HUME.
688. Better hid. Compare Hor. Od. III. iii. 49:
" Aurum irrepertum, et sic melius litum."
694. Workt : The pyramids.
696. Strength and art : These words are in the nominative case, connected
with monuments.
699. Diodorus Siculus says, that 360,000 men were employed about twenty
years on one of the pyramids.
7034. The sense of the passage is this: They founded, or melted, the ore
that was in the mast, by separating, or fevering, each kind, that is, the sul-
phur, earth, &c., from the metal ; and, after that, they scummed the drou
that floated on the top of the boiling ore, or bullion. The word bullion dot*
not here signify purified ore, but ore boiling. PEAROR.
62 PARADISE LOST.
By strange conveyance fill'd each hollow nook,
As in an organ, from one blast of wind,
To many a row of pipes, the sound-board breathes.
Anon out of the earth a fabric huge 710
Rose like an exhalation, with the sound
Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet,
Built like a temple, where pilasters round
Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid
With golden architrave ; nor did there want 71ft
Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures grav'n :
The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon,
Nor great Alcairo such magnificence
Equalled in all their glories, to inshrine
Belus or Serapis their Gods, or seat 720
Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove
In wealth and luxury. Th' ascending pile
Stood fix'd her stately height ; and straight the doors,
Op'ning their brazen folds, discover wide
Within her ample spaces, o'er the smooth 725
And level pavement. From the arched roof,
Pendant by subtle magic, many a row
Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed
With naphtha and asphaltus, yielded light
As from a sky. The hasty multitude 730
708. Organ : A very complete simile is here used. Milton, being fond of
music, often draws fine illustrations from it.
710. Jlnon: At once.
715. Architrave : The part of a pillar above the capital. Above this, is the
frieze, which is surmounted by the cornict.
718. JHcairo: Cairo, a famous city in Egypt, built from the splendid ruins
of Memphis, which was partially destroyed by Arabian invaders, in the
seventh century. The god Serapis, is by some supposed to be the same as
Osiris, or Apis. The Belus of Assyria is thought to be the same as the
great Bali of Hindoo mythology, and Baal mentioned in the Scriptures.
723. Her ttately height : At her stately height.
725. Within : Is an adverb and not a preposition. So Virg. JEn. ii. 483.
Apparet domu intut, et atria long* patescunt
N.
738. Crrttett: Torch**.
BOOK I.
53
Admiring enter'd ; and the work some praise,
And some the architect : his hand was known
In heaven by many a tower'd structure high,
Where sceptred angels held their residence,
And sat as princes ; whom the supreme King 735
Exalted to such power, and gave to rule,
Each in his hierarchy, the orders bright.
Nor was his name unheard or unadored
In ancient Greece ; and in Ausonian land
Men call'd him Mulciber ; and how he fell 740
From Heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o'er the crystal battlements : from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer's day ; and with the setting sun
Dropt from the zenith like a falling star, 745
On Lemnos, th' JEgean isle : thus they relate,
Erring ; for he with this rebellious rout
Fell long before ; nor ought avail'd him now
T' have built in heav'n high tow'rs ; nor did he 'scape
By all his engines, but was headlong sent 750
With his industrious crew to build in hell.
Meanwhile, the winged heralds, by command
Of sovereign power, with awful ceremony
740. Mulciber : Or Vulcan, to which god was ascribed the invention of
arts connected with the melting and working of metals by fire. The term
Vulcan is, hence, sometimes used as synonymous with fire. How he fell, tfc
See Homer's Iliad, i. 590.
" Once in your cause I felt hi* (Jove's) matchless might,
Hurl'd headlong downward from the ethereal height ;
Tost all the day in rapid circles round ;
Nor till the sun descended, touched the ground :
Breathless I fell, in giddy motion lost ;
The Sinthians raised me on the Lemnian coast."
It is worth observing how Milton lengthens out the time of Vulcan's fall.
He not only says with Homer, that it was all day long, but we are led
through the parts of the day from morn to noon, from noon to evening, and
this a summer's day. N.
742. Sheer : Quite, or at once.
750. Engine* : It is said that iu the old English, this word was often used
for devices, wit, contrivance
> 1 PARADISE LOST.
And trumpet's sound, throughout the host proclaim
A solemn council, forthwith to be held 755
At Pandemonium, the high capital
Of Satan and his peers': their summons call'd
From every band and squared regiment
By place or choice the worthiest : they anon,
With hundreds and with thousands, trooping came 760
Attended : all access was throng'd : the gates
And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall
(Though like a cover M field, where champions bold
Wont ride in ann'd, and at the soldan's chair
Defied the best of Panim chivalry 765
To mortal combat, or career with lance),
Thick swarm 'd, both on the ground and in the air,
Brush M with the hiss of rustling wings. As bees
In spring time, when the sun with Taurus rides,
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive 770
In clusters ; they among fresh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank,
The suburb of their straw-built citadel,
New rubb'd with balm, expatiate and confer
Their state affairs ; so thick the afery crowd 775
Swarm'd and were straiten'd ; till, the signal given,
Behold a wonder ! They but now who seemM
In bigness to surpass earth's giant sons,
Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room
763. Covered: Enclosed.
764. Wont ride in : Were accustomed to ride in. Soldan't : Sultan's.
765. Panim : Pagan, infidel.
768. Jit beet, $c. : Iliad, ii. 87.
' A* from iome rocky cleft the shepherd leei
Cluttering in heap* on heaps the driving beet,
Boiling and blackening, swarms succeeding swarm*
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms ;
Dnikjr they spread, a close embodi'd crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.
So." tc.
769. Taunt* : One of the signs of the Zodiac, Book X. 63.
777. Jt wonder : Consult the note on line 423.
BOOK I. 55
Throng numberless, like that pygmean race 780
Beyond the Indian mount ; or fairy elves,
Whose midnight revels, by a forest-side
Or fountain, some belated peasant sees,
Or dreams he sees, while over head the moon
Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth 785
Wheels her pale course ; they, on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund music charm his ear ;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Thus incorporeal spirits to smallest forms
Reduced their shapes immense, and were at large, 790
Though without number still, amidst the hall
Of that infernal court. But far within,
And in then* own dimensions like themselves,
The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim,
In close recess and secret conclave sat, 795
A thousand Demi-gods on golden seats,
Frequent and full. After short silence then,
And summons read, the great consult began.
780. Pygmean, $c. : A fabulous nation of dwarfs that contended annually
with cranes. They advanced against these birds mounted on the backs of
rams and goats, and armed with bows and arrows. Iliad, iii. 3.
785. Nearer to the earth, fyc. : Referring to the superstitious notion that
witches and fairies exert great power over the moon.
789. Spirits, tfc. : For some further account of the nature and properties of
spirits consult Book VI. 344-353.
795. Secret conclave : An evident allusion to the conclaves of the cardinals
on the death of a Pope. E. B.
797. Frequent : Crowded, as in the Latin phrase, frequent senatut
798. Consult: Consultation.
Milton, in imitation of Homer and Virgil, opens his Paradise Lost with
an irJernal council, plotting the fall of man, which is the action he proposed
to celebrate ; and as for those great actions, the battle of the angels and the
creation of the world, which preceded, in point of time, and which would
have entirely destroyed the unity of the principal action, had he related
them in the same order in which they happened, he cast them into the fifth,
sixth, and seventh books, by way of episode to this noble poem. It may be
remarked of all the episodes introduced by Milton, that they arise naturally
from the subject. In relating the fall of man, he has (by way of episode)
56 PARADISE LOST.
related the fall of those angels who were his professed enemies ; and the two
narratives are so conducted as not to destroy unity of action, having a close
affinity for each other. _
In respect to the rule of epic poetry, which requires the action to be en-
tire, or complete, in all its parts, having a beginning, a middle, and an end
the action in the Paradise Lost, was contrived in Hell, executed upon Earth,
and punished by Heaven. The parts are distinct, yet grow out of one ano-
ther in the most natural method. A.
THE CHARACTERS IN PARADISE LOST.
Addison, in his Spectator, has some learned and interesting remarks upon
this topic, of which the substance is now to be presented. Homer has ex-
celled all the heroic poets in the multitude and variety of his characters.
Every god that is admitted into the Iliad, acts a part which would have been
suitable to no other deity. His princes are as much distinguished by their
manners as by their dominions ; and even those among them, whose charac-
ters seem wholly made up of courage, differ from one another as to the par-
ticular kinds of courage in which they excel.
Homer excels, moreover, in the novelty of his characters. Some of them,
also, possess a dignity which adapts them, in a peculiar manner, to the nature
of an heroic poem.
If we look into the characters of Milton, we shall find that he has intro-
duced all the variety his narrative was capable of receiving. The whole
species of mankind was in two persons, at the time to which the subject of
his poem is confined. We have, however, four distinct characters in these
two persons. We see man and woman in the highest innocence and per-
fection, and in the most abject state of guilt and infirmity. The last two
characters are now, indeed, very common and obvious ; but the first two are
not only more magnificent, but more new than any characters either in Vir-
gil or Homer, or, indeed, in the whole circle of nature.
To supply the lack of characters, Milton has brought into his poem two
actors of a shadowy and fictitious nature, in the persons of Sin and Death,
by which means he has wrought into the body of his fable a very beautiful
and well-invented allegory. (See Note. Book II. 649.)
Another principal actor in this poem, is the great Adversary of mankind.
The part of Ulysses, in Homer's Odyssey, is very much admired by Aris-
totle, as perplexing that fable with very agreeable plots and intricacies, not
only by the many adventures in his voyage, and the subtlety of his be-
haviour, but by the various concealments and discoveries of his person in
several parts of that poem. But the crafty being, mentioned above, makes
a much longer voyage than Ulysses, puts in practice many more wiles and
stratagems, and hides himself under a greater variety of shapes and appear-
ances, all of which are severally detected, to the great delight and surprise
of the reader.
It may, likewise, be observed, with how much art the poet has Tirirf
BOOK I 57
Mveral characters of the persons that speak in his infernal assembly. On the
contrary, he has represented the whole Godhead exerting itself towaids man,
in its full benevolence, under the threefold distinction of a Creator, Redeemer,
and Comforter.
The angels are as much diversified in Milton, and distinguished by their
proper parts, as the gods are in Homer or Virgil. The reader will find
nothing ascribed to Uriel, Gabriel. Michael, or Raphael, which is not in a
particular manner suitable to their respective characters.
The heroes of the Iliad and ^Eneid, were nearly related to the people for
whom Virgil and Homer wrote: their adventures would be read, conse-
quently, with the deeper interest by their respective countrymen. But
Milton's poem has an advantage, in this respect, above both the others,
since it is impossible for any of its readers, whatever nation or country he
may belong to, not to be related to the persons who are the principal actors
in it ; but, what is still infinitely more to its advantage, the principal actors
in this poem, are not only our progenitors, but our representatives. We havo
an actual interest in everything they do, and no less than our utmost happi-
ness is concerned, and lies at stake in all their behaviour.
OBJECTION TO MYTHOLOGICAL ALLUSIONS CONSIDERED.
The charge is brought against Milton of blending the Pagan and Chris-
tian forms. The great realities of angels and archangels, are continually
combined into the same groups with the fabulous impersonations of the
Greek Mythology.
In other poets, this combination might be objected to, but not in Milton.
for the following reason : Milton has himself laid an early foundation for his
introduction of the pagan pantheism into Christian groups ; the false gods of
the heathen were, according to Milton, the fallen angels. They are not
false, therefore, in the sense of being unreal, baseless, and having a merely
fantastical existence, like the European fairies, but as having drawn aside
mankind from a pure worship. As ruined angels, under other names, they
are no less real than the faithful and loyal angels of the Christian Heaven.
And in that one difference of the Miltonic creed, which the poet has brought
pointedly and elaborately under his readers' notice by his matchless cata-
logue of the rebellious angels, and of their pagan transformations, in the very
first book of the Paradise Lost, is laid beforehand the amplest foundation for
his subsequent practice ; and, at the same time, therefore, the amplest an-
swer to the charge preferred against him by Dr. Johnson, and by so many
other critics, who had not sufficiently penetrated the latent theory on which
he acted. BLACKWOOD'S MAO.
THE CHARACTER OF MILTON'S SATAN.
" Satan is the most heroic subject that ever was chosen for a poem : and
the execution is as perfect as the design is lofty. He was the first of created
58 PARADISE LOST.
beings, who, for endeavouring to be equal with the Highest, and to divide the
empire of Heaven with the Almighty, was hurled down to Hell. His aim
was no less than the throne of the universe ; his means, myriads of angelic
armies bright, who dun>t defy the Omnipotent in arms. His strength of
mind was matchless, as his strength of body : the vastness of his designs
did not surpass the firm, inflexible determination with which he submitted
to his irreversible doom, and final loss of all good. His power of action and
of suffering was equal. He was the greatest power that was ever over-
thrown, with the strongest will left to resist or to endure. He wait baffled,
not confounded. The fierceness of tormenting flames is qualified and made
innoxious by the greater fierceness of his pride : the loss of infinite happi-
ness to himself, is compensated in thought by the power of inflicting infinite
misery on others. Yet, Satan is not the principle of malignity, or of the ab-
stract love of evil, but of the abstract love of power, of pride, of self-will
personified, to which last principle all other good and evil, and even his own,
are subordinate. He expresses the sum and substance. of ambition in one
line, u Fallen cherub, to be weak is miserable, doing or suffering." He
founds a new empire in Hell, and from it conquers this new world, whithei
he bends his undaunted flight, forcing his way through nether and surround-
ing fires. The Achilles of Homer is not more distinct ; the Titans were not
more vast ; Prometheus, chained to his rock, was not a more terrific example
of suffering and of crime. Wherever the figure of Satan is introduced, whether
he walks or flies, " rising aloft incumbent on the dusky air," it is illustrated
with the most striking and appropriate images: so that we see it always
before us, gigantic, irregular, portentous, uneasy, and disturbed, but dazzling
in its faded splendor, the clouded ruins of a god. The deformity of Satan if
only in the depravity of his will ; he has no bodily deformity, to excite our
loathing or disgust.
' Not only the figure of Satan, but his speeches in council, his soliloquies,
his address to Eve, his share in the war in heaven, show the same decided
superiority of character." HAZX.ITT.
Another sketch of Satan may be found at the close of Book III., from the
dashing pen of Gilfillan.
Hazlitt, in the above sketch of Milton's Satan, had no authority for saying
that he was not a personification of malice, but, simply, of pride and self-
will: this will appear on referring to Book I. 215-17; Book V. 666; Book
VI 151, 270 ; Book IX. 126, 134.
BOOK II.
THE ARGUMENT.
THE consultation begun, Satan debates whether another battle be to be
hazarded for the recovery of Heaven ; some advise it, others dissuade ; a third
proposal is preferred, mentioned before by Satan, to search the truth of that
prophecy or tradition in Heaven concerning another world, and another kind
of creature, equal or not much inferior to themselves, about this time to be
created : their doubt who shall be sent on this difficult search : Satan, their
chief, undertakes alone the voyage, is honoured and applauded. The council
thus ended, the rest betake them several ways, and to several employments,
as their inclinations lead them, to entertain the time till Satan return. He
passes on his journey to Hell-gates, finds them shut, and who sat there to
guard them, by whom at length they are opened, and discover to him the
great gulf between Hell and Heaven ; with what difficulty he passes
through, directed by Chaos, the power of that place, to the sight of this uew
world which he sought.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
In tracing the progress of this poem by deliberate and minute steps, oui
wonder and admiration increase. The inexhaustible invention-continues to
grow ujon us ; each page, each line, is pregnant with something new, pic-
turesque, and great ; the coiulensity of the n alter is without any parallel;
the imagination often contained in a single passage, is more than equal to all
that secondary poets have produced. The foble of the voyage through Chaos
is alone a sublime poem. Milton's descriptions of materiality have always
touches of the spiritual, the lofty and the empyreal.
Milton has too much condensation to be fluent : a line or two often con-
tains a world of images and ideas. He expatiates over all time, all space, all
possibilities ; he unites Earth with Heaven, with Hell, with all intermediate
existences, animate and inanimate; and his illustrations are drawn from all
learning, historical, natural, and speculative. In him, almost always, " more
is meant than meets the eye." An image, an epithet, conveys a rich picture
What is the subject of observation, may be told without genius; but the
wonder and the greatness lie in invention, if the invention be noble, and ac-
cording to the principles of possibility. Who could have conceived, or. if
conceived, who could have described the voyage of Satan through Chaos, but
Milton? Who could have invented so many distinct ami grand obstacles in
his way, and all picturesqu . all poetical, and all the topics of intellectual
meditati n and reflection, or of spiritual sentiment.
All the faculties of the mind are exercised, stretched and elevated at once
by every page of Paradise Lost. That Milton could bring so much learning,
as well as so much imaginative invention, to bear on every part of his infi-
nitely-extended, yet thick-compacted story, is truly miraculous. Were the
learning superficial and loosely applied, the wonder would not be great, or
not nearly >o great; but it is always profound, solid, conscientious ; and in iU
combinations original. . B.
BOOK II.
HIGH on a throne of royal state, which far
Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
Sbow'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised 5
To that bad eminence ; and from despair
Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires
Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue
Vain war with Heaven : and, by success untaught.
His proud imaginations thus display'd :
Pow'rs and Dominions, Deities of Heaven,
1. Throne, $c. : "The all-enduring, all-defying pride of Satan, assuming so
majestically Hell's burning throne, and coveting the diadem which scorches
his thunder-blasted brow, is a creation requiring in its author almost <he
spiritual (mental) energy with which he invests the fallen seraph." CHAN-
NING.
2. Orrma : An island in the Persian Gulf. Ind : India. The wealth con-
sisted chiefly in diamonds and pearls and gold, called barbaric, after the man-
ner of Greeks and Romans, who accounted all nations but their own barbar-
ous.
4. Showert on, tfc. : It was an Eastern custom, as we learn from a Per-
sian life of Timur-bec, or Tamerlane, at the coronation of their kings, to
powder them with gold-dust or seed-pearl. WARBURTON. See Virg. JEn.
ii 504.
10. All the speeches and debates in Pandemonium are well worthy of the
place and the occasion, with gods for speakers, and angels and archangels
for hearers. There is a decided manly tone in the arguments and senti-
ments, an eloquent dogmatism, as if each person spoke from thorough con-
viction. The rout in heaven is like the fall of some mighty structure, nod-
ding to its base, '' with hideous ruin and combustion down." HAZLITT.
62 PARADISE LOST.
For since no deep within her gulf can hold
Immortal vigour, though oppressed and t'uH'n,
I give not Heav'n for lost. From this descent
Celestial virtues rising, will appear 15
More glorions and more dread than from no fall,
And trust themselves to fear no second fate.
Me, though just right, and the fix'd laws of Heav'n,
Did first create your leader, next free choice,
With what besides, in council or in fight, 20
Hath been achieved of merit ; yet this loss,
Thus far at least recovered, hath much more
Establish'd in a safe unenvied throne,
Yielded with full consent. The happier state
In Heaven, which follows dignity, might draw 25
Envy from each inferior ; but who here
Will envy whom the highest place exposes
Foremost to stand against the Thund'rcr's aim
Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share
Of endless pain ? Where there is then no good 30
For which to strive, no strife can grow up there
From faction ; for none sure will claim in Hell
Precedence ; none, whose portion is so small
Of present pain, that with ambitious mind
Will covet more. With this advantage then 3i
To union, and firm faith, and firm accord,
More than can be in Heav'n, we now return
To claim our just inheritance of old,
Surer to prosper than prosperity
Could have assured us ; and by what best way, 40
15. Virtue*: Powers, or spirits. Thus, in Book V., the angels are ad-
dressed under the following names : thrones, dominations, princedoms,
virtue*, powers. So in this Book, 1. 315, 316.
17. Fate: Destruction.
18. Me: The position of this word at the commencement of the sentence,
indicates, in a vivid manner, the arrogance and pride of the speaker.
That superior greatness and mock-majesty which is ascribed to the prince
of fallen angels, is admirably preserved in the beginning of this book. His
opening and closing the debate, his taking on himself that great enterprise.
BOOK II. 63
Whether of open war or covert guile,
We now debate : who can advise, may speak.
He ceased : and next, him Moloch, scepter'd king,
Stood up, the strongest and the fiercest Sp'rit
That fought in Heav'n, now fiercer by despair. 45
His trust was with th' Eternal to be deem'd
Equal in strength ; and rather than be less,
Caued not to be at all. With that care lost
Went all his fear : of God, or Hell, or worse,
He reck'd not ; and these words thereafter spake : 50
My sentence is for open war : of wiles
More unexpert I boast not : them let those
Contrive who need, or when they need, not now.
For while they sit contriving, shall the rest,
Millions that stand in arms, and longing wait 55
The signal to ascend, sit ling'ring here
Heav'n's fugitives, and for their dwelling-place
Accept this dark opprobrious den of shame,
The prison of his tyranny who reigns
By our delay ? No, let us rather choose, 60
Arm'd with Hell-flames and fury, all at once
O'er Heav'n's high tow'rs to force resistless way,
Turning our tortures, into horrid arms
Against the torturer ; when to meet the noise
Of his almighty engine he shall hear, 65
Infernal thunder, and for lightning see
at the thought of which the whole infernal assembly trembled ; his encoun-
tering the hideous phantom, who guarded the gates of hell, and appeared to
him in all his terrors, are instances of that daring mind which could not
brook submission even to Omnipotence. A.
43. Moloch : The part of Moloch is, in all its circumstances, full of that
fire and fury which distinguish this spirit from the rest of the fallen angels.
He is described in the First Book ( 1. 392) as besmeared with the blood of
human sacrifices, and delighted with the tears of parents, and the cries of
children. In this Second Book, he is marked out as the fiercest spirit that
fought in heaven ; and, if we consider the figure which he makes in the
Sixth Book, where the battle of the angels is described, we find it every
way answerable to the same furious, enraged character.
All his sentiments are rash, audacious, and desperate, particularly from the
64 PARADISE LOST
Black fire and horror shot with equal rage
Among his Angels, and his throne itself
MixM with Tartarean sulphur, and strange fire,
His own invented torments. But perhaps "0
The way seems difficult and steep, to scale
With upright wing against a higher foe.
Let such bethink them, if the sleepy drench
Of that forgetful lake benumb not still,
That in our proper motion we ascend 75
Up to our native seat ; descent and fall
To us is adverse. Who but felt of late,
When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear
Insulting, and pursued us through the deep,
With what compulsion and laborious flight 80
We sunk thus low ? Th' ascent is easy then ;
Th' event is fear'd. Should we again provoke
Our stronger, some worse way his wrath may find
To our destruction, if there be in Hell
Fear to be worse destroyed. What can be worse 85
Than to dwell here, driv'n out from bliss, condemned
In this abhorred deep to utter woe,
Where pain of unextinguishable fire
Must exercise us without hope of end,
The vassals of his anger, when the scourge 90
Inexorably, and the tort'ring hour
sixtieth to seventieth line. His preferring annihilation to shame or misery,
is also highly suitable to his character : so the comfort he draws from their
disturbing the peace of heaven that if it be not victory it is revenge is a
sentiment truly diabolical, and becoming the bitterness of this implacable
fiend. A.
69. Mix'd: Filled. Virg. &n. ii. 487.
74. Forgttfvl : Causing forgetfulness. An allusion is here made to Lethe,
the River of Oblivion, one of the fabled streams of the infernal regions.
Its waters possessed the quality of causing those who drank them to forget
the whole of their former existence. This river is finely described by Mil-
ton in this Second Book, (1- 583-586, 603-614.)
83. Our stronger : Our superior in strength.
89. Exercue Torment. Virg. Georg. iv. 453.
BOOK II.
65
Calls us to penance ? more destroy'd than thus,
We should be quite abolish'd, and expire.
What fear we then ? what doubt we to incense
His utmost ire ? which to the height enraged 95
Will either quite consume us, and reduce
To nothing this essential, happier far
Than mis'rable to have eternal being.
Or if our substance be indeed divine,
And cannot cease to be, we are at worst 100
On this side nothing ; and by proof we feel
Our pow'r sufficient to disturb his Heav'n,
And with perpetual inroads to alarm,
Though inaccessible, his fatal throne :
Which, if not victory, is yet revenge. 105
He ended frowning, and his look denounced
Dcsp'rate revenge, and battle dangerous
To less than Gods. On th' other side up rose
Belial, in act more graceful and humane :
A fairer person lost not Heav'n ; he seem'd 110
For dignity composed and high exploit :
But all was false and hollow, though his tongue
92. By calling to penance, Milton seems to intimate, that the sufferings of
the condemned spirits are not always equally severe. S.
97. Essential : The adjective for the substantive, essence, or existence.
97-8. The sense is this: which (annihilation) is far happier than, in a
condition of misery, to have eternal being. See Mat. xxvi. 24. Mark xiv. 21.
100. Jit worst : In the worst possible condition.
104. Fatal: Sustained by fate, (I. 133.)
108. Gods, in the proper sense. See IX. 937, where gods are distin-
guished from angels, who are called demi-gods.
109. Belial, is described in the First Book as the idol of the lewd and
luxurious. He is, in this Second Book, pursuant to that description, charac-
terized as timorous and slothful ; and, if we look into the Sixth Book, we
find him celebrated in the battle of the angels for nothing but that scoffing
tpeech which he makes to Satan, on their supposed advantage over the
enemy. As his appearance is uniform, arid of a piece in these three several
views, we find his sentiments in the infernal assembly every way conform-
able to his character. Such are his apprehensions of a second battle, his
horror ot annihilation, his preferring to be miserable rather than "not to be."
5
Ob PARADISE LOST.
Dropt manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason, to perplex and dash
Maturest counsels : for his thoughts were low ; 115
To vice industrious, but to nobler deeds
Tim'rous and slothful : yet he pleased the ear,
And with persuasive accent thus began :
I should be much for open war, Peers !
As not behind in hate, if what was urged 120
Main reason to persuade immediate war,
Did not dissuade me most, and seem to cast
Ominous conjecture on the whole success :
When he who most excels in fact of arms,
In what he counsels and in what excels 125
Mistrustful, grounds his courage on despair,
And utter dissolution, as the scope
Of all his aim, after some dire revenge.
First, what revenge ? The tow'rs of Heav'n are fill'd
With armed watch, that render all access 130
Impregnable ; oft on the bord'ring deep
Encamp their legions, or with obscure wing
Scout far and wide into the realms of night,
Scorning surprise. Or could we break our way
By force, and at our heels all hell should rise 135
With blackest insurrection, to confound
Heav'n's purest light, yet our Great Enemy,
All incorruptible, would on his throne
Sit unpolluted, and th' ethereal mould
Incapable of stain would soon expel 1 40
Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire
The contrast of thought in this speech, and that which precedes it, gives an
agreeable variety to the debate. A.
113-14. Could make the worse appear the better rtaton : An exact translation
of what the Greek sophists professed to accomplish.
124. Fact : Deed of arms, battle.
139. On hit throne tit unpolluted : This is a reply to that part of Moloch's
speech, where he had threatened to mix the throne itself, of God, with in
fomal sulphur and strange fire. N. Mould : Substance, or form.
BOOK II. 67
Victorious. Thus repulsed, our final hope
Is flat despair. We must exasperate
Th' Almighty Victor to spend all his rage,
And that must end us ; that must be our cure, 145
To be no more ? Sad cure ; for who would lose,
Though full of pain, this intellectual being,
Those thoughts that wander through eternity,
To perish rather, swallow'd up and lost
In the wide womb of uncreated night, 1 50
Devoid of sense and motion ? And who knows,
Let this be good, whether our angry Foe
Can give it, or will ever ? How he can
Is doubtful ; that he never will is sure.
Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire 155
Belike through impotence, or unaware,
To give his enemies their wish, and end
Them in his anger, whom his anger saves
To punish endless ? Wherefore cease we then ?
Say they who counsel war, we are decreed, 160
Reserved, and destined, to eternal woe :
Whatever doing, what can we suffer more,
What can we suffer worse ? Is this then worst,
Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms ?
What when we fled amain, pursued and struck 165
With Heav'n's afflicting thunder, and besought
The deep to shelter us ? This Hell then seem'd
A refuge from those wounds : or when we lay
Chain'd on the burning lake ? That sure was worse.
What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, 170
Awaked should blow them into sev'nfold rage,
And plunge us in the flames ? Or from above
Should intermitted vengeance arm again
152. Let thi* be good : Grant that this is good.
156. Belike: Perhaps. Impotence: Want of self-command.
159. Wherefore ceac, tfc . : Why then should we cease to exist? What
reason is there to expect annihilation ?
170. Is. xxr. 33.
68 PARADISE LOST.
His red right hand to plague us What if all
Her stores were opcn'd, and this firmament 175
Of Hell should spout her cataracts of fire,
Impendent horrors, threatening hideous fall
One day upon our heads ; while we perhaps
Designing or exhorting glorious war,
Caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurl'd 180
Each on his rock, transfix 'd, the sport and prey
Of wracking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk
Under yon boiling ocean, wrapt in chains ;
There to converse with everlasting groans,
Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved, 185
Ages of hopeless end ? This would be worse.
War therefore, open or conceal'd, alike
My voice dissuades ; for what can force or guile
With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye
. Views all thing at one view ? He from Heav'n's height 190
All these our motions vain, sees and derides :
Not more almighty to resist our might
Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles.
Shall we then live thus vile, the race of Heav'n
Thus trampled, thus expell'd, to suffer here 195
Chains and these torments ? Better these than worse,
By my advice : since fate inevitable
Subdues us, and omnipotent decree,
The Victor's will. To suffer, as to do,
Our strength is equal ; nor the law unjust 200
That so ordains. This was at first resolved,
If we were wise, against so great a Foe
180. See Note, Book I. 329.
181. Virg. JEa. vi. 75, u rapidis ludibria renti* "
188. Can: Can (accomplish).
191. Allusion to Ps. ii. 4.
199. To tuffcr, at to do : Soevola boasted that he was a Roman, and knew
M well how to suffer as to act. " Et facere et pati fortia Romanum est."
LIVT ii. 12. N.
201. 21kt wa* atfirtt retained: Our minds were made up at first to this.
BOOK II. 69
Contending, and so doubtful what might fall.
I laugh, when those who at the epear are bold
And vent'rous, if that fail them, shrink and fear 205
What yet they know must follow, to endure
Exile or ignominy, or bonds, or pain,
The sentence of their Conqu'ror. This is now
Our doom ; which if we can sustain and bear,
Our Supreme Foe in time may much remit 210
His anger, and perhaps, thus far removed,
Not mind us not offending, satisfy'd
With what is punish'd ; whence these raging fires
Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames.
Our purer essence then will overcome 215
Their noxious vapour, or inured not feel,
Or changed at length, and to the place conform'd
In temper and in nature, will receive
Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain ;
This horror will grow mild, this darkness light, 220
Besides what hope the never-ending flight
Of future days may bring, what chance, what change
Worth waiting, since our present lot appears
For happy though but ill, for ill not worst,
If we procure not to ourselves more woe. 225
Thus Belial, with words cloth 'd in reason's garb,
Counsel'd ignoble ease and peaceful sloth,
Not peace : and after him thus Mammon spake :
218-19. Receive familiar : Receive as a matter made easy (by habit) The
tame idea is uttered by Mammon, 1. 274-78 of this Book.
223. Waiting: Waiting for.
223-25. Since our present lot appears for (as) a happy one, though it is,
indeed, but an ill one, for, though ill, it is not the worst, &c.
228. Mammon : His character is so fully drawn in the First Book, that
the poet adds nothing to it in the Second. We were before told that he was
the first who taught mankind to ransack the earth for gold and silver ; and,
that he was the architect of Pandemonium, or the infernal palace where
the evil spirits were to meet in council. His speech, in this Book, is every
way suitable to so depraved a character. How proper is that reflection of
their being unable to taste the happiness of heaven, were they actually
70 PARADISE LOST.
Either to disenthrone the King of Heav*n
We war, if war be best, or to regain 230
Our own right lost : liim to unthrone we then
May hope, when everlasting Fate shall yield
To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife.
The former vain to hope, argues as vain
The latter ; for what place can be for us 235
Within Heav'n's bound, unless Hcav'n's Lord Supreme
We overpow'r ? Suppose he should relent,
And publish grace to all, on promise made
Of new subjection ; with what eyes could we
Stand in bis presence humble, and receive 240
Strict laws imposed, to celebrate his throne
With warbled hymns, and to his Godhead sing
Forced hallelujahs, while he lordly sits
Our envied Sovereign, and his altar breathes
Ambrosial odours and ambrosial flow're, 245
Our servile offerings ? This must be our task
In Heav'n, this our delight. How wearisome
Eternity so spent in worship paid
To whom we hate ! Let us not then pursue
By force impossible, by leave obtain'd 250
Unacceptable, though in Heav'n, our stale
Of splendid vassalage ; but rather seek
Our own good from ourselves, and from our own
Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess,
Free, and to none accountable, preferring 255
Hard liberty before the easy yoke
there, in the mouth of one who, while he was in heaven, is said to have had
his mind dazzled with the outward pomps and glories of the place, and to
have been more intent on the riches of the pavement than on the beatific
vision. The sentiments uttered in lines 262-273 are admirably charac-
teristic of the same being. A.
233. The ttrift : Between the King of Heaven and us, not between Fate
and Chance. PEARCK.
244. Breathe* : Throws out the smell of, &c. See IV. 265.
250. By force, Sft. : What is impossible to attain by force, what is unaccept-
able if obtained by permission.
BOOK II. 71
Of servile pomp. Our greatness will appear
Then most conspicuous, when great things of small,
Useful of hurtful, prosp'rous of adverse,
We can create, and in what place soe'er, 260
Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain
Through labour and endurance. This deep world
Of darkness do we dread ? How oft amidst
Thick clouds and dark doth Heav'n's all-ruling Sire
Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, 265
And with the majesty of darkness round
Covers his throne ; from whence deep thunders roar,
Must'ring their rage, and Heav'n resembles Hell ?
As he our darkness, cannot we his light
Imitate when we please ? This desert soil 270
Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and gold ;
Nor want we skill or art, from whence to raise
Magnificence : and what can Heav'n shew more ?
Our torments also may in length of time
Become our elements ; these piercing fires 275
As soft as now severe, our temper changed
Into their temper ; which must needs remove
The sensible of pain. All things invite
To peaceful counsels, and the settled state *
Of order, how in safety best we may 280
Compose our present evils, with regard
Of what we are and where, dismissing quite
All thoughts of war. Ye have what I advise.
He scarce had finish'd, when such murmur fill'd
Th' assembly, as when hollow rocks retain 285
The sound of blust'ring winds, which all night long
Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull
Seafaring men o'erwatch'd, whose bark by chance
Or pinnace anchors in a craggy bay
263-8. The imagery of this passage is drawn from Ps. xviii. 11,13; xcvii.2.
278. The teruMe of pain : The feeling, the sensation of pain.
279. These speeches are wonderfully fine ; but the question is changed in
the course of the debate. N.
72 PARADISE LOST.
After the tempest. Such applause was heard 290
As Mammon ended, and his sentence pleased,
Advising peace ; for such another field
They dreaded worse than Hell : so much the fear
Of thunder and the sword of Michael
Wrought still within them ; and no less desire 295
To found this nether empire, which might rise
By policy and long process of time,
In emulation opposite to Heav'n :
Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom,
Satan except, none higher sat, with grave 300
Aspect he rose, and in his rising seeui'd
A pillar of state : deep on his front engraven
Deliberation sat and public care ;
And princely counsel in his face yet shone,
Majestic though in ruin : sage he stood, 305
With Atlantoan shoulders fit to bear
294. bfichael: A holy angel, who, in the Book of Daniel, chap. x. 3-21,
n represented as having charge of the Jewish nation ; and, in the book of
Jude, verse 9. as contending with Satan about the body of Moses. Hit name
is introduced also in Rev. xii. 7-9.
296. Nether: Lower.
299. Beelzebub : This evil spirit, who is reckoned the second in dignity
that fell, and is, in the First Book, the second that awakes out of the trance,
and confers with Satan upon the situation of their affairs, maintains his rank
in the Book now before us. There is a wonderful majesty exhibited in his
rising up to speak. He acts as a kind of moderator between the two oppo-
site parties, and proposes a third undertaking, which the whole assembly
approves. The motion he makes to detach one of their body in search of a
new world, is grounded upon a project devised by Satan, and cursorily pro*
posed by him, in the First Book, G.10-C60.
It is on this project that Beelzebub grounds his proposal
" What, if we nod." *c.
Book II. 344-353.
It may be observed how just it was, not to omit in the First Book, the
project upon which the whole poem turns ; as, also, that the prince of the
fallen angels was the only proper person to give it birth, and that the next
to him in dignity was the fitte-t to second and support it.
306. ^tlanlrnn: An allusion to King Atlas, who. according to ancien*
mythology, was changed into a mountain on the northern coast of Africa,
whirh. from its groat height, was represented as supporting the atmosphere
BOOK II 73
The weight of mightiest monarchies ; his look
Drew audience and attention still as night
Or summer's noon-tide air, while thus he spake :
Thrones and Imperial Powers, Offspring of Heav'n 310
Ethereal Virtues ; or these titles now
Must we renounce, and changing style be call'd
Princes of Hell ? for so the popular vote
Inclines here to continue, and build up here
A growing empire ; doubtless, while we dream, 315
And know not that the King of Heav'n hath doom'd
This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat
Beyond his potent arm, to live exempt
From Heav'n 's high jurisdiction, in new league
Banded against his throne, but to remain 320
In strictest bondage, though thus far removed,
Under th' inevitable curb, reserved
His captive multitude : for he, be sure,
In height or depth, still first and last will reign
Sole King, and of his kingdom lose no part 325
By our revolt ; but over Hell extend
His empire, and with iron sceptre rule
Us here, as with his golden those in Heav'n.
What sit we then projecting peace and war ?
War hath determined us, and foil'd with loss 330
Irreparable : terms of peace yet none
Vouchsafed or sought : for what peace will be giv'n
To us enslaved, but custody severe,
And stripes and arbitrary punishment
Inflicted ? And what peace can we return, 335
But to our power hostility and hate,
Untamed reluctance, and revenge though slow,
5Tet ever plotting how the Conqu'ror least
May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice
329. What : For what ? or, why ?
336. But to : But according to. The word but in this line, and in line 333,
is used with a poetic freedom, somewhat as the word except is employed in
Ine 678.
74 PARADISE LOST.
Jn doinu' what we most in suiTring feel ? 340
Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need
With dung'rouB expedition to invade
I Irav'n, whose high walls fear no assault or siege,
Or ambush from the deep. What if we find
Some easier enterprise ? There is a place, 345
(If ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n
Err not) another world, the happy seat
Of some new race call'd Man, about this time
To be created like to us. though less
In pow'r and excellence, but favourM more 350
Of Him who rules above ; so was his will
Pronounced among the Gods, and by an oath,
That shook Heav'n's whole circumference, confirm 'd.
Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn
What creatures there inhabit, of what mould 355
Or substance, how endued, and what their pow'r,
And where their weakness; how attempted best,
By force or subtlety. Though Heav'n be shut,
And Heav'n's high Arbitrator sit secure
In his own strength, this place may lie exposed 360
The utmost border of his kingdom, left
To their defence who hold it. Here perhaps
346. Fame in Heaven : There is something wonderfully beautiful, and rery
apt to affect the reader's imagination, in this ancient prophecy, or report in
Heaven, concerning the creation of man. Nothing could better show the
dignity of the species, than this tradition respecting them before their exist-
ence. They are represented to have been the talk of Heaven before they
were created. A.
352. Heb. vL 17. An allusion, also, to Jupiter's oath. Virg. lEn. Lx.
104, Horn. Iliad, i. 528.
360. It has been objected that there is a contradiction between this part
of Beelzebub's speech and what he says afterwards, speaking of the same
thing ; but, in reply, it may be observed, that his design is different in these
different speeches. In the former, where he is encouraging the assembly to
undertake an expedition against this world, he says things to Utttn the diffi-
culty and danger ; but in the latter, when they are seeking a proper person
to perform it, he says things to magnify the danger, in order to make them
more cautious in their choice. N.
BOOK ir. 75
Some advantageous act may be achieved
By sudden onset, either with Hell fire
To waste his whole creation, or possess 365
All as our own, and drive, as we were driv'n,
The puny habitants ; or if not drive,
Seduce them to our party, that their God
May prove their Foe, and with repenting hand
Abolish his own works. This would surpass 370
Common revenge, and interrupt his joy
In our confusion, and our joy upraise
In his disturbance ; when his darling sons,
Hurl'd headlong to partake with us, shall curse
Their frail original and faded bliss, 375
Faded so soon. Advise if this be worth
Attempting, or to sit in darkness here
Hatching vain empires. Thus Beelzebub
Pleaded his dev'lish counsel, first devised
By Satan, and in part proposed : for whence, 380
But from the author of all ill, could spring
So deep a malice, to confound the race
Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell
To mingle and involve, done all to spite
The great Creator ? But their spite still serves 385
His glory to augment. The bold design
Pleased highly those infernal States, and joy
Sparkled in all their eyes. With full assent
They vote ; whereat his speech he thus renews :
Well have ye judged, well ended long debate, 390
Synod of Gods, and like to what ye are,
Great things resolved, which from the lowest deep
Will once more lift us up, in spite of fate,
Nearer our ancient seat ; perhaps in view
Of those bright confines, whence with neighb'ring arms 395
367. Puny: Newly-created; derived from the French expression, pwt*t,
bom since. The idea of feebleness is involved.
382. Confound : Overthrow, destroy.
303. Fate : The decree of God.
76 PARADISE LOST.
And opportune excursion, we may chance
Re-enter Heuv'n ; or else in some mild zone
Dwell not unvisited of Heav'n's fair light
Secure, and at the bright'ning orient beam
Purge off this gloom : the soft delicious air, 400
To heal the scar of these corrosive fires,
Shall breathe her balm. But first, whom shall we send
In search of this new world ? whom shall we find
Sufficient ? who shall 'tempt with wandVing feet
The dark unbottom'd infinite abyss, 405
And through the palpable obscure find out
His uncouth way, or spread his aery flight,
Upborne with indefatigable wings
Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive
The happy isle ? What strength, what art, can then 410
Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe
Through the strict senteries and stations thick
Of Angels watching round ? Here he had need
All circumspection, and we now no less
Choice in our suffrage ; for on whom we send, 415
The weight of all and our last hope relics.
This said, he sat ; and expectation held
His look suspense, awaiting who appear'd
To second or oppose, or undertake
The perilous attempt : but all sate mute 420
Pond'ring the danger with deep thoughts ; and each
In other's count'nance read his own dismay
404. 'Tempt: Try.
405. Obtcure: Obscurity, an adjective being used for a substantive.
409. Arrive : Arrive at.
413. lilt: The earth is so called because surrounded by an atmospheric
tea ; or, perhaps, because swimming in space.
412. Had need: Would need, as in the phrase "Yon had better go." The
meaning is, u You would better go" " It would be better for you to go."
414. All: The greatest.
415. Choice: Judgment or care in choosing.
417. Expectation is here personified. Hit lookt napeiue means, His coun-
tenance in a fixed, serious position. Compare Virg. JEn. ii. 1
BOOK II. 77
Astonish'd. None among the choice and prime
Of those Heav'n-warring champions could be found
So hardy as to proffer or accept 425
Alone the dreadful voyage ; till at last
Satan, whom now transcendent glory raised
Above his fellows, with monarchal pride,
Conscious of highest worth, unmoved, thus spake :
Progeny of Heav'n, empyreal Thrones, 430
With reason hath deep silence and demur
Seized us, though undismay'd : long is the way
And hard that out of Hell leads up to light ;
Our prison strong ; this huge convex of fire,
Outrageous to devour, immures us round 435
Ninefold, and gates of burning adamant
Barr'd over us prohibit all egress.
These pass'd if any pass, the void profound
Of unessential Night receives him next
Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being 440
Threatens him, plunged in that abortive gulf,
If thence he 'scape into whatever world,
Or unknown region, what remains him less
Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape ?
But I should ill-become this throne, Peers, 445
And this imperial sov'reignty, adorn'd
With splendour, arm'd with pow'r, if aught propos'd
And judged of public moment, in the shape
Of difficulty or danger, could deter
Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume 450
429. Unmoved : That is, by the dangers in view.
431. Demur: Suspense.
434. Convex : Vault of fire, bending down on all sides around us. The
word properly denotes the exterior surface of a globe, and concave the interior,
but the poets use them promiscuously, as here. What is here called convex
is called concave in line 635.
436. Virg. JEn. vi. 439, 552.
439. Unettential : Unsubstantial, void of materiality.
445^166. An imitation of one of the noblest speeche's in the Iliad, xii.
310, Ice. ; but a great improvement upon it.
78 PARADISE LOST.
These royalties, and not refuse to reign,
Refusing to accept as great a share
Of hazard as of honour ; due alike
To him who reigns, and so much to him due
Of hazard more, as he above the rest 455
High honour 'd sits ? Go, therefore, mighty Powers,
Terror of Heav'n, though fall'n ; intend at home,
While here shall be our home, what best may ease
The present misery, and render Hell
More tolerable ; if there be cure or charm 480
To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain
Of this ill mansion ; intermit no watch
Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad
Through all the coasts of dark destruction, seek
Deliv'rance for us all. This enterprise 465
None shall partake with me. Thus saying rose
The Monarch, and prevented all reply,
Prudent, lest from his resolution raised,
Others among the chief might offer now
(Certain to be refused) what erst they fear'd : 470
And so refused might in opinion stand
His rivals, winning cheap the high repute
Which he through hazard huge must earn. But they
Dreaded not more th' adventure than his voice
Forbidding ; and at once with him they rose ; 475
Then* rising all at once was as the sound
Of thunder heard remote. Tow'rds him they bend
With awful rev'rence prone ; and as a God
Extol him equal to the High'st in Heav'n :
Nor fail'd they to express how much they praised, 480
That for the gen'ral safety he despised
His own : for neither do the Spirits damn'd
Lose all their virtue : lest bad men should boast
457. Intend: Regard, deliberate upon.
470. Ertt : At first
482. For wither, tfc. : This seems to have been a sarcasm on the bad men
of Milton's time. E. B
BOOK II. 7
Their specious deeds on earth, which glory excites,
Or close ambition, varnish'd o'er with zeal. 485
Thus they their doubtful consultations dark
Ended, rejoicing in their matchless chief:
As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds
Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread
Heav'n's cheerful face, the low'ring element 490
Scowls o'er the darken'd landscape snow, or show'r ;
If chance the radiant Sun with farewell sweet
Extend his ev'ning beam, the fields revive,
The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. 495
shame to men ! Devil with Devil damn'd
Firm concord holds, men only disagree
Of creatures rational, though under hope
Of heav'nly grace : and God proclaiming peace,
Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife 500
Among themselves, and levy cruel wars,
Wasting the earth, each other to destroy ;
As if (which might induce us to accord)
Man had not hellish foes enough besides,
^83. Lest: Before this word supply, or understand, "this remark is
m*de."
485. Milton intimates above, that the fallen and degraded state of man, or
his individual vice, is not at all disproved by some of his external actions
not appearing totally base. The commentators should have observed, in ex-
plaining this passage, that the whole grand mystery on which the poem de-
pends, is the first fearful spiritual alienation of Satan from God, the only
fountain of truth and all real positive good ; and that, when thus separated,
whether the spirit be that of man or devil, it may perform actions fair in
appearance, but not essentially good, because springing from no fixed prin-
ciple of good. S.
489. IVhile the north wind sleeps : A simile of perfect beauty : it illus-
trates the delightful feeling resulting from the contrast of the stormy debate
with the light that seems subsequently to break in upon the assembly.
E. B.
491. Scowls: Drives in a frowning manner.
496. shame to men : The reflections of the poet here are of great prac-
tical wisdom and importance. They were suggested, probably, by the civil
commotions and animosities of his own times.
80 PARADISE LOST.
That day and night for his destruction wait. 505
The Stygian council thus dissolved ; and forth
In order came the grand infernal peers :
'Midst came their mighty Paramount, and seem'd
Alone th' antagonist of Ilcav'n, nor less
Than Hell's dread emperor with pomp supreme, 510
And God-like imitated state ; him round
A globe of fiery Seraphim inclosed
With bright emblazonry, and horrent arms.
Then of their session ended they bid cry
With trumpets' regal sound the great result: 515
Tow'rds the four winds four speedy Cherubim
Put to their mouths the sounding alchemy
By herald's voice explain'd ; the hollow abyss
Heard far and wide, and all the host of Hell
With deafning shout return 'd them loud acclaim. 520
Thence more at ease their minds, and somewhat raised
By false presumptuous hope, the ranged Pow'rs
Disband, and wand'ring, each his sev'ral way
Pursues, as inclination or sad choice
Leads him perplex'd, where he may likeliest find 525
Truce to his restless thoughts, and entertain
The irksome hours till his great chief return.
Part on the plain, or in the air sublime,
507. Stygian : An epithet derived from Styx, the name of a distinguished
river in the infernal regions, according to the Pagan mythology ; it here
means the same as the word infernal.
512. Globe: A body of men formed into a circle. Virgil (jEn. x. 373)
uses a similar expression : " Qua globtis ille virum densissimus urguet."
513. That is, with glittering ensigns, and bristled arms, or arms with
points standing outward. The word horrent was, probably, suggested by
" horrentia Martis arma," of the uEneid, book i., or by the " horrentikis
hastis" of JEn. x. 178.
517. Alchemy : An alloy or mixed metal, out of which the trumpets were
made : here, by metonymy denotes trumpets.
528. Part on the plain, (ft. : The diversions of the fallen angels, with the
particular account of their place of habitation, are described with great
pregnancy of thought and copiousness of invention. The diversions are
BOOK II. 81
Upon the wing, or in swift race contend,
As at th' Olympian games or Pythian fields, 530
Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal
With rapid wheels, or fronted brigades form,
As when to warn proud cities war appears
Waged in the troubled sky, and armies rush
To battle in the clouds, before each van 635
Prick forth the airy knights, and couch their spears
Till thickest legions close ; with feats of arms
From cither end of Heav'n the welkin burns.
Others, with vast Typhcean rage more fell,
Rend up both rocks and hills, and ride the air 540
In whirlwind ; Hell scarce holds the wild uproar.
As when Alcides, from Oechalia crown'd
With conquest, felt th' envenom'd robe, and tore
every way suitable to beings who had nothing left them but strength and
knowledge misapplied. Such are t-heir contentions at the race, and in feats
of arms, with their entertainment, described in lines 539-541, &c. A.
Compare Ovid, Met. iv. 445.
529-30. These warlike diversions of the fallen angels, seem to be copied
from the military exercises of the Myrmidons during the absence of their
chief from the war. Horn. Iliad, ii. 774, &c. See &lso JEn. vi. 64.
531. Rapid wheels: Hor. Ode i. 1 : 4, " Metaque fervidis evitata rotis."
536. Couch their spears : Put them in a posture for attack : put them in
their rests.
538. Welkin: Atmosphere.
539. Typhcea* : Gigantic, from Typhceus, one of the giants of Pagan my-
thology, that fought against Heaven.
542. Alcidtt : A name of Hercules, from a word signifying strength. He
was a celebrated hero, who received, after death, divine honours. Having
killed the King of CEchalia, in Greece, and led away his beautiful daughter
lole, as a captive, he raised an altai to Jupiter, and sent off for a splendid
robe to wear when he should offer a sacrifice. Deianira, in a fit of jealousy,
before sending the robe, tinged it with a certain poisonous preparation. Her-
cules soon found that the robe was consuming his flesh, and adhered so
closely to his skin, that it could not be separated. In the agony of the mo-
ment, he seized Lichas, the bearer of the robe, by the foot, and hurled him
from the top of Mount (Eta. into the sea. This name is given to a chain of
mountains in Thessaly, the eastern extremity of which, in conjurxtion with
the sea, formed the celebrated pass of Thermopyhr.
82 J'AKAJ>18E LOST.
Through pain up by the roots Thessalian pines,
And Lichas from the top of Oeta threw 645
Into th' Euboic sea. Others more mild,
Retreated in a silent valley, sing
With notes angelical to many a harp
Their own heroic deeds and hapless fall
By doom of battle ; and complain that Fate 550
Free virtue should in thrall to force or chance.
Their song was partial, but the harmony
(What could it less when Spirits immortal sing ?)
Suspended Hell, and took with ravishment
The thronging audience. In discourse more sweet 555
(For eloquence the soul, song charms the sense)
Others apart sat on a hill retired,
In thoughts more elevate, and reason'd high
Of providence, foreknowledge, will, and fate,
Fix'd fate, free-will, foreknowledge absolute, 560
And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost
Of good and evil much they argued then,
Of happiness and final misery,
Passion and apathy, glory and shame,
Vain wisdom all, and false philosophy : 565
547. Sing, Sft. : Their music is employed in celebrating their own crimi-
nal exploits, and their discourse in sounding the unfathomable depths of fate,
free-will, and foreknowledge. A.
552. Partial: Too favourable to themselves. Or the word may express
Ibis idea . Confined to fw and inferior topics those relating to war.
$54. Suspended Hell: The effect of their singing is somewhat like that
of Orpheus in Hell. Virg. Geor. iv. 481. N.
556. Eloquence, tfc. : The preference is here given to intellect above th
flcasures of the senses. . B.
557. Apart : Hor. Ode ii. 13 : 23,
" 8ede*que ditcrrtnt piorum.''
563. Good and evil, and de fmibus lionorum et malorum, &c., were more
particularly the subjects of disputation among the philosopher* and sophists
of old ; as providence, free-will, &c., were among the school-men and divines
of later times, especially upon the introduction of the free notions of Ar-
minius upon these subjects ; and our author shows herein what an opinion
he had of all books and learning of this kind. N.
BOOK II.
83
Yet with a pleasing sorcery could charm
Pain for a while, or anguish, and excite
Fallacious hope, or arm th' obdured breast
With stubborn patience as with triple steel.
Another part in squadrons and gross bands, 670
On bold adventure to discover wide
That dismal world, if any clime perhaps
Might yield them easier habitation, bend
Four ways their flying march, along the banks
Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge 575
Into the burning lake their baleful streams ;
Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate ;
Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep ;
566. Charm: Allay, beguile.
569. Triple : Hor. Ode i. 3 : 9.
" Illi robur, et <ts triplex,
Circa pectus erat."
575-591. Four infernal rivers, tfc. : The several circumstances in the de-
scription of Hell, are finely imagined ; as the four rivers which disgorge
themselves into the sea of fire, the extremes of cold and heat, and the river
of Oblivion. The monstrous animals produced in that infernal world, are re-
presented by a single line, which gives us a more horrid idea of them than
a much longer description would have done :
" Nature breeds
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things." &c.
This episode of the fallen spirits and their place of habitation, comes
in very happily to unbend the mind of the reader from its attention to the
debate. A.
577-614. Abhorred Styx, fyc. : The Greeks reckon up five rivers in Hell,
and call them after the names of the noxious springs and rivers in their own
country. Our poet follows their example both as to the number and the
names of these infernal rivers, and excellently describes thsir nature and
properties, with the explanation of their names. As to the situation of
these rivers, Milton does not confine himself to the statements of Greek
or Latin poets, but draws out a new map of these rivers. He supposes a
burning lake, agreeably to Scripture ; and into this lake he makes these four
rivers to flow from different directions, which gives us a greater idea than
any of the heathen poets have furnished. The river of Oblivion is rightly
placed far off from the rivers of Hatred, Sorrow, Lamentation, and Rage j and
divides the frozen continent from the region of fire, and, thereby, completes
the map of Hell with its general divisions. N.
84 PARADISE LOST.
Cocytus, named of lamentation loud
Heard on the rueful stream ; fierce Phlegethon, 580
Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage
Far off from these a slow and silent stream,
Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
Her wat'ry labyrinth ; whereof who drinks,
Forthwith his former state and being forgeta, 685
Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
Beyond this flood a frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems 590
Of ancient pile ; all else deep snow and ice
A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog
Betwixt Damiata and Mount Casius old,
Where armies whole have sunk : the parching air
Burns frore, and cold performs th* effect of fire. 595
Thither, by harpy-footed furies haled,
At certain revolutions, all the damn'd
Are brought : and feel by turns the bitter change
Of fierce extremes, extremes by change more fierce,
From beds of raging fire to starve in ice 600
589. Dire hail : Compare Horace, Ode ii., Dirte grandinii.
590. Gather* heap : Accumulates.
592. Serbonian bog : A morass between Egypt and Palestine, near Mount
Casius. The loose sand of the adjacent country sometimes covered it to
such an extent as to give it the appearance of firm land.
594. Parching : Scorching, drying. Burnt frore : Burns frosty, or with frost.
Ecclus. xliii. 20, 21, " When the cold north wind bloweth, it devoureth the
mountain!), and burntth the wilderness, and consumeth the grass a* fire.''
Newton also refers us to the old English and Septuagint translations of Ps.
cxxi. 6: "The sun shall not burn thee by day, nor the moon by night"
The same idea is introduced in Virgil, Georg. i. 93.
" npidire potentia *oli*
Acrior. out Jlarrt penetrahite fn'fui adunit."
This passage may have been in the mind of Milton, as it ascribes a scorch-
ing, drying, or parching Influence alike to the vehement sun and to the pene-
trating cold of the north wind.
600. Starve: Kill with cold; a sense common in England, but not used in
this country.
BOOK II. 85
Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine
Immoveable, infix'd, and frozen round,
Periods of time, thence hurried back to fire.
They ferry over this Lethean sound
Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, 605
And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach
The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose
In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe,
All in one moment, and so near the brink ;
But fate withstands, and to oppose th' attempt 610
Medusa with Grorgonian terror guards
The ford, and of itself the water flies
All taste of living wight, as once it fled
The lip of Tantalus. Thus roving on
In confused march forlorn, th' advent'rous bands 615
With shudd'ring horror pale, and eyes aghast,
View'd first their lamentable lot, and found
No rest. Through many a dark and dreary vale
They pass'd, and many a region dolorous,
603. Thence hurried, tfc. : This circumstance of the damned's suffering the
extremes of heat and cold by turns, is finely invented to aggravate the horror
of the description, and seems to be founded on Job, xxiv. 19, in the Latin
version, which Milton frequently used. '' Ad nimium calorem transeat ab
aquis nivium." So Jerome and other commentators understand it. N.
606. This is a fine allegory, designed to show that there is no forgetfulnest
in Hell. Memory makes a part of the punishment ot the damned, and the
reflection but increases their misery. N.
611. Mtduta: A fabulous being, who had two sisters. The three were
called Gorgons, from their terrible aspect which turned the beholder into
stone. The upper part of the body and the head, according to the fable, re-
wmbled those of a woman ; the lower part was like a serpent.
614. Tanlclut: A Grecian prince, who, for cruelty to his son, was con-
demned to perpetual hunger and thirst in hell. The English word tantalize
is derived from this story, which is adapted, if not designed, to show that
there is no forgetfulness in Hell, but that memory and reflection torture its
inhabitants.
618-22. By words we have it in our power (says Burke) to make such
comb'nationi as we cannot possibly make otherwise. By this power of com-
bining, we are able, by the addition of well-chosen circumstances, to give
86 PARADISE LOST.
O'er many a frozen, many a fiery Alp, 020
Books, caves, lakes, feus, bogs, dens, and shades of death,
A universe of death, which God by curse
Created evil, for evil only good,
Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds,
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, 625
Abominable, inutterable, and worse
Thau fables yet have feign M, or fear conceived,
. Gorgons and Hydras, and Chimeras dire.
new life and force to the simple object. The words roc**, cavtt, fee., would
lose the greatest part of the effect if they were not the
Rocki, caves, lakes, dent. bogs, fens, and shades ofdfatk."
and the idea, caused by a word, which nothing but a word could annex to the
others, raises a very great degree of the sublime ; which is raised yet higher
by what follows, A UNIVERSE OF DEATH.
620. Milton s Hell is the most fantastic piece of fancy, based on the broad-
est superstructure of imagination. It presents such a scene at though Sieitser-
land were ttt on fire. Such an uneven, colossal region, full of bogs, caves, hol-
low valleys, broad lakes and towering Alps, has Milton's genius cut out from
Chaos, and wrapped in devouring flames, leaving, indeed, here and there a
snowy mountain, or a frozen lake, for a variety in the horror. This wilder-
ness of death is the platform which imagination raises and peoples with the
fallen thrones, dominations, princedoms, virtues, and powers. On it the same
poem, in its playful fanciful mood, piles up the pandemonian palace, suggest*
the trick by which the giant fiends reduce their stature, shrinking into imps,
and seats at the gates of Hell the monstrous forms of Sin and Death. These
have often been objected to, as if they were unsuccessful and abortional ef-
forts of imagination, whereas they are the curvettings and magnificent non-
sense of that power after its proper work, the creation of Hell, has been
performed. The great (literary) merit of Milton's Hell, especially as com-
pared to Dante's, is the union of a general sublime indistinctness, with a clcai
ttatuttqut marking out from, or painting on, the gloom, of individual forms.
The one describes Hell like an angel passing through it in haste, and with
time only to behold its leading outlines and figures ; the other, like a pilgrim,
compelled with slow and painful steps, to thread all its high-ways and by-
ways of pain and punishment. GILFILLAN.
623. Good: Adapted.
628. Hydra : A fabled monster serpent in the marsh of Lcmnos in the Pelo-
ponnesus, which had many heads, and those when cut ofl^ were immediately
replaced by others. Chimera : A fabulous monster, vomiting flames, having
the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and tail of a serpent. Hence the term
is now applied to anything self-contradictory or absurd to a mere creature
of the imagination.
BOOK II. 87
Meanwhile the adversary of God and Man,
Satan, with thoughts inflamed of high'st design, 630
Puts on swift wings, and tow'rds the gates of Hell
Explores his solitary flight. Sometimes
He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left,
Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars
Up to the fiery concave tow'ring high. 635
As when far off at sea a fleet descry 'd
Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds
Close sailing from Bengala, or the isles
Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring
Their spicy drugs ; they on the trading flood 640
Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape
Ply stemming nightly tow'rd the pole. So seem'd
Far off the flying Fiend : at last appear
Hell bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof,
And thrice threefold the gates ; three folds were brass,
Three iron, three of adamantine rock, 646
Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire,
Yet unconsumed. Before the gates there sat
636. As when, fyc. : Satan, towering high, is here compared to a fleet of
Jndiamen discovered at a distance, as it were, hanging in the clouds, as a fleet
at a distance seems to do. Dr. Bentley asks, why a fleet when a first-rate
man-of-war would do ? Dr. Pearce answers. Because a fleet gives a nobler
image than a single ship ; and it is a fleet of Indiamen, because, coming from
so long a voyage, it is the fitter to be compared to Satan in this expedition.
The equinoctial are the trade winds. The fleet is described as close sailing,
and is therefore more proper to be compared to a single person. N.
Dr. Pearce observes that Milton in his similitudes (as is the practice of
Homer and Virgil too) , after he has shown the common resemblance (as here
ir. line 637) , often takes the liberty of wandering into some unresernbling
circumstances ; which have no other relation to the comparison than that it
gave him the hint, and, as it were, set fire to the train of his imagination.
638-41. Bengala: Bengal. Ternate and Tidore : Spice islands east of Bor-
neo. Ethiopian : Indian ocean. Cape : Of Good Hope.
642. By night they sail towards the north pole.
644. Hell bounds : The boundaries of Hell.
647. Empaled: Paled in, enclosed. The old romances frequently speak
of enchanted castles being empaled with circling fire. T.
648. The allegory that follows is a poetic paruphrnse upon James i. 1.1
i*^ PARADISE LOST.
On either side a formidable shape ;
The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, 650
But ended foul in many a scaly fold
Voluminous and vast, a serpent arm'd
With mortal sting : about her middle round
A cry of Hell-hounds never ceasing, bark'd
With wide Cerberean mouths full loud, and rung 655
"Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death."
649. The picture of Sin here given, may have been suggested by a line in
Horace. See Art. Poet. 4 :
' Desinit in pUcem mulicr formoia supers*."
Or, Milton may have been indebted, in part, to Spenser's description of Error.
' Half like a lerpent horribly displayed,
But tli' other half did woman's ihape retain," tc.
Hesiod's Echidna is also described as half woman, and half serpent.
Theog. 298. The mention of the Hell-hounds about her middle, Milton has
drawn from the fable of Scylla (660) .
649. On either tide, <rr. .- The allegory concerning Sin and Death is a very
finished piece, of its kind, though liable to objection when considered as a
part of an epic poem. The genealogy of the several persons is contrived
with great delicacy. Sin is the daughter of Satan, and Death the offspring
of Sin. The incestuous mixture between Sin and Death, produces those
monsters and Hell-hounds which, from time to time, enter into the mother
and tear the bowels of her who gave them birth. These are the terrors of
an evil conscience, and the proper fruits of sin, which naturally arise from
the apprehension of death. This is dearly intimated in the speech of Sin.
Addison further calls our attention to the justness of thought which is
observed in the generation of these several symbolical persons ; that Sin was
produced upon the first revolt of Satan that Death appeared soon after he
was cast into Hell, and, that the terrors of conscience were conceived at the
gate of this place of torment.
" Tliis," says Stebbing, " is one of the most sublime passages in the poem.
Addison is generally ingenious in his criticisms, but not elevated ; and when
he objected to Milton's having introduced an allegory, he shows that he was
incapable of entering into the magnificent conceptions of his author. Sin
and Death are not allegorical beings in Paradise Lost ; but real and active
existences They would have been allegorical, speaking or contending
among men, but are not so in an abode of spirits, and addressing the Prtnct
tf Darlmett. See James i. 15."
These remarks are a sufficient answer, also, to Dr. Johnson's objections.
055. Cerbeitan month* : Mouths like those of the fabled infernal god Cer-
BOOK II. 8
A hideous peal : yet, when they list, would creep.
If aught disturb'd their noise, into her womb,
And kennel there, yet there still bark'd and howl'd
Within unseen. Far less abhorr'd than these
Vex'd Scylla, bathing in the sea that parts 660
Calabria from the hoarse Trinacrian shore ;
Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when call'd
In secret, riding through the air she comes,
Lured with the smell of infant blood, to dance
With Lapland witches, while the lab'ring moon 665
Eclipses at their charms. The other shape,
If shape it might be call'd that shape had none
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb,
Or substance might be call'd that shadow oeem'd,
For each seein'd either ; black it stood as Night, 670
berus, who possessed three heads, and guarded the entrance in Tartarus, to
prevent the escape of the condemned.
660. Scylla : Scylla and Charybdis are the names, the former of a rock on
the Italian shore, in tue strait between Sicily and the main land; and the
latter of a whirlpool, or strong eddy, over against it on the Sicilian side.
The ancients connected a fabulous story with each name. Scylla was origin-
ally a beautiful woman, but was changed by Circe into a monster, the
parts below her waist becoming a number of dogs, incessantly barking
while she had twelve feet and hands, and six heads, with three rows ol
teeth. Terrified at this metamorphosis, she threw herself into the sea, and
was cnanged into the rocks which bear her name. Charybdis was a greedy
woman, who stole the oxen of Hercules, and, for that offence, was turned
into the gulf, 01 whirlpool, above mentioned. FISKE. See Ovid. Met. xiv.
59, &c.
661. Trinacrian: Sicilian. Calabria: Southern part of Italy.
662. Uglier: Ugker (beings). Night-hag: Witch.
635. The laboring moon : The ancients believed the moon to be greatly
affected by magical practices ; and the Latin poets call the eclipses of the
moon laboret lunac. The three foregoing lines, and the former part of this,
contain a short account of what was once believed, and in Milton's time not
so ridiculous as now. R.
666. The other shape : The figure of Death, the regal crown upon his head,
his menace of Satan, his advancing to the combat, the outcry at his birth, are
circumstances that demand admiration. This description of Death, was pro
bably suggested by Spenser, Faery Queen, book viii. cant. 7.
90 PARADISE LOST.
Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,
And shook a dreadful dart. What scom'd his head
The likeness of a kinglj crown had on.
Satan was now at hand, and from bis seat,
The monster moving onward, came as fast 675
With horrid strides, Ilell trembled as he strode.
Th' undaunted Fiend what this might be admired
Admired, not fear'd : God and his Son except,
Created thing nought valued he nor shunn'd ;
And with disdainful look thus first began : 680
Whence and what art thou, execrable shape,
That darest, though grim and terrible, advance
Thy miscreated front athwart my way
To yonder gates ? Through them I mean to pass,
That be assured, without leave ask'd of thee : 685
Retire or taste thy folly, and learn by proof,
Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heav'n.
To whom the goblin full of wrath reply'd,
Art thou that traitor Angel, art thou He,
Who first broke peace in Heav'n, and faith, till then 690
Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms
Drew after him the third part of Heav'n's sons,
671. Furie* : An allusion to three daughters of Pluto, whose office it was
to torment the guilty in Tartarus, and often to punish the living, by produc-
ing fatal epidemics, the devastations of war, insanity, and murders. They
were represented with vipers twining among their hair, usually with fright-
ful countenances, in dark and bloody robes, and holding the torch of discord
or vengeance. FISKE'S CL. MANUAL.
675, &c. That superior greatness and mock-majesty which is ascribed to
the prince of fallen angels, is admirably preserved in every portion of this
book. His opening and closing the debate ; his taking on himself that great
enterprise, at the thought of which the whole infernal assembly trembled ;
his encountering the hideous phantom who guarded the gates of Hell, and
appeared to him in all its terrors, are instances of that proud and daring mind
which could not brook submission even to Omnipotence.
The same boldness and intrepidity of behaviour discover* itself in the
several adventures which he meets with during his passage through the
regions of unformed matter, and, particularly in his address to those tremen-
dous Powers who are described (960-970) as presiding over it. A.
BOOK II. 91
Conjured against the High'st, for which both thou
And they, outcast from God, are here condemn'd
To waste eternal days in woe and pain ? 895
And reckon'st thou thyself with Spirits of Heav'n,
Hell-doom 'd, and breath 'st defiance here and scorn
Where I reign king, and to enrage thee more,
Thy king and lord ? Back to thy punishment,
False fugitive, and to thy speed add wings, 700
Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue
Thy ling'ring, or with one stroke of this dart
Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before.
So spake the grisly terror, and in shape,
So speaking, and so threat'ning, grew tenfold 70S
More dreadful and deform. On th' other side,
Incensed with indignation, Satan stood
Unterrify'd, and like a comet buru'd,
That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge
In th' arctic sky, and from his horrid hair 710
Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head
Levell'd his deadly aim ; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend, and such a frown
Each cast at th' other, as when two black clouds,
With Heav'n 's artill'ry fraught, come rattling on 715
678-679. Except: This passage will not bear a critical examination, for it
implies that God and his Son are created things ; but the poet intended to
convey no such idea. If for created, the word existing be substituted, the
sense would be unembarassed. The word but is used with similar looseness
in lines 333, 336. Richardson has pointed out a similar passage in Milton's
Prose Works, " No place in Heaven and Earth, except Hell."
693. Conjured : Leagued together. Virg. Georg. i. 280.
'- Kt conjuratoi co>lum reicindere fratres."
709. Opkiuckut, or Serpentarius : One of the northern constellations.
710. Pliny has this expression (ii. 22) , " Cometas horrentes crine sangui-
neo." The ancient poets frequently compare a hero in his shining armour,
to a comet. Poetry delights in omens, prodigies, and such wonderful events
as were supposed to follow upon the appearance of comets, eclipses, and like
events. N.
715. Artillery. Thunder.
92 PARADISE LOST.
Over the Caspian ; then stand front to front
Hov'ring a space, till winds the signal blow
To join their dark encounter in raid-air.
So frown'd the mighty combatants, that llell
Grew darker at their frown, so match'd they stood: 720
For never but once more was either like
To meet so great a foe : and now great deeds
Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung,
Had not the snaky sorceress that sat
Fast by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key, 725
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.
Father, what intends thy hand, she cry'd,
Against thy only Son ? What fury, O Son,
Possesses thce to bend that mortal dart
Against thy Father's head ? and know'st for whom ? 730
For Him who sits above and laughs the while
At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute
Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids :
His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both.
She spake, and at her words the hellish pest 735
Forbore ; then these to her Satan return'd.
So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange
Thou interposest, that my sudden hand
Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds
What it intends, till first I know of thee, 740
716. The Catpian is said to be subject to violent storms. Hor. Ode. ii. 9 : 3
721. Onct more : In the person of Jesus Christ (734). Heb. ii. 14.
758. Out of thy head I tprung : An allusion to the heathen fable of the
goddess Minerva springing out of the head of Jupiter. Her appearance is
'represented as producing, among the heavenly beings, at first, amazement
and terror; but afterwards securing the approbation and favour of a multi-
tude of them. This representation exhibits the horror in which the idea of
sinning against God was first regarded, and the change of views among the
sinning angels, upon becoming accustomed to acts of transgression. The same
thing is true among men, particularly among the young when led astray
from a moral course.
In the seventh and eighth chapters of Paul's Epistle to the Romans,
and in the first chapter of the Epistle of James, may be found, also, a vivid
personification of sin.
BOOK II. 93
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
In this infernal vale first met thou call'st
Me Father, and that phantasm call'st my Son ;
I know thee not, nor ever saw till now
Sight more detestable than him and thee. 745
T' whom thus the portress of Hell gate reply 'd :
Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem
Now in thine eyes so foul ? once deem'd so fair
In Heav'n, when at th' assembly, and in sight
Of all the Seraphim with thee combined 750
In bold conspiracy against Heav'n's King,
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left side op'ning wide, 755
Likest to thee in shape and count'nance bright,
Then shining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I sprung ; amazement seized
All th' host of Heav'n ; back they recoil'd, afraid
At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a sign 760
Portentous held me ; but familiar grown
I pleased, and with attractive graces won
The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft
Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing
Becam'st enamour'd, and such joy thou took'st 765
With me in secret, ^hat my womb conceived
A growing burthen. Meanwhile war arose,
And fields were fought in Heav'n ; wherein remain'd
(For what could else ?) to our Almighty Foe
Clear victory ; to our part loss and rout 770
Through all the empyrean. Down they fell,
Driv'n headlong from the pitch of Heav'n, down
Into this deep, and in the general fall
760. For a tign : As a prodigy, or phenomenon.
767. Growing burthen : This symbolizes the increasing atrocity and hideous-
ness of a course of transgression, or its tendency to propagate itself.
772. Pitch: Height
94 PARADISE LOST.
I also ; at which time this powerful key
Into my hand was giv*n, with charge to keep 775
These gates for ever shut ; which none can pass
Without my op'ning. Pensive here I sat
Alone ; but long I sat not, till my womb
Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes 780
At last this odious offspring whom thou seest
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way,
Tore through my entrails, that with fear and pain
Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
Transform 'd : but he my inbred enemy 785
Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart,
Made to destroy. I fled, and cry'd out DEATH ;
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sigh'd
From all her caves, and back resounded Death.
I fled, but he pursued (though more, it seems, 790
Inflamed with lust than rage), and swifter far,
Me overtook, his mother all dismay'd,
And in embraces forcible and foul
Ingend'ring with me, of that rape begot
These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry 795
Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceived
And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
To me ; for when they list, into the womb
That bred them they return, and howl and gnaw
My bowels, their repast ; then bursting forth 800
Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round,
That rest or intermission none I find.
787. Death : Death is represented, in the Holy Scriptures, as the product
of sin. Rom. v. 12, u By one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin, and so death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.'-'
789. An imitation of Virg. JEa. ii. 53.
Ins onucre cave, gemitumque dedere caverne."
H.
795. YMing momtert : These creatures symbolize the pangs of remorse
which torment the sinner, and his fearful apprehensions in prospect of death.
See Heb. x. 27.
802. Rat : See Isaiah Iviii. 20, 21.
BOOK II.
95
Before mine eyes in opposition sits
Grim Death, my son and foe, who sets them on,
And me, his parent, would full soon devour 805
For want of other prey, but that he knows
His end with mine involved ; and knows that I
Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane,
Whenever that shall be. So Fate pronounced.
But thou, Father, I forewarn thee, shun 810
His deadly arrow ; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in those bright arms,
Though temper'd heav'nly, for that mortal dint,
Save He who reigns above, none can resist.
She finish'd, and the subtle Fiend his lore 815
Soon learn'd, now milder, and thus answer'd smooth.
Dear Daughter, since thou claim 'st me for thy sire,
And my fair son here show'st me, the dear pledge
Of dalliance had with thee in Heav'n, and joys
Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change 820
BefalTn us unforeseen, unthought of ; know
I come no enemy, but to set free
From out this dark, and dismal house of pain
Both him and thee, and all the heav'nly host
Of Spirits, that in our just pretences arin'd 825
805-7. There is a beautiful circumstance alluded to in these lines. A.
807. Hit end, $c. : Death livet by sin.
809. The heathen poets make Jupiter superior to Fate. Iliad i. 5 ; JEn.
iii. 375 ; iv. 614. But Milton, with great propriety, makes the fallen angels
and Sin here attribute events to Fate, without any mention of the Supreme
Being. N.
813. Dint: Stroke.
817. Dear daughter : Satan had now learned his lore or lesson, and the
reader will observe how artfully he changes his language. He had said
before (745) , that he had never seen sight more detestable ; but now it is
dear daughter, and my fair son.
824. Both him and thee, Sfc. ; The reader will observe how naturally the
three persons concerned in this allegory are tempted by one common interest
to enter into a confederacy together, and how properly Sin is made the portress
of Hell, and the only being that can open the gates to that world of torture.
96 PARADISE LOST.
Fell with us from on high : from them I go
This uncouth errand sole, and one for all
Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread
TV unfounded deep, and through the void immense
To search with wand'ring quest a place foretold 830
Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now
Created vast and round, a place of bliss
In the purlieus of Heav'n, and therein placed
A race of upstart creatures to supply
Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, 835
Lest Heav'n surcharged with potent multitude
Might hap to move new broils : Be this or aught
Than this more secret now design'd, I haste
To know, and this once known, shall soon return,
And bring ye to the place where thou and Death 840
Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen
Wing silently the buxom air, embalin'd
With odours : there ye shall be fed and fill'd
Immeasurably, all things shall Se your prey.
He ceased, for both seem'd highly pleased ; and Death 845
Grinn'd horrible a ghastly smile, to hear
His famine should be fill'd, and blest his maw
Destined to that good hour : no less rejoiced
His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire :
The key of this infernal pit by due, 850
And by command of Heav'n's all-powerful King,
I keep, by him forbidden to unlock
These adamantine gates ; against all force
Death ready stands to interpose his dart,
827. Uncouth: Unusual. Sole: Alone.
833. Purlieu* : Neighbourhood.
840. Bring ye : It was Satan's horrid design to introduce sin and death
into our world.
842. Buxom : Yielding, flexible, from a Saxon word, signifying u to bend."
The word has this sense in a prose sentence of Milton : " Thinking theiebj
to make them more tractable and buxom to bis government" N.
850. Due: Ri^ht
854. Dtatk : The penalty of disobeying God.
BOOK II. 97
Fearless to be o'ermatch'd by living might. 855
But what owe I to his commands above
Who hates me, and hath hither thrust me down
Into this gloom of Tartarus profound,
To sit in hateful office here confined,
Inhabitant of Heav'n, and heav'nly born, 860
Here in perpetual agony and pain,
With terrors and with clamours compass'd round
Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed ?
Thou art my father, thou my author, thou
My being gav'st me ; whom should" I obey 865
But thee, whom follow ? thou wilt bring me soon
To that new world of light and bliss, among
The Gods who live at ease, where I shall reign
At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems
Thy daughter and thy darling, without end. 870
Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
Sad instrument of all our woe, she took ;
And tow'rds the gate rolling her bestial train,
855. Living might : Except that of God, at whose command Sin and Death
were appointed to guard the gates of Hell.
856. Owe I: Sin refuses obedience to God, casts off allegiance to Him.
860. Sin was born in Heaven when Satan committed his first offence
(864-5).
866. Whom follow : That is, whom shall I follow ? Sin yields obedience
to Satan. So every act of human transgression is represented in Scripture
as an act of homage to Satan. John viii. 44 ; Ephes. ii. 1-3.
871. It is one great part of the poet's art, to know when to describe thing*
in general, and when to be very circumstantial and particular. Milton has,
in this and the following lines, shown his judgment in this respect. The
first opening of the gates of Hell by Sin, is an incident of such importance
that every reader's attention must have been greatly excited, and, conse
quently, as highly gratified by the minute detail of particulars our author
has given us. It may, with justice, be further observed, that in no j>art
of the poem the versification is better accommodated to the sense. The
drawing up of the portcullis, the turning of the key, the sudden shooting of
the bolts, and the flying open of the doors, are, in some sort, described by
the very break and sound of the verse. T. '
872. Sad instrument of all our woe : The escape of Satan to our world
was the occasion of human sin and misery.
7
98 PARADISE LOST.
Forthwith the huge portcullis high up-drew,
Which but herself, not all the Stygian pow'rs 875
Could once have moved ; then in the key-hole turns
Th' intricate wards, and cv'ry bolt and bar
Of massy iron or solid rock with ease
Unfastens. On a sudden open fly
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound 880
Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
Of Erebus. She open'd ; but to shut
Excell'd her pow'r : the gates wide open stood,
That with extended wings a banner'd host 885
Under spread ensigns marching might pass through
With horse and chariots rank'd in loose array ;
So wide they stood, and like a furnace mouth
0">,
879-883. On a tudden, tfc. : The description just given of the gates is
highly poetical, and now of the opening of the gates. There is a harshness
in the sound of the words, that happily corresponds to the meaning con-
yeyed, or to the fact described. This correspondence of the sound of the
language to the sense, is a great rhetorical beauty : in this case, it also ad-
mirably serves to impress the mind with horror.
883. See Virg. Georg. iv. 471, "Erebi de sedibus imis." Erebut : Ac-
cording to ideas of the Homeric and Hesiodic ages, the world or universe
was a hollow globe, divided into two equal portions by the flat disk of the earth.
The external shell of this globe is called by the poets brazen and iron, pro-
bably only to express its solidity. The superior hemisphere was named
Heaven: the inferior one, Tartarut. The length of the diameter of the
hollow sphere, is thus given by Hesiod. It would take, he says, nine days
for an anvil to fall from Heaven to Earth; and an equal space of time
would be occupied by its fall from Earth to the bottom of Tartarus. The
luminaries which gave light to gods and men, shed their radiance through
all the interior of the upper hemisphere ; while that of the inferior one was
filled with gloom and darkness, and its still air was unmoved by any wind.
Tartarus was regarded, at this period, as the prison of the gods, and not a*
the place of torment for wicked men, being to the gods what Erebut was to
men the abode of those who were driven from the supernal world. Ere-
bus lay between the Earth and Hades, beneath the latter of which wu
Tartarus. AKTHOS.
883-4. But to thut, tfc. : An impressive lesson is here incidentally con-
veyed that it is easy to sin, but not so easy to avoid the penal corue-
equence*
BOOK II. 99
\
Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame.
Before their eyes in sudden view appear 890
The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark
Illimitable ocean, without bound, .
Without dimension, where length, breadth, and heighth,
And time, and place, are lost ; where eldest Night
And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold 895
Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
For hot, cold, moist, and dry, four champions fierce
Strive here for mast'ry, and to battle bring
Their embryon atoms ; they around the flag 900
Of each his faction, in their sev'ral dans,
Light-arm'd or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow,
Swarm populous, unnumber'd as the sands
Of Barca or Gyrene's torrid soil,
Levy'd to side with warring winds, and poise 905
394-5. Night : By the Romans, Night was personified as the daughter of
Chaos. Both are here represented as progenitors of Nature, by which the
arranged creation is meant. Dropping the allegory, the idea conveyed, iy,
that night and chaos, or darkness and a confused state of matter, preceded
the existence of nature, or of the universe in its fully arranged and organized
form. Night and Chaos are represented as the monarchs of a confused state
of the elements of things, among which hot, cold, moist, or dry, like four
fierce champions, are striving for the mastery. The false Epicurean theory
of creation is here alluded to, according to which the worlds were produced
by a fortuitous concourse of atoms. u Chance governs all."
898. For hot: Ovid i. 19, &c.
" Frigida pugnabaut calidis, humentia siccis
Mollia cum duns, line pondere habentia pondus."
Milton has, in this description, omitted all the puerilities that disfigure
Ovid's. N.
901. Barca : For the most part a desert country, on the northern coast of
Africa, extending from the Syrtis Major as far as Egypt. Cyrene, was the
capital of Cyrenaica (which was included in Barca) , on the shore of the
Mediterranean, west of Egypt.
905. The atoms, or indivisible particles of matter, are compared, in re-
spect to number and motion, to the sands of an African desert, which are
mustered to side with, or assist, contending winds in their mutual struggles.
Poite their lighter win/it: Give weigh?, or ballast, to the lighter winga of
100 PARADISE LOST.
Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere,
He rules a moment ; Chaos umpire sits,
And by decision more embroils the fray
By which he reigns : next him high arbiter
Chance governs all. Into this wild abyss, 910
The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mix'd
Confus'dly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless tii' Almighty Maker them ordain 915
His dark materials to create more worlds ;
Into this wild abyss the wary Fiend
Stood on the brink of Hell and look'd a while,
Pond 'ring his voyage : for no narrow frith
the winds. An allusion is here made to the birds described by Pliny, as
ballasting themselves with small stones when a storm rises ; or, to the bees
described by Virg. Georg. iv. 194. R.
906. To whom thett most : The reason why any one of these champions
rultt (though but for a moment) , is, because the atoms of his faction adhere
mott to him ; or, the meaning may be, to whatever side the atoms tem-
porarily adhere, that side rules for the moment. E. B.
910. Wild abyst : Milton 1 1 tystem of the univeru is, in short, that the Em-
pyrean Heaven, and Chaos, and Darkness, were before the Creation Heaven
above and Chaos beneath ; and then, upon the rebellion of the angels, first
Hell was formed out of Chaos, stretching far and wide beneath ; and after-
wards Heaven and Earth were formed another world hanging over the realm
of Chaos, and won from his dominion. N.
912. Possessing neither sea nor shore, &c.
918. Stood and looked: These words are to be transposed to make
the sense plain; which is, that the wary Fiend stood on tic brink of Hell,
and looked a while into this wild abyss. A similar liberty is taken by the
poet, in the transposition of words, in Book V. 368.
919. Pondering hit voyage: In Satan's voyage through the chaos, there are
several imaginary persons described as residing in that immense waste of
matter. This may, perhaps, be conformable to the taste of those critics who
are pleased with nothiug in a poet which has not life and manners ascribed
to it; but, for my own part, says Addison, I am pleased most with those
passages in this description, which carry in them a greater measure of pro-
bability, and are such as might possibly have happened. Of this kind is hie
first mounting in the smoke that rises from the infernal pit ; his falling into
a cloud of nitre, and the like combustible material*, which, by their explo-
BOOK ir. 101
He had to cross. Nor was his ear less peal'd 920
With noises loud and ruinous (to compare
Great things with small) than when Bellona storms
With all her batt'ring engines bent, to raze
Some capital city ; or less than if this frame
Of Heav'n were falling, and these elements 925
In mutiny had from her axle torn
The steadfast earth. At last his sail-broad vans
He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoke
Uplifted spurns the ground ; thence many a league,
As in a cloudy chair, ascending rides 930
Audacious ; but that seat soon failing, meets
A vast vacuity : all unawares
Flutt'ring his pennons vain, plumb down he drops
Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour
Down had been falling, had not by ill chance, 935
The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud,
Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him
As many miles aloft : that fury stay'd,
sion, still hurried him onward in his voyage ; his springing up like a pyra-
mid of fire, with his laborious passage through that confusion of elements
which the poet calls " the womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave. A.
921. Compare, fyc.: Virg. EC. i. 24, "Parvis componere magna."
922. Bellona : The goddess of war.
927. Van* : Wings. As the air and water are both fluids, the metaphors
taken from the one are often applied to the other, and flying is compared to
sailing, and sailing to flying. Says Virg. JEn. iii. 520, lt Velorum pandimus
alas," and in JEn. i. 300.
" rolat ille per aera magnum
Remigio alarum."
Newton has furnished examples also from Spenser.
933. Pennon* : The common meaning is banners ; but it probably is used
for pinions, and is synonymous with ran, used above. Plumb : Perpendi-
cularly.
935. /// chance : An ill chance for mankind that he was so far speeded on
his journey. P.
938. That fury ttay'd: That fiery rebuff ceased, quenched and, put out by
soft quicksand. Syrtis is explained by neither tea nor /am/, exactly agree
ing with Lucan.
" Syrtes in dubio pelagi, Urraeque reliquit"
102 PARADISE LOST.
Quench M in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea,
Nor good dry land : nigh founder'd on he fares, 940
Treading the crude consistence, half on foot,
Half flying ; behoves him now both oar and sail.
As when a gryphon through the wilderness
With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth 945
Had from his wakeful custody purloin'd
The guarded gold : so eagerly the Fiend
O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies : 950
At length a universal hubbub wild
Of stunning sounds and voices all confused,
Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear
With loudest vehemence : thither he plies,
Undaunted to meet there whatever Pow'r 955
Or Spirit of the nethermost abyss
Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask
Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies
940. Fart*: Goes.
942. Behove* Aim, tfc. : It behoveth him more to use both his oars and his
sails, as galleys do, according to the proverb, Remis velisque, with might
and main. H.
943. Gryphon : An imaginary animal, part eagle and part lion, said to
watch over mines of gold, and whatever was hidden for safe keeping. The
Jlrimaspians were a people of Scythia, who, according to the legend related
by Herodotus, had but one eye, and waged a continual warfare with the
griffons that guarded the gold, which was found in great abundance where
these people resided.
948. The difficulty of Satan's voyage is very well expressed by so many
monosyllables, which cannot be pronounced but slowly, and with frequent
pauses. N.
956. Nethermott : While the throne of Chaot was above Hell, and, con-
sequently, a part of the abytt was so, a part of that abyss was, at the same
time, far below Hell ; so far below, that when Satan went from Hell on his
voyage, he fell in that abyu ten thousand fathoms deep (934) , and the poet
there adds that if it had not been for an accident, he had been falling down
there to this hour ; nay, it was illimitable, and where height it loit. Of couise
the abyss, considered as a whole, was ntthermott in respect to Hell. P.
BOOK II. 103
Bord'ring on light ; when strait behold the throne
Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread 960
Wide on the wasteful deep ; with him enthroned
Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things,
The consort of his reign ; and by them stood
Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name
Of Demogorgon ; Rumour next and Chance, 965
And Tumult and Confusion, all embroil'd,
And Discord, with a thousand various mouths.
T' whom Satan turning boldly, thus : Ye Pow'rs
And Spirits of this nethermost abyss,
Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy, 970
With purpose to explore or to disturb
The secrets of your realm, but by constraint
Wand'ring this darksome desert, as my way
Lies through your spacious empire up to light,
964. Orcus and Ades : Orcus and Hades. These terms usually denote the
abodes of departed spirits ; sometimes are used as names of Pluto, the fabled
deity that presides over those abodes. They are here personified, and
occupy a place in the court of Chaos.
965-6. Name, $t. : There was a notion among the ancients of a certain
deity, whose very name they supposed capable of producing the most ter-
rible effects, and which they therefore dreaded to pronounce. He was con-
sidered as possessing great power in incantations ; and to have obtained this
name from the power which he had of looking with impunity upon the
Gorgon, that turned all other spectators to stone. The dreaded name of De-
mogorgon here stands for '' the dreaded Demogorgon," by a common figure,
used especially by the sacred writers. See Rev. xi. 13, '' And in the earth-
quake were slain names of men seven thousand," meaning, of course, seven
thousand men. N. Rumor next, fyc. : Addison seems to disapprove of these
fictitious beings, thinking them, I suppose (like Sin and Death), improper for
an epic poem ; but I see no reason why Milton may not be allowed to place
such imaginary beings in the regions of Chaos, as well as Virgil describe simi-
lar beings, Grief, and Fear, and Want, and Sleep, and Death, and Discord like-
wise, within the confines of Hell ; and why what is accounted a beauty in
one should be deemed a fault in the other? See JEn. vi. 273, &c., and Dry-
den's translation of the passage. Other writers have introduced, with
general approbation, similar fictitious beings. N.
966. Embroiled : Confusedly intermixed.
972. Secret* : Secret places is the more probable meaning : yet it may
mean, secret counsels and transactions. See Book I. 167 ; VII. 95. N.
104 PARADISE LOST.
Alone, and without guide, half lost, I geek 975
What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds
Confine with Heav'n ; or if some other place
From your dominion won, th' ethereal King
Possesses lately, thither to arrive
I travel this profound ; direct my course ; 980
Directed no mean recompense it brings
To your behoof, if I that region lost,
All usurpation thence expell'd, reduce
To her original darkness and your sway
(Which is my present journey), and once more 985
Erect the standard there of ancient Night ;
Yours be th' advantage all, mine the revenge
Thus Satan ; and him thus the Anarch old,
With fault'ring speech and visage incomposed,
Answer'd : I know thee, stranger, who thou art ; 990
That mighty leading Angel, who of late
Made head against Heav'n's King, though overthrown.
I saw and heard ; for such a nuiu'rous host .
Fled not in silence, through the frighted deep
With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, 995
Confusion worse confounded ; and Heav'n gates
Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
Pursuing. I upon my frontiers here
Keep residence ; if all I oan will serve
That little which is left so to defend, 1000
Encroach'd on still through your intestine broils,
Weak'ning the sceptre of old Night : first Hell
981. This passage is thus paraphrased by Newton: My course directed
may bring no little recompense and advantage to you, if I reduce that lost
region, all usurpation being thence expelled, to her original darkness and
vour sway, which is the purport of my present journey, ice.
982. Behoof: Advantage. Lott : That is, to those whom he addressed,
having been withdrawn from a chaotic condition.
999. Can: Can do.
1000. So: In this manner; that is, by keeping my residence on the fron-
tiers, and doing all I can.
1002. Fir *t HM (was encroached on)
BOOK II. 105
Your dungeon stretching far and wide beneath ;
Now lately Heav'n and Earth, another world,
Hung o'er my realm, link'd in a golden chain 1005
To that side Heav'n from whence your legions fell
If that way be your walk, you have not far ;
So much the nearer danger ; go and speed ;
Havock, and spoil, and ruin, are my gain.
He ceased, and Satan stay'd not to reply ; 1010
But glad that now his sea should find a shore,
With fresh alacrity and force renew'd,
Springs upward like a pyramid of fire
Into the wild expanse, and through the shock
Of fighting elements, on all sides round 1015
Environ'd, wins his way ; harder beset
1004. Another world (was encroached on). The term Heaven is here the
tarry heaven, which, together with our earth, constitutes the other " world"
here mentioned.
1005-6. The idea may have been suggested by the golden chain with
which Jupiter is described in the Iliad, book viii., as drawing up the earth.
Heaven, in these lines, denotes the residence of Deity, and the abode of
righteous men and angels, called the empyreal Heaven, line 1047. The ques-
tion arises, how the intestine broil*, originated by the fallen angels, had produced
the encroachments above referred to ? To this question, the answer may be
rendered, that Hell was created out of chaotic materials to serve as a prison
for the apostate angels ; and that our world was created out of similar ma-
terials to furnish an abode for a holy race that might serve as a compen-
sation for the loss of the fallen angels from the services of Heaven. See
Book III. 678-80. The atoms from which Hell and the Earth were formed,
previously to the " intestine broils" in the angelic family, belonged to the
kingdom of Chaos and Old Night. See 345-386. Night's sceptre was thus
weakened by the withdrawment of a part of her dominions.
1011. Find a thore : A metaphor, expressive of his joy that now his travel
and voyage should terminate ; somewhat like that of one of the ancients,
who, reading a tedious book, and coming near to the end, cried, / tee land,
Terrain video. N.
1013. Like a pyramid of fire: To take in the full meaning of the mag-
nificent similitude, we must imagine ourselves in chaos, and a vast luminous
body rising upward near the place where we are, so swiftly as to appear a
continued track of light, and lessening to the view according to the increas*
of distance, till it end in a point, and then disappear ; and all this must
be supposed to strike our eye at one instant. BKATTIE.
106 PARADISE LOST.
And more endanger'd than when Argo pass'd
Through Bosphorus, betwixt the jostling rocks ;
Or when Ulysses on the larboard shunn'd
Charybdis, and by th' other whirlpool steer'd. 1020
So he with difficulty and labour hard
Moved on, with difficulty and labour he ;
But he once past, soon after when man fell,
Strange alteration ! Sin and Death amain
Following his track, such was the will of Heav'n, 1025
Paved after him a broad and beaten way
Over the dark abyss, whose boiling gulf
Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length
From Hell continued reaching th' utmost orb
1017. JJrifo: There was an ancient fable that two small islands, called
Sympltgadt*, at the mouth of the Thracian Bosphorus (Straits of Constan-
tinople) , floated about, and sometimes united to crush those vessels which
chanced at the time to be passing through the Straits. The ship Ar%o, on
its way to Colchis, had a narrow escape in passing, having lost the ex-
tremity of the stern.
1021-2. With difficulty, iff.: These lines can be pronounced only with
ome effort, and hence are well adapted to impress the idea which they con-
vey. The repetition of the idea also favors the same result.
1024. Jimain: Violently.
1028. Bridge, ^e. : It has been properly objected to this passage, that the
same bridge is described in Book x. for several lines together, poetically and
pompously, as a thing untouched before, and an incident to surprise the reader ;
and therefore the poet should not have anticipated it here. N.
1029. Utmott orb : The idea here conveyed is entirely different from what
to most readers will seem the obvious one. Iq Book X. 302, the bridge is
represented as "joining to the wall immoveable of this now fenceless world."
The same thing is described (317) as "the outside base of this round world."
L. Book III. 74, 75, Satan is represented as
" ...... Ready now
To itoop with wearied wlngf and*wllling feet
On the bare ouliide of thii world, that teera'd
Firm land embosom'd. without firmament,
Uncertain which, in ocean or in air."
A more full description of the same locality is furnished Book III. 417-430 ;
497-602; 526-328; 540-543. The poet, in these passages, brings up be-
fore our imagination, an immense opaque hollow sphere, separating the reign
of Chaos and Old Night from the solar and sidereal system.
BOOK II. 107
Of this frail world ; by which the Spirits perverse 1030
With easy intercourse pass to and fro.
,To tempt or punish mortals, except whom
God and good Angels guard by special grace
But now at last the sacred influence
Of light appears, and from the walls of Heav'n 1035
Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night
A glimin'ring dawn. Here Nature first begins
Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire
As from her outmost works a broken foe
With tumult less, and with less hostile din, 1040
That Satan with less toil, and now with ease,
Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light,
And like a weather-beaten vessel holds
Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle torn ;
Or in .the emptier waste, resembling air, 1045
Weighs his spreadVings, at leisure to behold
Far off th' empyreal Heav'n, extended wide
In circuit, undetermined square or round,
1046. Weighs : Lifts.
1047. Empyreal Heaven: The highest and purest region of heaven, or sim-
ply, the pure and brilliant heaven, from a word signifying fire.
1048. Undetermined square or round : Of no definite boundaries.
1052. Pendent world: From Shakspeare's Measure for Measure, Act III.
Scene 1.
1052-3. This pendent world. The earth alone is not meant, but the new
creation, Heaven and Earth, the whole orb of fixed stars, including the plau-
ets, the earth and the sun. In line 1004, Chaos had said,
"Now lately, Heav'n and Earth, another world.
Hung o'er my realm, linked in a golden chain.'*
Satan had not yet seen the earth, nor any of those other luminous bodies
he was afterwards surprised at the sudden view of all Ms world at on., III
542, having wandered long on the outside of it, till at last he saw our sun,
and there was informed by the archangel Uriel, where the Earth and Para-
dise were, III. 722. This pendent world, therefore, must mean the whole
world, in the sense of universe, then new created, which, when observed
from a distance, afar off, appeared,, in comparison with the empyreal Heaven,
no bigger than a star of smallest magnitude, close to the moon, appears when
compared with that body.
How wonderful is the imagination of prodigious distance, exhibited in
108 PARADISE L08T.
With opal towVs nnd battlements adorn 'd
Of living sapphire, once his native seat ; 1050
And fast by hanging in n golden chain
This pendent world, in bigness as a star
Of smallest magnitude close bj the moon.
Thither full fraught with mischievous revenge,
Accursed, and in a cursed hour he hies. 1055
these lines, that after Satan had travelled on so far, and had come in view of
the whole world, it should still appear, in comparison with the empyreal
Heaven, no larger than the smallest star, and that star apparently yet smaller
by its proximity to the moon ! How beautiful, and how poetical also, thus
to open the scene by degrees ! Satan at first descries the whole world at a
distance, Book II. ; and then, as we leam in Book III., he discovers our plan-
etary system, and the sun, and afterwards, by the direction of Uriel, the earth
and neighbouring moon. N.
1055. Hit*: Hastens. This progress is described in the next Book, 418-
430 ; 498-590 ; 722-743.
POETIC DICTION OF MILTON.
To some readers it will not be unprofitable or unacceptable to offer some
remarks on this subject, drawn from Addison's Spectator.
Milton, in conformity with the practice of the ancient poets, has infused
a great many Latiriisms, as well as Graecisms. and sometimes Hebraisms,
into the language of his poem. Under this head may be ranked the placing
the adjective after the substantive, the transposition of words, the turning
the adjective into a substantive, with several other foreign modes of speech
which this poet has naturalized, to give his verse the greater sound, and throw
it out of prose. Sometimes particular words are extended or contracted by
the insertion or omission of certain syllables. Milton has put in practice
this method of raising his language, as far as the nature of our tongue will
permit, as eremite for hermit. For the sake of the measure of his verse, he
has with great judgment suppressed a syllable in several words, and short-
ened those of two syllables into one. this expedient giving a greater variety
to hu numbers. It is chiefly observable in the names of persons and coun-
tries, as Beelzebub, Hessebon, and in many other particulars, wherein he has
either changed the name, or made use of that which is not the most com-
monly known, that he might the further deviate from the language of com-
mon life.
The same reason recommended to him several old words, which also
makes his poem appear the more venerable, and gives it a greater air of an-
tiquity.
BOOK ir. 109
There are also in Milton several words of his own coining, as Cerberean,
miscreate, hell-doomed, embryon, atomy, and many others. The same
liberty was made use of by Homer.
Milton, by the above-mentioned helps, and by the choice of the noblest
words and phrases which our tongue would afford him, has carried our lan-
guage to a greater height than any of the English poets have ever done be-
fore or after him, and made the sublimity of his style equal to that of his
sentiments ; yet in some places his style is rendered stiff and obscure by the
methods which he adopted for raising his style above the prosaic.
These forms of expression, however, with which Milton has so very much
enriched, and in some places darkened the language of his poem, were the
more proper for him to use, because his poem is written in blank verse.
Rhyme, without any other assistance, throws the language off from prose, and
often makes an indifferent phrase pass unregarded ; but where the verse is
not built upon rhymes, there pomp of sound and energy of expression are in-
dispensably necessary to support the style and keep it from falling into the
flatness of prose.
Upon the subject of Poetic Diction, Dugald Stewart offers some excellent
observations, (Works, vol. i. 280-3). He says :
As it is one great object of the poet, in his serious productions, to elevate
the imagination of his readers above the grossness of sensible objects, and
the vulgarity of common life, it becomes peculiarly necessary for him to
reject the use of all words and phrases which are trivial and hackneyed.
Among those which are equally pure and equally perspicuous, he, in general,
finds it expedient to adopt that which is the least common. Milton pre-
fers the words Rhene and Danaw, to the more common words Rhine and
Danube.
" A multitude, like which the populous North
Poured never from his frozen loins, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw." Book I. 353.
In the following line,
'' Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme,"
how much more suitable to the poetical style does the expression appear
than if the author had said,
il Things unattempted yet in prose or verse."
In another passage, where, for the sake of variety, he has made use of the
last phrase, he adds an epithet to remove it a little from the familiarity of
ordinary discourse,
" in prose or numerous verse."
In consequence of this circumstance, there arises gradually in every lan-
guage a poetical diction, which differs widely from the common diction of
prose. It is much less subject to the vicissitudes of fashion than the polite
modes of expression in familiar conversation ; because, when it has onre
been adopted by the poet, it is avoided by good prose writers, as bein<j too
110 PARADISE LOST.
elevated for that species of composition. It may, therefore, retain its charm
as long as the language exists ; nay, the charm may increase, as the language
grows older.
Indeed, the charm of poetical diction must increase to a certain degree, as
polite literature advances. For, when once a set of words has been con-
secrated to poetry, the very sound of them, independently of the ideas they
convey, awakens, every time we hear it, the agreeable impressions which
were connected with it, when we met with them in the performances of our
favourite authors. Even when strung together in sentences which convey
no meaning, they produce some effect on the mind of a reader of sensibility ;
an effect, at least, extremely different from that of an unmeaning sentence in
prose.
Nor is it merely by a difference of words that the language of poetry is
distinguished from that of prose. When a poetical arrangement of words
has once been established by authors of reputation, the most common ex-
pressions, by being presented in this consecrated order, may serve to excite
poetical associations.
On the other hand, nothing more completely destroys the charm of poetry,
than a string of words which the custom of ordinary discourse has arranged
in so invariable an order, that the whole phrase may be anticipated from
hearing its commencement. A single word frequently strikes us as flat and
prosaic, in consequence of its familiarity ; but two such words, coupled
together in the order of conversation, can scarcely be introduced into serious
poetry without approaching the ludicrous.
No poet in our language has shown so strikingly as Milton, the wonder-
ful elevation which style may derive from an arrangement of words, which,
while it is perfectly intelligible, departs widely from that to which we are
in general accustomed. Many of his most sublime periods, when the order
of the words is altered, are reduced nearly to the level of prose.
To copy this artifice with success, is a much more difficult attainment
than is commonly imagined ; and, of consequence, when it is acquired, it
secures an author, to a great degree, from that crowd of imitators who spoil
the effect of whatever is not beyond their reach. To the poet, who uses
blank verse, it is an acquisition of still more essential consequence than to
him who expresses himself in rhyme ; for the more that the structure of the
verse approaches to prose, the more it is necessary to give novelty and dignity
to the composition. And, accordingly, among our magazine poets, ten
thousand catch the structure of Pope's versification, for one who approaches
to the manner of Milton or Thomson.
Some of Dr. Channing's observations on the txprtuiventn of Milton's
numbers, are included in the note on lines 209-14, Book VI.
BOOK III.
THE AKGUMENT.
GOD, sitting on his throne, sees Satan flying towards this world, then
newly created; shows him to the Son, who sat at his right hand; foretells
the success of Satan in perverting mankind ; clears bis own justice and wis-
dom from all imputation, having created Man free and able enough to have
withstood his tempter ; yet declares his purpose of grace towards him, in
regard he fell not of his own malice, as did Satan, but by him seduced. The
Son of God renders praises to his Father for the manifestation of his gracious
purpose towards Man ; but God again declares, that grace cannot be extended
towards Man without the satisfaction of divine justice ; Man hath offended
the Majesty of God by aspiring to Godhead, and, therefore, with all his pro-
geny, devoted to death, must die, unless some one can be found sufficient to
answer for his offence, and undergo his punishment. The Son of God freely
offers himself a ransom for Man ; the Father accepts him, ordains his incar-
nation, pronounces his exaltation above all names in Heaven and Earth ;
commands all the Angels to adore him ; they obey, and hymning to their
harps in full choir, celebrate the Father and the Son. Meanwhile Satan
alights upon the bare convex of this world's outermost orb, where, wander-
ing, he first finds a place, since called the Limbo of Vanity ; what persons
and things fly up thither : thence comes to the gate ;f Heaven, descried
ascending by stairs, and the waters above the firmament that flow about it;
his passage thence to the orb of the Sun ; he finds there Uriel, the regent ol
that orb, but first changes himself into the shape of a meaner Angel ; and
pretending a zealous desire to behold the new creation, and Man whom God
had placed here, inquires of him the place of his habitation, and is directed;
alights first on Mount Niphates.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
I CANNOT admit this Book to be inferior in poetical merit, to those which
precede it ; the argumentative parts give a pleasing variety. The unfavour-
able opinion has arisen from a narrow view of the nature of Poetry ; from
the theory of those who think that it ought to be confined to description and
imagery ; on the contrary the highest poetry consists more of spirit than of
matter. Matter is good only so far as it is imbued with spirit, or causes
spiritual exaltation. Among the innumerable grand descriptions in Milton,
I do not believe there is one which stands unconnected with complex intel-
lectual considerations, and of which those considerations do not form a lead-
ing part of the attraction. The learned allusions may be too deep for the
common reader ; and so far, the poet is above the reach of the multitude :
but even then they create a certain vague stir in unprepared minds ; names
indistinctly heard ; visions dimly seen ; constant recognitions of Scriptural
passages, and sacred names, awfully impressed on the memory from child-
hood, awaken the sensitive understanding with sacred and mysterious
movements.
We do not read Milton in the same light mood as we read any other poet :
his is the imagination of a sublime instructor : we give our faith through
duty its well as will. If our fancy flags we strain it, that we may appre-
hend : we know that there is something which our conception ought to
reach. There is not an idle word in any of the delineations which the bard
exhibits ; nor is any picture merely addressed to the senses. Everything is
invention arising from novelty or complexity of combination ; nothing is a
mere reflection from the mirror of the fancy.
Milton early broke loose from the narrow bounds of observation, and ex-
plored the trackless regions of air, and worlds of spirits the good and the
bad. There his pregnant imagination embodied new states of existence,
and out of chaos drew form and life, and all that is grand, and beautiful, and
godlike ; and yet, he so mingled them up with materials from the globe in
which we are placed, that it is an unpardonable error to say that Paradise
Lost contains little that is applicable to human interests. The human learn-
ing, and human wisdom, contained in every page, are inexhaustible. On this
account no other poem requires so many explanatory notes, drawn from all
the most extensive stores of erudition.
BOOK IK. 113
Of classical literature, and of the Italian poets, Milton was a perfect mas-
ter. He often replenished his images and forms of expression from Homer
and Virgil, and yet, never was a servile borrower. There is an added plea-
sure to what in itself is beautiful from the happiness of his adaptations.
I do not doubt that what he wrote was from a conjunction of genius?
learning, art, and labour ; but the grand source of all his poetical conception
and language, was the Scripture. E. B.
Horace advises a poet to consider thoroughly the nature and force of his
genius. Milton seems to have known perfectly well wherein his strength
lay, and has, therefore, chosen a subject entirely conformable to those talents
of which he was master. As his genius was wonderfully turned to the sub-
lime, his subject is the noblest that could have entered into the thoughts of
man. Everything that is truly great and astonishing, has a place in it. The
whole system of the intellectual world the Chaos and the Creation
Heaven, Earth, and Hell, enter into the constitution of this poem.
Having, in the First and Second Books, represented the infernal world
with all its horrors, the thread of his story naturally leads him into the op-
posite regions of bliss and glory. A.
8
BOOK III.
HitL, holy Light, offspring of Heav'n first-born,
Or of th' Eternal coeternal beam,
May I express thee unblamed ? since God is Light,
And never but in nnapproached light
Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee, 5
Bright effluence of bright essence increate.
Or hear'st thou rather, pure ethereal stream,
Whose fountain who shall tell ? Before the Sun,
1. Hail, My Light : An elegant apostrophe to light. How pathetic, says
Dr. Thomas Brown, is the very beauty of this invocation, when we con-
tider the feelings with which it must have been written by him, who,
" Like the wakeful bird,
Sung darklirtf,"
and who seems to have looked back on that loveliness of nature, from which
he was separated, with the melancholy readiness, with which the thoughts
of the unfortunate and the sorrowful still revert to past enjoyments; as the
prisoner, even when fettered to his dungeon-floor, still turns his eye, almost
involuntarily, to that single gleam of light, which reminds him only of
scenes that exist no longer to him.
2-3. Milton questions whether he should address the light as the first-born
of Heaven, or as the coeternal beam of the eternal Father, or as a pme
etheral stream, whose fountain is unknown (7, 8) ; but, as the second appel-
lation seems to ascribe a proper eternity to light, Milton very justly doubu
whether he might use that without blame. N.
3-4. Compare with 1 John i. 5, and 1 Tim. vi. 16.
6. Increate : Uncreated. See Book of Wisdom vii. 25, 26, which speaki
of Wisdom in the same terms that are here applied to Light.
7. Or hear 1 it thou rather : A Latin and Greek form of expression, mean-
ing, or dost thou prefer to hear thyself described as a pure, &c
BOOK III. 115
Before the Heav'ns thou wert, and at the voice
Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest 10
The rising world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless infinite.
Thee I revisit now with bolder wing,
Escaped the Stygian pool, though long detain'd
In that obscure sojourn, while in my flight 15
Through utter and through middle darkness borne
With other notes than to th' Orphean lyre
I sung of Chaos and eternal Night,
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to re-ascend, 20
Though hard and rare : thee I revisit safe,
And feel thy sov'reign vital lamp : but thou
Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain
To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn ;
11. This line is borrowed from Spenser.
12. Void :, Desolate. It has not the sense of empty, for we have seen that
Chaos was described as full of matter ; but it has the sense of unorganized,
unarranged. Milton borrows this description of Chaos from the account
which Moses gives of the earth at a certain period, " without form and void."
It is called infinite from its unlimited extension downwards, while Heaven
was equally unlimited upwards.
16. That is, through Hell, which is often called utter (outer) darknest.and
through the great gulf between Hell and Heaven, the middle darkness. N.
17. With other notes, ifc. : Orpheus, a celebrated Thracian poet and musi-
cian, made a Hymn to Night, which is still extant ; and also wrote of the
Creation out of Chaos. He was inspired by his mother, Calliope, only ; Mil-
ton, by the heavenly Muse ; therefore, he boasts that he sung with other
(meaning better) notes than Orpheus, though the subjects were the same.
R.
19. Heavenly Muse: The Holy Spirit, or, in imitation of the classical
poets, Milton addresses one of those imaginary goddesses that preside over
poetry and the fine arts. These, from the etymology of the word, are sup-
posed to be nothing more than personifications of the inventive pcwere of
the mind, as displayed in the several arts.
21. An allusion to Virg. vi. 128 :
' Sed revocare gradum, luperaique evadere ad aura*,
Hoc oput. hie labor eit."
116 PARADISE LOST.
So thick a drop serene hath quench M their orbs, 25
Or dim suffusion vcil'd. Yet not the more
Cease I to wander where the Muses haunt
Clear spring, or shady grove, or sunny hill,
Smit with the love of sacred song ; hut chief
Thee, Sion, and the flow'ry brooks beneath, 30
That wash thy hallow'd feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I visit : nor sometimes forget
Those other two cquall'd with me in fate,
So were I equall'd with them in renown,
Blind Thamyris and blind Mseonides, 35
'25. Drop-serene : A disease of the eye, affecting the retina. Dim tvffu-
rion : Supposed, in the time of Milton, to be caused by a film gradually cov-
ering the front of the eye, but really caused by a change in the crystalline
humour, called cataract.
26. Dim tuffution : This line may best be explained by an extract from
one of Milton's letters, written in 1654, about ten years after his sight began
to be impaired, and when the left eye had become useless. He says of the
other : " While I was perfectly stationary, everything seemed to swim back-
wards and forwards ; and now, thick vapours appear to settle upon my fore-
head and temples, which weigh down my eyes with an oppressive sense of
drowsiness, so as frequently to remind me of Phineus, the Salmydessian, in
the Argonautics.
' In darknetf iwam hii brain, and where he stood,
The steadfast earth seemed rolling like a flood.' "
He also says : " The constant darkness in which I live day and night, inclines
more to a whitish than a blackish tinge ; and the eye, in turning itself
round, admits, as through a narrow chink, a very small portion of light"
27. Cease to wander : Forbear to wander ; I do it as much as I did before
I was blind. N.
29. Srmf, $c. : Virg. Georg. ii. 475. N.
30. Brookt, Sfc. : Kedron and Siloah. He still was pleased to study the
beauties of the ancient poets, but his highest delight was in the songs of
Sion, in the holy Scriptures. N.
32. Nor, Iff. : The same as, and tometimet not forget. Thus, in Ltin, nee
and neque are frequently the same a* et non.
34. So : In like manner. Oh, that I were in like manner, &c.
35-6. Thamyrit: A Thracian poet who had a contest of musical skill
with the Muses, and being conquered, was, by them, deprived of sight for
his presumption. Metonidet : A surname of Homer, derived from his sup-
posed birth in Mttonia. He is said to have become blind, by disease, at
BOOK III.
317
And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old :
Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move
Harmonious numbers ; as the wakeful bird
Sings darkling, and in shadiest covert hid
Ithaca Tiretiat : A celebrated Theban prophet, of the cause of whose
blindness various accounts are given. Phineut : A Thracian king, endowed
with prophetic powers, who was rendered blind by the gods and tormented
by the Harpies.
36. The enemies of the blind poet cruelly taunted him, in their writ-
ings, with his blindness, as a just affliction of Heaven for the active part
which he took against Charles I. The Christian philosophy which he ex-
hibits in one of his replies, is full of interest. He says . " It is not, how-
ever, miserable to be blind ; he only is miserable who cannot acquiesce in
his blindness with fortitude. And why should I repent at a calamity, which
every man's mind ought to be so prepared and disciplined, as to be able,
on the contingency of its happening, to undergo with patience : a calamity
to which every man, by the condition of his nature, is liable, and which I
know to have been the lot of some of the greatest and best of my species.
Among those on whom it has fallen, I might reckon some of the remotest
baids of remote antiquity, whose want of sight the gods are said to have
compensated with extraordinary, and far more valuable endowments, and
whose virtues were so venerated, that men would rather arraign the gods
themselves of injustice, than draw from the blindness of these admirable
mortals, an argument of their guilt. What is handed down to us respecting
the augur Tiresias is very commonly known. Of Phineus, Apollonius, in
his Argonautics, thus sings :
"Careless of Jove, in conscious virtue bold,
His daring lips Heaven's sacred mind unfold.
The god hence gave him yean without decay
But robbed bis eye-balls of the pleasing day."
37. Then feed, $r. : Nothing could better express the musing thoughtful-
ness of a blind poet. It resembles a line in Speeser, whence it may have
been borrowed.
" I feed on tweet contentment of my thought."
T.
38. Harmoniout number* : The reader will observe the flowing of the
numbers here with all the ease and harmony of the finest voluntary. The
words seem, of themselves, to have fallen naturally into verse, almost with-
out the poet's thinking of it. This harmony appears to the greater advan-
tage for the roughness of some of the preceding verses, which is an artifice
frequently practiced by Milton, to be careless of his numl>ers in some places
the better to set off the musical flow of those which immediately follow.
N.
30. Darkling : In the dark.
118 PARADISE LOST.
Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year 40
Seasons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine ; .
But cloud instead, and ever-during dark 4ft
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the Book of knowledge fair
Presented with an universal blank
Of Nature's works, to me expunged and rased,
And Wisdom at one entrance quite shut out, 50
So much the rather thou, celestial Light.
Shine inward, and the mind through all her pow'rs
Irradiate, there plant eyes ; all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight. 55
Now had th' Almighty Father from above,
From the pure empyrean where he sits
High throned above all bight, bent down his eye,
His own works and their works at once to view :
About him all the sanctities of Heav'n 60
Stood thick as stars, and from his sight received
Beatitude past utterance ; on his right
The radiant image of his glory sat,
His only Son : on earth he first beheld
Our two first parents, yet the only two 65
Of mankind, in the happy garden placed,
40. Thu* with the year, tfc. : The following lines are exceedingly touching,
and are also well adapted to awaken lively gratitude in the reader's mind for
the preservation of the invaluable sense of sight, and for the innumerable
pleasures and advantages which that sense conveys to the mind. See Book
TIL, note on line 26.
47. For : Instead of.
58. Bent down hit eye, tft. : The survey of the whole creation, and of
everything that is transacted in it is a prospect worthy of Omniscience, and
as much above that in which Virgil has drawn his Jupiter, as the Christian
idea of the Supreme Being is more rational and sublime than that of the
Heathens. The particular objects on which he is described as casting his
eye, are represented in the most beautiful and lively manner. A.
BOOK III.
119
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
Uninterrupted joy, unrivall'd love,
In blissful solitude. He then survey'd
Hell and the gulf between, and Satan there 70
Coasting the wall of Heav'n on this side Night,
In the dun air sublime, and ready now
To stoop with wearied wings and willing feet
On the bare outside of this world, that seem'd
Firm land embosom'd, without firmament, 75
Uncertain which, in ocean or in air.
Him God beholding from his prospect high,
Wherein past, present, future, he beholds,
Thus to his only Son foreseeing spake :
Only begotten Son, seest thou what rage 80
Transports our Adversary ? whom no bounds
Prescribed, no bars of Hell, nor all the chains
Heap'd on him there, nor yet the main abyss
Wide interrupt can hold ; so bent he seems
On desperate revenge, that shall redound 85
Upon his own rebellious head. And now,
Through all restraint broke loose, he wings his way
74-5. The universe now appeared to Satan to be a solid globe, encom-
passed on all sides, but whether with water or with air was uncertain ; yet,
it was without firmament that is, without any sphere of fixed stars over it,
as is now over the earth. The sphere of fixed stars was itself compre-
hended in it (in the world here spoken of) , and made a part of it. N.
79. Thus to his only Son foreseeing spake : If Milton's majesty forsakes
him anywhere, it is in those parts of his poem where the Divine Persons
are introduced as speakers. The author seems to proceed with a kind of
fear and trembling, while he describes the sentiments of the Almighty. He
dares not give his imagination its full play, but chooses to confine himself to
such thoughts as are drawn from the books of the most orthodox divines,
and to such expressions as may be met with in Scripture. The beauties,
therefore, which we are apt to look for in these speeches, are not of a
poetical nature, nor so proper to fill the mind with sentiments of grandeur
as with thoughts of devotion. The passions which they are designed to
raise, are a divine love and a religious fear. A.
83. Main: Vast.
84. Wide interrupt : Widely broken, and abounding in chasms.
120 PARADISE LOST.
Not far off I Icav'n, in the precincts of light,
Directly tow'rds the new-created world,
And man there placed, with purpose to assay 90
If him by force he can destroy, or worse,
By some false guile pervert ; and shall pervert,
For Man will hearken to his glozing lies,
And easily transgress the sole command,
Sole pledge of his obedience : So will fall, 95
He and his faithless progeny. Whose fault ?
Whose but his own ? Ingrate, he had of me
All he could have ; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all th' ethereal Pow'rs 100
And Spirits, both them who stood and them who fail'd ;
Freely they stood, who stood, and fell, who fell.
Not free, what proof could they have giv'n sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith, or love,
Where only what they needs must do appear'd, 105
Not what they would t what praise could they receive ?
What pleasure I from such obedience paid,
When will and reason (reason also is choice)
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil 'd,
Made passive both, had served necessity, 110
Not me ? They therefore, as to right belong'd,
So were created, nor can justly accuse
Their Maker, or their making, or their fate,
As if predestination over-ruled
93. Glozing: Flattering.
96. Whou fault : The responsibility of the foil is here justly attributed to
man, being based upon his freedom and capacity to act rightly, or otherwise.
103. Nat fret: Not being free.
108. Retuon alto it choice: Reason is connected with choice is essential to
the exercise of will. A passage from Milton's Areopagitica throws so.ne
light on the above expression : " When God gave him reason he gave him
freedom to choose ; for reaton it but choosing."
114. Jli if prtde ttination : The particular beauty of the speeches in the
Third Book, consists in that brevity and perspicuity of style, in which the
poet has couched the greatest myste ies of Christianity, and drawn together,
BOOK III. 121
Their will, disposed by absolute decree 115
Or Ligh foreknowledge ; they themselves decreed
Their own revolt, not I. If I foreknew,
Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no less proved certain unforeknown.
So without least impulse or shadow of fate, 120
Or aught by me immutably foreseen,
They trespass, authors to themselves in all
Both what they judge and what they choose ; for so
I form'd them free, and free they must remain,
Till they enthrall themselves ; I else must change 125
Their nature, and revoke the high decree
Unchangeable, eternal, which ordain 'd
Their freedom, they themselves ordain'd their fall.
The first sort by their own suggestion fell,
Self-teuipted, self-depraved : Man falls, deceived 130
By th' other first : Man therefore shall find grace,
The other none : in. mercy and justice both,
Through Heav'n and Earth, so shall my glory excel,
'n a regular scheme, the whole dispensation of Providence with respect to
man. He has represented all the abstruse doctrines of predestination, free-
will, and grace, as also the great points of incarnation and redemption (which
naturally grow up in a poem that treats of the fall of man), with great
energy of expression, and in a clearer and stronger light than I ever met
with in any other writer. As these points are dry in themselves, to the
generality of readers, the concise and clear manner in which he has treated
them, is very much to be admired, as is likewise that particular art which
be has made use of in the interspersing of all those graces of poetry which
the subject was capable of receiving. A. See the note on line 172.
It has been objected to Milton by Dr. Blair, that he is too frequently theo
logical and metaphysical ; but, on this point, there is ground for an opposite
opinion. Why should not the poet be indulged in strains both theological
nd metaphysical, when treating upon a subject that lies at the foundation
of revealed theology, and involves some of the most subtle operations of
the human mind ? The Fall of Man, and the Loss of Paradise, could not
have been treated with satisfactory fullness if the profound remarks of the
poet relating to theology and mental philosophy had been omitted
117. If: Though.
121. Immutably fortteen: So foreseen as to be immutable. N.
129. The firtt tort The apostate angels.
122 PARADISE LOST.
But mercy first and last shall brightest shine.
Thus while God spake, ambrosial fragrance fill'd 135
All Heav'n, and in the blessed Spirits elect
Sense of new joy ineffable diffused.
Beyond compare the Son of God was seen
Most glorious ; in him all his Father shone
Substantially express 'd ; and in his face 140
Divine compassion visibly appear'd,
Love without end, and without measure grace ;
Which utt'ring, thus he to his Father spake :
Father, gracious was that word which closed
Thy sov'reign sentence, that Man should find grace ; 145
For which both Ileav'n and Earth shall high extol
Thy praises, with th' innumerable sound
Of hymns and sacred songs, wherewith thy throne
Encompassed shall resound thee ever blest.
For should Man finally be lost ; should Man, 150
Thy creature late so loved, thy youngest son,
Fall circumvented thus by fraud, though join'd
With his own folly ? that be from thee far,
That far be from thee, Father, who art Judge
Of all things made, and judgest only right. 155
Or shall the Adversary thus obtain
His end, and frustrate thine ? Shall he fulfil
His malice, and thy goodness bring to nought,
Or proud return, though to his heavier doom,
Yet with revenge accomplish'd, and to Hell 160
Draw after him the whole race of mankind
By him corrupted ? Or, wilt thou thyself
Abolish thy creation, and unmake,
For him, what for thy glory thou hast made ?
136. And in the bUtted tpiritt, tfc. : The effects of the speech just delivered,
upon the blessed spirits, and in the Divine Person to whom it was addiesi.n
cannot but fill the mind of the reader with a secret pleasure and com-
placency. A.
140. Substantially txprttted : Heb. i. 1-3, 8.
153. Far from thee: Gen. xviii, 25.
163, &c. Matt. iii. 17 ; 1 Cor. i. 24; Rev. xix. 13.
BOOK III. 123
So should thy goodness and thy greatness both J.65
Be question'd and blasphemed without defence.
To whom the great Creator thus reply'd :
Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight,
Son of my bosom, Son who art alone
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might, 170
All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are ; all
As my eternal purpose hath decreed.
Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchsafed. Once more I will renew 175
His lapsed pow'rs, though forfeit and enthrall'd
By sin to foul exorbitant desires :
Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand
On even ground against his mortal foe,
By me upheld, that he may know how frail 180
His fall'n condition is, and to me owe
All his delivVance, and to none but me
Some I have chosen of peculiar grace
Elect above the rest ; so is my will :
The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd 185
Their sinful state, and to appease betimes
Th' incensed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites ; for I will clear their senses dark,
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due. 190
To pray'r, repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavour'd with sincere intent,
Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.
And I will place within them as a guide
My umpire Conscience ; whom if they will hear, 195
170. My word, my uritdom : John i. 1.
172. Eternal purpose : Ephes. i. 4, 11 ; ii. 7-10; Rom. ix. 15, 16.
180. Upheld: Compare this with line 178, and remark the happy effect of
changing the position of this word in the two lines.
189. Stony: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.
195. Rom. ii. 14, 15.
124 PARADISE LOST
Light after light well used they shall attain,
And, to the end persisting, safe arrive.
This my long guff rancc and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste ;
But hard be hardened, blind be blinded more, 200
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall :
And none but such from mercy I exclude.
But yet all is not done : Man disobeying,
Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins
Against the High Supremacy of Heav'n, 205
Affecting Godhead, and so losing all,
To expiate his treason hath nought left,
But to destruction sacred and devote,
He, with his whole posterity, must die ;
Die he or justice must ; unless for him 210
Some other able, and as willing, pay
The rigid satisfaction, death for death.
Say, heav'nly Pow'rs, where shall we find such love ?
Which of ye will be mortal to redeem
Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save ? 215
Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear ?
He ask'd ; but all the heav'nly choir stood mute,
And silence was in Heav'n : on Man's behalf
Patron or intercessor none appear'd,
Much less that durst upon his own head draw 220
The deadly forfeiture, and ransom set.
And now without redemption all mankind
Must have been lost, adjudged to Death and Hell
By doom severe, had not the Son of God,
In whom the fulness dwells of love divine, 225
His dearest mediation thus renew'd :
Father, thy word is past, Man shall find grace ;
199. Man. xiii. 14-16 ; Luke xiv. 24 ; Acts xiii. 41.
208. Devote: Devoted
210. Heb. ix. 22, 28 ; x. 4-7.
217. Choir Hood mute : This is a beautiful circumstance ; the occasion WM
a fit one to produce such silence in heaven. Rev. viii. 1
BOOK in. 125
And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,
The speediest of thy winged messengers,
To visit all thy creatures, and to all 230
Comes unprevented, unimplored, unsought?
Happy for man, so coming : he her aid
Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost :
Atonement for himself or ofPring meet,
Indebted and undone, hath none to bring. 235
Behold me then ; me for him, life for life
I offer : on me let thine anger fall ;
Account me Man : I for his sake will leave
Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee
Freely put off, and for him lastly die 240
Well pleased : on me let Death wreak all his rage :
Under his gloomy pow'r I shall not long
Lie vanquish 'd : thou hast given me to possess
Life in myself for ever ; by thee I live,
Though now to Death I yield, and am his due 245
All that of me can die ; yet that debt paid,
Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave
His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul
For ever with corruption there to dwell ;
But I shall rise victorious, and subdue 250
My Vanquisher, spoil'd of his vaunted spoil ;
Death his death's wound shall then receive, and stoop
231. Unprevented: Not preceded by anything, by any effort in man.
236. The frequent repetition of me, reminds one of a line in Virgil's ^Eneid,
Book ix. 427. " Me, me, adsum qui feci in me convertite ferrum."
241. Wreak: Inflict, 1 Pet. iii. 18.
244. John v. 26.
249. Corruption: Decomposition of the body, Acts ii. 25-31.
250-1 . It has been objected to Milton's story that the hero is unsuccessful,
and by no means a match for "his enemies. This gave occasion to Dryden'a
reflection that Satan was in reality Milton's hero. To this it may be re-
plied, that Paradise Lost is a narrative poem, and he that looks for a hero in
it searches for that which Milton never intended ; but if he is determined to
fix the name of a hero upon any person in it, the Messiah is certainly the
hero, both in the principal action and in the chief episodes. A
126 PARADISE LOST.
*
Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarm M.
I through the ample air in triumph high
Shall lead Hell captive maugre Hell, and shew 255
The Pow'rs of darkness bound. Thou at the sight
Pleased, out of Heav'n shalt look down and smile,
While by thee raised I ruin all my foes,
Death last, and with his carcase glut the grave :
Then with the multitude of my redeem'd 260
Shall enter Heav'n long absent, and return,
Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud
Of anger shall remain, but peace assured
And reconcilement ; wrath shall be no more
Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire. 265
His words here ended, but his meek aspect
Silent yet spake, and brcath'd immortal love
To mortal men, above which only shone
Filial obedience : as a sacrifice
Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will 270
Of his great Father. Admiration seized
All Heav'n, what this might mean, and whither tend,
Wond'ring ; but soon th' Almighty thus reply'd :
thou in Heav'n and Earth the only peace
Found out for mankind under wrath ! thou 275
My sole complacence ! well thou know'st how dear
253. See 1 Cor. xv. 55-7.
255. Maugrt HtU: In spite of Hell, Ps. Ixviii. 18; Eph. iv.8; Col. ii. 15.
266. What a charming and lovely picture has Milton given us of God the
Son, considered as our Saviour and Redeemer! not in the least inferior in its
way to that grander one in the Sixth Book, where he describes him clothed
with majesty and terror, taking vengeance of his enemies. Before he repre-
sents him speaking, he makes ' divine compassion, love without end, and
grace without measure, visibly to appear in his face," (140); and carrying
on the same lovely picture, makes him end it with a countenance " breath-
ing immortal love to mortal men." Nothing could be better contrived to
leave a deep impression upon the reader's mind ; and I believe one may ven-
ture to assert, that no art or words could lift the imagination to a stronger
idem of a good and benevolent being. There is a mute eloquence prettily
expressed by the poet in his " Silent, yet spake." T.
269. John iv 34 ; Ps. xl. 6, &c.
BOOK III. 127
To me are all my works, nor Man the least,
Though last created ; that for him I spare
Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,
By losing thee a while, the whole race lost. 280
Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeem,
Their nature also to thy nature join ;
And be thyself Man among men on earth,
Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed,
By wondrous birth : be thou in Adam's room 285
The Head of all mankind, though Adam's son.
As in him perish all men, so in thee,
As from a second root, shall be restored
As many as are restored ; without thee none.
His crime makes guilty all his sons ; thy merit 290
Imputed shall absolve thorn who renounce
Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,
And live in thee transplanted, and from thee
Receive new life. So Man, as is most just,
Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die, 295
And dying rise, and rising with him raise
His brethren ransom'd with his own dear life.
So heav'nly love shall outdo hellish hate,
Giving to death, and dying to redeem,
So dearly to redeem what hellish hate 300
So easily destroy'd, and still destroys
In those who, when they may, accept not grace.
Nor shalt thou, by descending to assume
Man's nature, lessen or degrade thine own.
Because thou hast, though throned in highest bliss 305
276. Mat iii. 17.
277. Least : Least dear.
281-2. John i. 14 ; Heb. ii. 16. These lines may be transposed to exhibit
the true meaning : u Thou therefore, join to thy nature the nature also of
them whom thou only canst redeem."
287. 1 Cor. xv. 21-2.
290. Rom. v. 12-19.
301. The language is here accommodated to the eternity of the speaker, to
whom past, present, and future are one. S.
128 PARADISE LOST.
Equal to God, and equally enjoying
God-like fruition, quitted all to save
A world from utter loss, and hast been found
By merit more than birthright, Son of God,
Found worthiest to be so by being good, 310
Far more than great or high ; because in thee
Love hath abounded more than glory 'bounds,
Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt
With thee thy manhood also to this throne :
Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shalt reign 615
Both God and Man, Son both of God and Man,
Anointed Universal King : all pow'r
I give thee ; reign for ever, and assume
Thy merits ; under thee as Head Supreme
Thrones, Princedoms, Pow'rs, Dominions I reduce : 320
All knees to thee shall bow, of them that bido
In Heav'n, or Earth, or under Earth in Hell.
When thou attended gloriously from Heav'n
Shalt in the sky appear, and from thee send
The summoning Arch-Angels to proclaim 325
Thy dread tribunal, forthwith from all winds
The living, and forthwith the cit < <! dead
Of all past ages, to the gen'ral doom
Shall hasten ; such a peal shall rouse their sleep.
Then all thy saints assembled, thou shalt judge 330
Bad men and Angels ; they arraigned shall sink
Beneath thy sentence : Hell, her numbers full,
Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while
The world shall burn, and from her ashes spring
New Heav'n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell, 335
And after all their tribulations long
See golden days, fruitful of golden deeds,
306-319. Phil. ii. 6-11 ; Eph. i. 20-23.
328. Mat xxv. 31-46 ; 2 Thess. i. 7-0 ; Mat. v. 28, 29.
334. 2 Peter iii. 10-13.
335. See Dr. Chalmers's sermon on thin subject " Heaven and Earth"
denote the entire creation.
BOOK III. 129
With joy and love triumphing, and fair truth.
Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by,
For regal sceptre then no more shall need, 340
God shall be All in All. But all ye Gods,
Adore him, who to compass all this dies :
Adore the Son, and honour him as me.
No sooner had th' Almighty ceased, but all
The multitude of Angels, with a shout 346
Loud as from numbers without number, sweet
As from blest voices, utt'ring joy, Heav'n rung
With jubilee, and loud Hosannas fill'd
Th' eternal regions : lowly reverent
Tow'rds either throne they bow, and to the ground 350
With solemn adoration down they cast
Their crowns, inwove with amarant and gold ;
Immortal amarant ; a flow'r which once
In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
Began to bloom ; but soon, for man's offence, 355
To Heav'n removed, where first it grew, there grows,
And flow'rs aloft, shading the fount of life,
And where the riv'r of bliss through midst of Heav'n
337. Golden : Virgil's Eclog. iv. 9. " Toto surget gens aurea mundo."
341. 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25.
343. Heb. i. 6.
344. If the reader pleases to compare this divine dialogue with the
speeches of the gods in Homer, he will find the Christian poet to transcend
the heathen, as much as the religion of the one surpasses that of the others.
Their deities talk and act like men, but Milton's Divine Persons are Divine
Persons indeed, and talk in the language of God, that is, in the language 01
pirit of Scripture. N.
345. The construction is this : " All the multitude of angels uttering joy
with a shout loud, &c.
351. Rev. iv. 10. 357. Ps. xxxvi. 8, 9; Rev. vii. 17; xxii. 1.
353. 1 Pet. i. 4. v. 4. The amarant, or amaranth, is an imaginary flower,
the beauty of which never fades.
358. Elytian : An allusion to the Elysian Fields, or abodes of the blessed,
of classical mythology. At first these were located upon islands in the At-
lantic Ocean not far from the Straits of Gibraltar: but, with the increase of
9
130 PARADISE LOST.
Rolls o'er Elysian flow'rs her amber stream ;
With these, that never fade, the Spirits elect 360
Bind their resplendent locks in wreath 'd with beams,
Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright
Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone,
Impurpled with celestial roses smiled.
Then crown'd again, their golden harps they took, 365
Harps ever tuned, that glitt'ring by their side
Like quivers hung, and with preamble sweet
Of charming symphony they introduce
Their sacred song, and waken raptures high";
No voice exempt, no voice but well could join 370
Melodious part, such concord is in Heav'n.
Thee, Father, first they sung, Omnipotent,
Immutable, Immortal, Infinite,
Eternal King ; thce, Author of all being,
Fountain of Light, thyself invisible 376
Amidst the glorious brightness where thou sitt'st
Throned inaccessible, but when thou shad'st
The full blaze of thy beams, and through a cloud
Drawn round about thee like a radiant shrine,
geographical knowledge, these fields of bliss were transferred to the lowei
world, in a region supposed to be favoured with perpetual spring, clothed with
continual verdure, enamelled with flowers, shaded by pleasant groves, and
refreshed by ..jver-failing fountains. Here the righteous lived in perfect felicity,
communing with each other, bathed in a flood of light proceeding from their
own sun, and the sky at eve being lighted up by their own constellations :
Solemque suum, sna siilera norunt." (Virgil JEn. vi. 641.) Their employ*
ments below resembled those of earth, and whatever bad warmly et ftT^
their attention in the upper world, continued to be a source of virtuous enjoy*
ment in the world below. (Virg. JEn. vi. 653.) ANTHON.
359. Ambtr ttrtam: So called, not at all on account of its color, but of iU
clearness and transparency. Virgil (Georg. Hi. 522) says of a river,
Puriar electro campum petit mnif."
N.
S60. Thttt refers ioflouxrt (359) .
363. Sea of j caper : Jasper is a precious stone of several colours ; but the
green is most esteemed, and bears some resemblance to the sea. N.
377. But : Except. The meaning is, Thou art accessible only when tboo
ihadest, ice
BOOK III. 131
Dark with excessive bright thy skirts appear, 380
Yet dazzle Heav'n, that brightest Seraphim
Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes.
Thee, next they sang, of all creation first,
Begotten Son, Divine Similitude,
In whose conspicuous count'nance, without cloud 385
Made visible, th' Almighty Father shines,
Whom else no creature can behold : on thee
Impress'd th' effulgence of his glory 'bides,
Transfused on thee his ample Spirit rests.
He Heav'n of Hcav'ns and all the Pow'rs therein 390
By thee created, and by thee threw down
Th' aspiring Dominations : thou that day
Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare,
Nor stop thy flaming chariot-wheels, that shook
Heav'n's everlasting frame, while o'er the necks 395
Thou drov'st of warring Angels disarray'd.
Back from pursuit thy Pow'rs with loud acclaim
Thee only extoll'd Son of thy Father's might,
To execute fierce vengeance on his foes,
Not so on Man : Him thro' their malice fall'n, 400
Father of mercy and grace, thou didst not doom
So strictly, but much more to pity incline ;
No sooner did thy dear and only Son
Perceive thee purposed not to doom frail Man
380. Dark, tfc. : Milton has the same thought of darkness occasioned by
glory, in Book V. 599 : " brightness had made invisible," an expression which
sheds light upon the meaning of the poet here ; the excess of brightness had
the effect of darkness invisibility. What an idea of glory ! the skirts only
not to be looked on by the beings nearest to God, but when doubly or trebly
haded by a cloud and both wings. What then is the full blaze ! R.
382. See Isaiah's Vision, vi. 1-3.
383. Col. i. 15, 16; John i. 1-3.
387. Elu : In no other manner can any creature behold the Father.
388. Heb. i. 3.
389. John iii. 34-5.
397-8. Thy Powers extolled Thee only, (returning) back from pursuit.
He had achieved the conquest alone. Book VI. 880.
132 PARADISE LOST.
So strictly, but much more to pity inclined, 405
He to appease thy wrath, and end the strife
Of mercy and justice in thy face discern 'd,
Regardless of the bliss wherein he sat ;
Second to thee, offfr'd himself to die
For man's offence. unexampled love ! 410
Love no where to be found less than Divine !
Hail Son of God, Saviour of Men, thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my song
Henceforth, and never shall my harp thy praise
Forget, nor from thy Father's praise disjoin. 415
Thus they in Heav'n, above the starry sphere,
Their happy hours in joy and hymning spent.
Mean while upon the firm opacous globe
Of this round world, whose first convex divides
The luminous inferior orbs, inclosed 420
From Chaos and th' inroad of Darkness old,
Satan alighted walks : a globe far off
406. "Than" or "bat" is understood before "he," to complete the
ense. N.
414. Harp thypraite: Rev. iv. 10, 11 ; v. 11-1-1.
419. Firtt convex divide*, Ift.: Milton frequently uses the words sphere,
orb, globe, convex, as synonymous, and by them generally expresses the
idea of a hollow crystalline sphere of which, according to the old astronomy,
there were several. The outermost one is here intended, but was opaque,
and separated Chaos from the solar system, which it included.
421. Ckaot: Matter was supposed to exist in a confused, unorganized state
originally, and was designated by this name. A certain portion of this was
separated into its different kinds, and reduced to order and form by the power
of God.
422. Satan alighttd valla : Satan's walk upon the outside of the universe,
which at a distance appeared to him of a globular form, but upon his nearer
approach looked like an unbounded plain, is natural and noble ; as his roam-
ing upon the frontiers of the creation, between that mass of matter which
was wrought into a world, and that shapeless unformed heap of materials
which still lay in chaos and confusion, strikes the imagination as something
astonishingly great and wild. Upon this outermost surface of the universe
the poet creates the Limbo of Vanity, respecting which some remarks will
be made. A.
BOOK III. 133
It seem'd, now seems a boundless continent
Dark, waste, and wild, under the frown of Night
Starless exposed, and ever-threat'ning storms 425
Of Chaos blust'ring round, inclement sky ;
Save on that side which from the wall of Heav'n,
Though distant far, some small reflection gains
Of glimmering air less vex'd with tempest loud :
Here walk'd the Fiend at large in spacious field. 430
As when a vulture on Imaus bred,
Whose snowy ridge the roving Tartar bounds,
Dislodging from a region scarce of prey
To gorge the flesh of lambs or yeanling kids
On hills where flocks are fed, flies toward the springs 435
Of Ganges or Hydaspes, Indian streams ;
But in his way lights on the barren plains
Of Sericana, where Chineses drive
With sails and wind their cany wagons light :
So on this windy sea of land, the Fiend 440
Walk'd up and down alone, bent on his prey :
Alone ; for other creature in this place,
Living or lifeless, to be found was none ;
431-441. jls when a vulture, $c. : This simile is very apposite and lively.
Satan, coming from Hell to Earth, in order to destroy mankind, hut lighting
first on the bare convex of this world's outermost orb (the outermost orb of
creation) a tea of land, as the poet calls it is very fitly compared to a
vulture flying, in quest of his prey, tender lambs or kids new yeaned, froun
the barren rocks to the more fruitful hills and streams of India, but lighting
in his way on the plains of Sericana, which were, in a manner, a sea of land,
too, the country being so smooth and open that carriages were driven (as
travellers report) with sails and wind. Imaut is a celebrated mountain in
Asia; its name signifies snowy, and hence, its sncrwy ridge is spoken of. It is
the eastern boundary of the Western Tartars, who are called roving, as they
live chiefly in tents, and remove from place to place for the convenience of
pasturage. Ganget and Hydaspes are rivers of India, the latter being a
tributary to the river Indus. Serica is a region between China on the eas*
and the mountain Imaus on the west. What our author here says of the
Chinetes, seems to have been derived from Heylin's Cosmography. N.
432 Bounds: Confines
433. Dislodging : Removing.
434 Yeanling: Young.
134 PARADISE LOST.
None yet, but store hereafter from the earth
Up hither like aereal vapours flew 445
Of all things transit'ry and vain, when sin
With vanity had fill'd the works of men ;
Both all things vain, and all who in vain things
Built their fond hopes of glory, or lasting fame,
Or happiness, in this or th' other life ; 460
All who have their reward on earth, the fruits
Of painful superstition and blind zeal,
Nought seeking but the praise of men, here find
Fit retribution, empty as their deeds :
All th' unaccomplish'd works of Nature's hand, 455
Abortive, monstrous, or unkindly mix'd,
Dissolved on earth, fleet hither, and in vain,
Till final dissolution, wander here ;
Not in the neighb'ring moon, as some have dream'd ;
Those argent fields more likely habitants, 460
Translated Saints or middle Spirits, hold
457. In vain : At random, in the sense of the Latin fruttra, fortwto.
459. Not in the moon, Sfc. : Ariosto, in his Orlando Furioso, gives a much
longer description of things lost on earth and treasured up in the moon, than
Milton here furnishes. A specimen is subjoined, in Harrington's trans-
lation :
' A storehouse itrange. that what on earth ii lot
By fault, by time, by fortune, there is found ;
Nor speak I sole of wealth, or things of cost.
In which blind fortune's pow'r doth most abound,
Bat e'en of things quite out of fortune's pow'r,
Which wilfully we waste each day and hour :
The precious time that fools mispend in play,
The rain attempts that never take effect,
The TOWI that sinners make and never pay,
The couniels wise thnt careless men neglect.
The fund desires that lead us oft astray,
<
May there be found unto this place ascending."
The same notion is amply set forth in Pope's Rape of the Lock, Canto V.
N.
460. Jlrgent : Bright like silver. The moon may be inhabited ; but, as
Newton suggests, it is greatly to be questioned whether the notion here ex-
pressed by the poet is true, that its inhabitants are trantlated mint*, or tpiritt
of a middle nature between angels and men.
BOOK 111. 135
Betwixt th' angelical and human kind.
Hither of ill-join'd sons and daughters born
First from the ancient world those giants came,
With many a vain exploit, though then renown'd : 465
The builders next of Babel on the plain
Of Sennaar, and still with vain design
New Babels, had they wherewithal, would build :
Others came single ; he who to be deem'd
A God, leap'd fondly into JEtna flames, 470
Empcdocles ; and he who to enjoy
Plato's Elysium, leap'd into the sea,
Cleombrotus ; and many more too long,
Embryos and idiots, eremites and friars
White, black and grey, with all their trumpery. 475
Here Pilgrims roam, that stray 'd so far to seek
463. The tons of God, ill-joined with the daughters of men, alluding to
Gen. vi. 4 ; the posterity of Seth, who worshipped the true God, and are,
therefore, called the sens of God, intermarried with the idolatrous posterity
of the apostate Cain. N.
467. Sennaar, or Shinar, both names denoting a province of Babylonia.
Milton here, as in many other instances, follows the Vulgate, in writing the
names of places. N.
470. Empedocles : A Sicilian philosopher, who flourished about 450 B. c.,
and became highly distinguished for his various attainments in science. The
story alluded to in the text is, that he threw himself into the burning crater
of Mount ^Etna, in order that, the manner of his death not being known, he
might afterwards pass for a god , but the secret was discovered by the
ejection of one of his brass sandals in a subsequent eruption of the volcano.
Horace alludes to the story in his Art of Poetry, 464.
473. Cltvmbrotus was a young man, who, having been deeply interested
irith Plato's reflections on the immortality of the soul, leaped into the sea,
hat he might at once enjoy the felicity mentioned. S.
473. Too long : That is, too long a number to describe.
475. White, tfc. : So named from the dresses which they wore : irhite
fiars, or Carmelites ; blark friars, or Dominicans ; grey friars, or Franciscans ;
.lames derived from Carmel where the first pretend their order was ir.sti-
\.ted from St. Dominic and St. Francis, the founders of the other two
respectively. Our author here, as ekewhere, shows his dislike and abhor-
rence of the Church of Rome, by placing the religious orders, with all their
trumpery, cowls, hoods, &c., in the Paradise of Fools, and making them the
principal objects there. N.
136 PARADISE LOST.
In Golgotha him dead, who lives in Heav'n ;
And they who, to be sure of Paradise,
Dying put on the weeds of Dominic,
Or in Franciscan think to pass disguised : 480
They pass the planets sev'n, and pass the fix'd,
And that crystalline sphere whose balance weighs
The trepidation talk'd, and that first moved ;
And now Saint Peter at Heav'n 's wicket seems
To wait them with his keys, and now at foot 485
Of Heav'n's ascent they lift their feet, when lo,
A violent cross wind from either coast
481-3. They pott the planet* seven : Our planetary or solar system ; and
beyond this pott the fixed, the firmament, or sphere of the fixed stars ; and
beyond this, that cryttalline tphert the crystalline Heaven, clear as crystal
to which the Ptolemaic astronomers attributed a sort of libration, or shaking
(the trepidation so much talked of) , to account for (or counterpoise) certain
irregularities in the motion of the stars ; and beyond this, the firtt mov'd. the
prinium mobile, the sphere which was both the first moved and the first
mover, communicating its motions to all the lower spheres ; and beyond this
was the empyrean Heaven, the seat of God and the angels. N.
482. Crystalline tphere : The opinions of Pythagoras on the system of the
world, with few exceptions were founded in truth ; yet they were rejected
by Aristotle, and by most succeeding astronomers, down to the time^of
Copernicus, and in their place was .substituted the doctrine of crystalline
spheres, first taught by Eudoxus, who lived about 370 B. c. According to
this system, the heavenly bodies are set like gems in hollow solid orbs, com-
posed of crystal so transparent, that no anterior orb obstructs in the least the
view of any of the orbs that lie behind it. The sun and the planets have
ach its separate orb ; but the fixed stars are all set in the same grand orb ;
Mid beyond this is another still, the primum mobile, which revolves daily
from east to west, and carries along with it all the other orbs. Above the
* hole spreads the grand empyrean, or third heavens, the abode of perpetual
serenity.
To account for the planetary motions, it was supposed that each of the
planetary orbs, as well as that of the sun, has a motion of its own, eastward,
while it partakes of the common diurnal motion of the starry sphere. Aris-
totle taught that these motions are effected by a tutelary genius jl eaci
planet, residing in it, and directing its motions, as the mind of man directs
its movements. OLMSTED'C LETTERS o* ASTRONOMY.
484- The poet here turns into ridicule the false assumption that Peter, and
those who claim to be his spiritual successors, are exclusively intrusted with
th keys of Heaven
BOOK III
137
Blows them transverse ten thousand leagues awry
Into the devious air ; then might ye see
Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, tost 490
And flutter'd into rags ; then reliques, beads,
Indulgences, dispenses, pardons, bulls,
The sport of winds : all these upwhirl'd aloft
Fly D'er the backside of the world far off
Into a Limbo large and broad, since call'd 495
The Paradise of Fools, to few unknown
Long after, now unpeopled, and untrod.
All this dark globe the Fiend found as he pass'd.
And long he wander'd, till at last a gleam
488. dwry: Aside.
189. Devious : Out of the way, remote.
489. Then might ye tee : That is, if you had been there ; or, the expression
simply means, then might be seen.
490496. Ludicrous sentiments are unnatural in an epic poem, because
they do not naturally occur while one is composing it ; and hence (as Dr.
Beattie remarks) , the humorous description of the Limbo of Vanity, how-
ever just as an allegory, however poignant as a satire, ought not to have ob-
tained a place in Paradise Lost. Such a thing might suit the volatile genius
of Ariosto and his followers, but is quite unworthy of the sober and well-
principled disciple of Homer and Virgil.
493. Sport : Virg. JEn. vi. 75, " Ludibria ventis."
494. The ""world" here mentioned is not our earth, but the hollow, opaque
sphere outside of the starry heavens (422-425).
495. The word Limbo (from the Latin limbus, a hem or edge) is a region
which was supposed by some of the school theologians to lie on the edge or
neighbourhood of Hell. This served as a receptacle for the souls of just men,
who were not admitted into Purgatory or Heaven. Such were, according to
some Christian writers, the patriarchs, and other pious ancients, who died
before the birth of Christ ; Hence, the Limbo was called the Limbus Pa-
truin. These, it was believed, would be liberated at Christ's second coming,
and admitted to the privileges of the blessed in Heaven.
Dante has fixed his Limbo, in which the distinguished spirits of antiquity are
confined, as the outermost of the circles of his Hell. The use which Milton
has made of the same superstitious belief is seen in this passage. BRANDE.
499. Till at last a gleam, fyc. : Satan, after having long wandered upon the
surface or outermost wall of the organized universe, discovers, at last, a wide
gap in it, which led into the creation, and is described as the opening
1S8 PARADISE LOST.
Of dawning light turn'd thitherward in haste 500
His travrllM steps : far distant he descries
Ascending by degrees magnificent
Up to the wall of Heav'n a structure high ;
At top whereof, but far more rich, appear'd
The work as of a kingly palace gate, 605
With frontispiece of diamond and gold
Embellish'd : thick with sparkling orient gems
The portal shone, inimitable on earth
By model, or by shading pencil drawn.
The stairs were such as whereon Jacob saw 510
Angels ascending and descending, bands
Of guardians bright, when he from Esau fled
To Padan-Aram, in the field of Luz
Dreaming by night under the open sky,
And waking cry'd, This is the gate of Heav'n. 515
Each stair mysteriously was meant, nor stood
There always, but drawn up to Heav'n sometimes
Viewless : and underneath a bright sea flow'd
Of jasper, or of liquid pearl, whereon
Who after came from earth, sailing arrived, 520
Wafted by Angels, or flew o'er the lake
Rapt in a chariot drawn by fiery steeds.
The stairs were then let down, whether to dare
The Fiend by easy 'scent, or aggravate
His sad exclusion from the doors of bliss : 525
Direct against which open'd from beneath,
Just o'er the blissful seat of Paradise,
through which the angels pass to and fro into the lower world, upon their
rrands to mankind. A.
506-7. These lines are an imitation of Ovid, Met ii. 1 :
' Regia folii ermt lublimibus altm column!*,
Clark micantc turn, flammaique imitante pyropo."
510. Stairt: See Gen. xxviii. 11-17.
516. Each stair (the stairs line 510) was designed for some secret pur-
pose.
518. The author, in the " Argument" of this Book, explains the sea to
mean, the water above the firmament
BOOK III. 139
A passage down to th' Earth, a passage wide,
Wider by far than that of after-times
Over mount Sion, and, though that were large, 630
Over the Promised Land, to God so dear,
By which, to visit oft those happy tribes,
On high behests his Angels to and fro
Pass'd frequent, and his eye with choice regard
From Pancas the fount of Jordan's flood 535
To Beersaba, where the Holy Land
Borders on Egypt and th' Arabian shore . %
So wide the op'ning seem'd, where bounds were set
To darkness, such as bound the ocean wave.
Satan from hence, now on the lower stair 540
That scaled by steps of gold to Heaven gate,
Looks down with wonder at the sudden view
Of all this world at once. As when a scout
Through dark and desert ways with peril gone
All night, at last by break of cheerful dawn 545
Obtains the brow of some high-climbing hill,
Which to his eye discovers unaware
The goodly prospect of some foreign land
First seen, or some renown'd metropolis
With glist'ring spires and pinnacles adorn'd, 550
Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams :
Such wonder seized, though after Heaven seen,
The Spirit malign, but much more envy seized,
534. After regard, supply the words " passed frequent."
535. Paneeu : The modern name, Banias. It was once called Caesarea-
Philippi, and is securely embosomed among mountains, being at the head of
one of the principal branches of the Jordan.
542. Looks down, ffc. : His sitting upon the brink of this passage, an
taking a survey of the whole face of nature, that appeared to him new and
fresh in all its beauties, with the simile illustrating this circumstance, fills
the mind of the reader with as surprising and glorious an idea as any that
arises in the whole poem. He looks down into that vast hollow of the
universe with the eye (or, as Milton calls it in his First Book\ with the
ken, of an angel. He surveys all the wonders in this immense amphi-
theatre, that lie between both the poles of Heaven, and takes in, at one
*iew, the whole round of the creation. A.
140 PARADISE LOST.
At sight of all this world beheld so fur.
Round he surveys (and well might, where he stood 555
So high above the circling canopy
Of Night's extended shade) from eastern point
Of Libra to the fleecy star that bears
Andromeda far off Atlantic seas
Beyond th' horizon ; then from pole to pole 560
He views in breadth, and without longer pause
Down right into the world's first region throws
555-561. Satan is here represented as taking a view of the whole crea-
tion from east to west, and then from north to south ; but poetry delights to
say the most common things in an uncommon manner. He turveyt from
eastern point of Libra : One of the twelve signs, exactly opposite to Aria, to
t he fleecy ttar, Aries or the Ram that is, from east to west ; for when
Libra rises in the east Aries sets in the western horizon. Aries is said to bear
Andromeda, because that constellation, represented as a woman, is placed
just over Aries, and, therefore, when Aries sets he seems to bear Andro-
meda far off Atlantic teat, the great western ocean, beyond M horizon,
Then from pole to pole he viewt in breadth : That is, from north to south ; and
that is said to be in breadth, because the ancients knowing more of the
earth from east to west than from north to south, and so, having a much
greater journey one way than the other, one was called length, or longitude,
the other breadth, or latitude. N.
555-568, &c. The verse in This exquisitely-moulded passage, says Hazlitt,
floats up and down as if itself had wings. The sound of Milton's lines is
moulded often into the expression of the sentiment, almost of the very
image. They rise or fall, pause, or hurry rapidly on, with exquisite art,
but without the least trick or affectation, ait the occasion seems to require.
See a beautiful instance, Book I. 732-747 ; 762-787.
562-4. Satan, having surveyed the whole creation, without longer paute,
throws himself into it, and is described as making two different motions.
At first he drops down perpendicularly some way into it, down right, ttc.,
and afterwards windt hit oblique vay, turns and winds this way and that in
order to espy the seat of man ; for though in 527 it is said that the passage
wnsjtut over Paradite, yet it is evident that Satan did not know it The
air is compared to marble for its clearness and whiteness, without any re-
gard to its hardness. The Latin word marmor, marble, is derived from a
Greek word that signifies to shine and glisten. Virgil iw the expression
of the marble tea, and Sbakspeare speaks of the marble air. It is common
with the ancients, and with those who write in the spirit and manner of the
ancients, in their metaphors and similes, if they agree in the main circum-
stances, to have no regard to lesser particulars. N.
BOOK III. 141
His flight precipitant, and winds with ease
Through the pure marble air his oblique way
Amongst innumerable stars, that shone 665
Stars distant, but nigh hand seem'd other worlds ;
Or other worlds they seem'd, or happy isles,
Like those Hesperian gardens famed of old,
Fortunate fields, and groves, and flow'ry vales,
Thrice happy isles ; but who dwelt happy there O70
He stay'd not to inquire : above them all
The golden Sun, in splendour likest Heav'n,
Allur'd his eye : thither his course he bends
Through the calm firmament (but up or down,
By centre, or eccentric, hard to tell, 575
Or longitude) where the great luminary
Aloof the vulgar constellations thick,
That from his lordly eye keep distance due,
Dispenses light from far ; they as they move
Their starry dance in numbers that compute 580
Days, months, and years, tow'rds his all-cheering lamp
Turn swift their various motions, or are turn'd
By his magnetic beam, that gently warms
The universe, and to each inward part
With gentle penetration, though unseen, 585
Shoots invisible virtue ev'n to the deep ;
563. Winds with ease, $c. : His flight between the several worlds lhat
shined on every side of him, with the particular description of the sun, are
set forth in all the wantoness of a luxuriant imagination. A.
565-6. Shone $tart, (fc. : Appeared to be stars.
568. Hesperian gardens : Some have located these on the Cape Verd
Islands ; others on Bissagos, a little above Sierra Leone.
574-6. But up or down, Sfc. : Satan had now passed the fixed stars, and
was directing his course towards the sun ; but it is hard to tell, says the poet,
whether his course was up or down, that is, north or south (ix. 78; x. 675 ,
or whether it was by centre or eccentric, towards the centre or from the
centre, it not being determined whether the sun is the centre of the world
or not ; or whether it was by longitude, that ;s, in length, east or west, as
appears from IV. 539 ; VII. 373. N.
577. Moof: Apart from.
580. Number*: Measures.
142 PARADISE LOST.
So wondrously was set his station bright.
There lands the Fiend, s spot like which perhaps
Astronomer in the Sun's lucent orb
Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw. 690
The place he found beyond expression bright,
Compar'd with aught on earth, metal or stone ;
Not all parts like, but all alike inform M
With radiant light, as glowing iron with fire ;
If metal, part seem'd gold, part silver clear ; 595
If stone, carbuncle most, or chrysolite,
Ruby or topaz, to the twelve that shone
In Aaron's breast-plate, and a stone besides
Imagined rather oft than elsewhere seen,
That stone, or like to that which here below 600
Philosophers in vain so long have sought ;
In vain, though by their pow'rful art they bind
Volatile Hermes, and call up unbound
In various shapes old Proteus from the sea,
590. The spots in the sun are visible. with a telescope; but astronomer
perhaps never saw, " through hi* glazed optic tube," such a spot as Satan, now
he was on the sun's orb. The poet mentions this glass the oftener in honor
of Galileo, whom he means here by the astronomer. N.
593. Informed: Inwrought.
597. To : It means, and so on, up to the twelve, or, including all the
twelve.
600. Stone : A stone, or substance which the alchemists endeavoured to
prepare, by a mixture of which with the common metals they hoped to con-
vert them into gold.
603. Volatile Hermet : Hermes is the Greek name for Mercury, who pos-
sessed a winged cap and sandals, which enabled him to pass rapidly from one
part of space to another. While the poet evidently alludet to this fabulous
being, he seems to speak of the metal, called mercury, or quicksilver, which
is volatile, or rises into the air, by the application of intense heat. We
know that the alchemists made great use of this metal in their vain endea-
vours to manufacture a " philosopher's stone," such as they desired. The
binding spoken of may refer to the amalgams which they formed with it.
604. Proteus, a deified mortal (according to the old Grecian mythology \ a
tooth-saying and wonder-working old man of the sea, who fed the phocaeof
Neptune in the iEgean Sea, and was said by wandering mariners to sun himself
with his sea-calves, and to sleep at mid-day on the desert island of Pharos,
BOOK III. 143
Drain'd through a limbec to his native form. 605
What wonder then if fields and regions here
Breathe forth Elixir pure, and rivers run
Potable gold, when with one virtuous touch
Th' arch-chemic Sun, so far from us remote,
Produces with terrestrial humour mix'd 610
Here in the dark so many precious things
Of colour glorious and effect so rare ?
Here matter new to gaze the Devil met
and elsewhere. He prophesied only when compelled by force and art. He
tried every means to elude those who consulted him, and changed himself,
after the manner of the sea-gods, into every shape ; into beasts, trees, ser-
pents, and even into fire and water. But whoever boldly held him fast re-
ceived a revelation of whatever he wished to know, whether past, present,
or future (Odyssey iv. 351). Any one who hastily changes his principles
is, from this old sea-god, called a Proteus. ENCYCLOP. AMER.
From the variety of shapes which this god was accustomed to assume and
lay aside, Milton alludes to him. in order to illustrate the various changes to
which substances were subjected in the limbec (alembic), or still, of the in-
dustrious alchemist. Possibly sea-water, which is a compound of many con-
stituents, was one of those substances.
The passage then means (as Newton observes) , Though by their powerful
art they bind and fix quicksilver, and change their matter (a representative
of which Proteus has been supposed to be) unbound, unfixed, into as many
various shapes as Proteus, till it be reduced at last, by draining through their
stills, to its first original form. To bind or fix, is to render a substance inca-
pable of being volatilized by heat. So the alchemists understood the term.
606. What wonder, Sfc. : And if alchemists can do so much, what wonder
then if the sun itself is the true philosopher's stone, the grand elixir, and
rivers of liquid gold ; when the sun, the chief of alchemists, though at so
great a distance, can perform such wonders upon earth, and produce so many
precious things ? The thought of making the sun the chief alchemist, seems
to be taken from Shakspeare's King John, Act iii.
' To solemni/e this day. the glorious sun
Stays in his course and plays the alchemist,
Turning with splendour of his precious ere
The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold."
N.
tftn). rfert : In the sun, which he was speaking of.
607. Elifir pure : Elixir vitae, a medicine for perpetuating life, was also
n earnest object of pursuit with the alchemists.
608. Potable: Drinkable. Virtuous: Efficacious.
144 PARADISE LOST.
Undazzled ; far and wide his eye commands ;
For sight no obstacle found here, nor shade, 615
But all sunshine, as when his beams at noon
Culminate from th' equator, as they now
Shot upward still direct, whence no way round
Shadow from body opaque can fall ; and th' air,
No where so clear, sharpen'd his visual ray 620
To objects distant far, whereby he soon
Saw within ken a glorious Angel stand,
The same whom John saw also in the Sun.
His back was turn'd, but not his brightness hid :
Of beaming sunny rays a golden tiar 625
Circled his head, nor less his locks behind
Illustrious on his shoulders fledge with wings
Lay waving round. On some great charge employ'd
He seem'd, or fix'd in cogitation deep.
Glad was the Spirit impure, as now in hope 630
To find who might direct his wand'ring flight
To Paradise, the happy seat of Man,
His journey's end, and our beginning woe.
But first he casts to change his proper shape,
C 16-1 7. There was no shadow, just as there is none at our equator when
the sun culminates, is at its highest point, is directly overhead, and sends
down his rays from the celestial equator. At they now : For as much as, &c.
621-44. The figures introduced in this passage have, says Hazlitt, all the
elegance and precision of a Greek statue ; glossy and impurpled, tinged with
golden light, and musical as the strings of Memnon's harp !
623. See Rev. xix. 17, " And I saw an angel standing in the sun."
625. Tiar : Coronet, or cap.
627. niuttriout: Lustrous, glossy. Fledge: Furnished.
634. Catti to change, tfc. : That is, meditates to change his shape. KM
shape, speech, and behaviour, upon his transforming himself into an angel of
light, are touched with exquisite beauty. The poet's thought of directing
Satan to the sun, which, in the vulgar opinion of mankind, is the most con*
spicuous pait of the creation, and the placing in it an angel, is a circumstance
very finely contrived, and the more adjusted to a poetical probability, as it
was a received doctrine among the most famous philosophers that every orb
had its intelligent beings ; and as an apostle, in sacred writ, is said to have
wen an angel in the sun. A.
BOOK III. 145
Which else might work him danger or delay : 636
And now a stripling Cherub he appears,
Not of the prime, yet such as in his face
Youth smiled celestial, and to ev'ry limb
Suitable grace diffused, so well he feign'd :
Under a coronet his flowing hair 640
In curls on either cheek play'd ; wings he wore
Of many a colour'd plume, sprinkled with gold ;
His habit fit for speed succinct, and held
Before his decent steps a silver wand.
He drew not nigh unheard : the Angel bright, 645
Ere he drew nigh, his radiant visage turn'd,
Admonish 'd by his ear, and straight was known
Th' Arch- Angel Uriel, one of the seven
Who in God's presence, nearest to his throne,
Stand ready at command, and are his eyes 650
That run through all the Heav'ns, or down to th' Earth
Bear his swift errands over moist and dry,
O'er sea and land : him Satan thus accosts :
Uriel, for thou of those sev'n Spirits that stand
In sight of God's high throne, gloriously bright, 655
The first art wont his great authentic will
Interpreter through highest Heav'n to bring,
Where all his sons thy embassy attend ;
And here art likeliest, by Supreme decree,
637. Prime : Earliest age.
643. Habit : Dress. As it is contrary to the manner of Milton to put
clothes upon angels, the habit here spoken of may denote the wings, and in
that case the word tuccinct cannot hear its usual signification of girded, but
the metaphorical sense of prepared, ready for action.
644. Decent Graceful. We are reminded of those lines in Horace Ode
iv. book i. :
Junctaeque Nymphis Gratis decenta
Altcrno terrain quatiunt pede ; . . . .
tJQ. See Zech. iv. 10 ; Tobit xii. 15 ; Rev. i. 4 ; v. 6; viii. 2.
654. Uriel : The meaning of this Hebrew name is, God is my light. Hence
with great propriety, the station assigned him is the sun. The Jews sup.
posed that there were seven principal angels who led the heavpnly hosts.
10
146 PARADISE LOST.
Like honour to obtain, and as his eye . 660
To visit oft this new creation round ;
Unspeakable desire to see, and know
All these his wondrous works, but chiefly Man,
His chief delight and favour ; him for whom
All these his works so wondrous he ordain'd, 665
Hath brought me from the choirs of Cherubim
Alone thus wand'ring. Brightest Seraph, tell
In which of all these shining orbs hath Man
His fixed seat, or fixed seat hath none,
But all these shining orbs his choice to dwell ; 670
That I may find him, and with secret gaze
Or open admiration him behold,
On whom the great Creator hath bestow'd
Worlds, and on whom hath all these graces pourM ;
That both in him and all things, as is meet, 675
The Universal Maker we may praise,
Who justly hath driv'n out his rebel foes
To deepest Hell ; and to repair that loss
Created this new happy race of Men
To serve him better : wise are all his ways. 680
So spake the false Dissembler unperceived ;
For neither Man nor Angel can discern
Hypocrisy, the only evil that walks
Invisible, except to God alone,
By his permissive will, thro' Heav'n and Earth : 685
And oft though Wisdom wake, Suspicion sleeps
At Wisdom's gate, and to Simplicity
Resigns her charge, while Goodness thinks no ill
Where no ill seems : which now for once beguiled
Uriel, though regent of the Sun, and held 690
The sharpest sighted Spirit of all in Heav'n ;
064. Delight and favour : Object of delight and favour.
686-89. Sutpician iletpt, tfc. : There is not in my opinion a nobler senti-
ment, or one more poetically expressed, in the whole poem. What great art
has the poet shown in taking off the dryness of a mere moral sentence by
throwing it into the form of a short and beautiful allegory ! T.
690. Held: Considered.
HOOK in. 147
Who to the fraudulen. impostor foul
In his uprightness answer thus return'd :
Fair Angel, thy desire, which tends to know
The works of God, thereby to glorify 695
The great Work -Master, leads to no excess
That reaches blame, but rather merits praise
The more it seems excess, that led thee hither
From thy empyreal mansion thus alone,
To witness with thine eyes what some perhaps 700
Contented with report hear only in Heav'n :
For wonderful indeed are all his works,
Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all
Had in remembrance always with delight :
But what created mind can comprehend 705
Their number, or the wisdom infinite
That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep ?
I saw when at his word the formless mass,
This world's material mould, came to a heap :
Confusion heard his voice, and wild Uproar 710
Stood ruled, stood vast Infinitude confined ;
Till at his second bidding Darkness fled,
Light shone, and Order from Disorder sprung :
Swift to their sev'ral quarters hasted then
The cumbrous elements, Earth, Flood, Air, Fire ; 715
And this ethereal quintessence of Heav'n
Flew upward, spirited with various forms,
That roll'd orbicular, and turn'd to stars
715. Cumbrous, when compared to light
716. Quintessence, literally means the fifth or highest essence. The expres-
lion ethereal quintessence is descriptive of light, as the most subtile form of
matter. Spirited with various forms : Animated as by a spirit, or conveyed
away rapidly, and possessing various forms. &c. The ancients supposed that
the stars and heavens were formed out of a fifth essence, and not of the foui
elements.
718. I taw: An allusion to Prov. viii. 22-29. In the answer which the
angel returns to the disguised evil spirit, there is such a becoming majesty as
is altogether suitable to a superior being. This part of it in which ho repre-
sents himself as present at the creation is very noble in itself, and nut only
148 PARADISE LOST.
Numberless, as thou seest, and how they move :
Each had his place appointed, each his course ; 720
The rest in circuit walls this universe.
Look downward on that globe, whose hither side
With light from hence, though but reflected, shines ;
That place is Earth, the seat of Man ; that light
His day, which else, as th' other hemisphere, 725
Night would invade ; but there the neighb'ring moon
(So call that opposite fair star) her aid
Timely interposes, and her monthly round
Still ending, still renewing, through mid Heav'n,
With borrow'd light her countenance triform 730
Hence fills and empties to enlighten th' Earth,
And in her pale dominion checks the night.
That spot to which I point is Paradise,
Adam's abode, those lofty shades his bow'r.
Thy way thou canst not miss, me mine requires. 735
Thus said, he turn'd ; and Satan bowing low,
As to superior Spirits is wont in Heav'n,
Where honour due and rev'rence none neglects,
Took leave, and tow'rd the coast of earth beneath,
Down from th' ecliptic, sped with hoped success, 740
proper where it is introduced, but requisite to prepare the reader for what
follows in the Seventh Book. A.
721. The rett : The remaining portion of matter (of the " formless mass,'
line 708) , surrounds in an opaque spherical form, as by a wall, the organized
universe, thus guarding it against the encroachments of the raging Chaos (line
710). Compare with lines 419-430. But Newton gives another interpre-
tation : These atars are numberless, &c. ; and the rest of this fifth essence
that is not formed into stars surrounds, and like a wall encloses the universe.
722 Look downward, ifc.: In this part of the speech Milton points out the
Earth with such circumstances that the reader can scarce forbear fancying
himself employed in the same distant view of it. A
730. Triform : There are three principal aspects of the moon ; at new
moon, a bright semi-circle of light ; at the quarter, when a semi-circle is fill-
ed with light ; at the full moon which forms an entire circle of light. There
is an allusion to the goddess Diana, who was called TVi/ormu, from her three-
fold character as goddess of tl .. moon a month, the chase, and the lower re-
gionj
BOOK III. 149
Throws bis steep flight in many an aery wheel,
Nor stay'd, till on Niphates' top he lights.
741. dcry wheel: Either descriptive of his joyous and sportive state of mind
on Hearing the object of his long journey, or the speed with which he has-
tened to consummate his long travel.
742. Niphatu : A mountain of Armenia, in Asia ; near the supposed site,
of Paradise.
MILTON'S SATAN.
Wherever Satan appears, he becomes the centre of the scene. Round
him, as he lies on the fiery gulf, floating many a rood, the flames seem to
do obeisance, even as their red billows break upon his sides. When he rises
up into his proper stature, the surrounding hosts of Hell cling to him, like
leaves to a tree. When he disturbs the old deep of Chaos, its anarchs,
Orcus, Hades, Demogorgon, own a superior. When he stands on Niphates
and bespeaks the sun which was once his footstool. Creation becomes silent,
to listen to" the dread soliloquy. When he enters Eden, a shiver of horror
shakes all its roses, and makes the waters of the four rivers to tremble.
Even in Heaven, the Mountain of the Congregation in the sides of the north,
where he sits, almost mates with the Throne of the Eternal.
Mounted on the night, as on a black charger, carrying all Hell in his
breast, and the trail of Heaven's glory on his brow ; his eyes, eclipsed suns ;
his cheeks furrowed not by the traces of tears, but of thunder ; his wings,
two black forests ; his heart, a mount of millstone ; armed to the teeth ;
doubly armed by pride, fury, and despair ; lonely as death ; hungry as the
grave ; intrenched in immortality ; defiant against every difficulty and dan-
ger, does he pass before us, the most tremendous conception in the compass
of poetry ; the sublimest creation of the mind of man.
Burns, in one of his letters, expresses a resolve to buy a pocket-copy of
Milton, and study that noble ( ? ) character, Satan. We cannot join in this
opinion entirely, although very characteristic of the author of the " Address
to the De'il ;" but we would advise our readers, if they wish to see the
loftiest genius passing into the highest art ; if they wish to see combined in
one stupendous figure every species of beauty, deformity, terror, darkness,
light, calm, convulsion ; the essence of Man. Devil, and Angel, collected into
a something distinct from each, and absolutely unique ; all the elements of
nature ransacked, and all the characters in history analysed, in order to deck
that brow with terror, to fill that eye with fire, to clothe that neck with
thunder, to harden that heart into stone, to give to that port its pride and to
that wing its swiftness, and that glory so terrible to those nostrils snorting
with hatred to God and scorn to Man; to buy, beg, or borrow, a copy of
150 PARADISE LOST.
Milton, ar d study the character of Satan, not like Burns, for its worth, but
for the very grandeur of its worthlessness. An Italian painter drew a re-
presentation of Lucifer so vivid and glowing, that it left the canvas and
came into the painter's soul ; in other words, haunted his mind by night and
day ; became palpable to his eye even when he was absent from the picture .
produced, at last, a frenzy which ended in death. We might wonder that a
similar effect was not produced upon Milton's mind from the long presence
of his own terrific creation (to be thinking of the Devil for six or ten years
together looks like a Satanic possession) , were it not that we remember his
mind was more than equal to confront its own workmanship. He was
enabled, besides, through his habitual religion, to subdue and master his Ion*
of feeling in reference to him. GILFILLA*.
BOOK IV.
THE ARGUMENT.
SATAN, now in prospect of Eden, and nigh the place where he must now
attempt the bold enterprise which he undertook alone against God and Man,
falls into many doubts with himself, and many passions, fear, envy, and de-
spair ; but at length confirms himself in evil, journeys on to Paradise, whose
outward prospect and situation is described, overleaps the bounds, sits in the
shape of a cormorant on the Tree of Life, as highest in the garden, to look
about him. The garden described ; Satan's first sight of Adam and Eve ;
his wonder at their excellent form and happy state, but with resolution to
work their fall ; overhears their discourse, thence gathers that the Tree of
Knowledge was forbidden them to eat of, under penalty of death ; and thereon
intends to found his temptation, by seducing them to transgress ; then leaves
them a while, to know further of their state by some other means. Mean-
while, Uriel, descending on a sunbeam, warns Gabriel, who had in charge
the gate of Paradise, that some evil spirit had escaped the deep, and passed
at noon by his sphere, in the shape of a good Angel, down to Paradise, dis-
covered after by his furious gestures in the Mount; Gabriel promises
.to find him ere morning ; night coming on, Adam and Eve discourse of going
to their rest ; their bower described ; their evening worship ; Gabriel draw-
ing forth his bands of night-watch to walk the round of Paradise, appoints
two strong Angels to Adam's bower, lest the evil spirit should be there
doing some harm to Adam or Eve sleeping ; there they find him at the ear
of Eve, tempting her in a dream, and bring him, though unwilling, to
Gabriel ; by whom questioned, he scornfully answers, prepares resistance
but hindered by a sign from Heaven, flies out of Paradise.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
I BELIEVE that this Book is a general favourite with readers : there are
parts of it beautiful ; but it appears to me far less grand than the Books
which precede it. It has, I think, not only less sublimity, but less poetical
invention. It required less imagination to describe the garden of Eden than
Pandemonium or Chaos. Adam and Eve are the one noble, the other
lovely ; but still they are human beings, with human passions. E. B.
Milton, like Dante, had been unfortunate in ambition and in love. He
had survived his health and his sight, the comforts of his home, and the
prosperity of his party. Of the great men by whom he had been distin-
guished, some had been taken away from the evil to come : some had taken
into foreign climates their unconquerable hatred of oppression : some were
pining in dungeons, and some had poured forth their blood on scaffolds. If
ever despondency and asperity could be excused in any man, they might
have been excused in Milton ; but the strength of his mind overcame every
calamity. His temper was serious, perhaps stem; but it was a temper
which no sufferings could render sullen or fretful. Such as it was, when,
on the eve of great events, he returned from his travels, in the prime of
health and manly beauty, loaded with literary distinctions, and glowing with
patriotic hopes such it continued to be when, after having experienced
every calamity which is incident to our nature, old, poor, sightless, and dis-
graced, he retired to his hovel to die !
Hence it was, that though he wrote the Paradise Lost at a time of life
when images of beauty and tenderness are, in general, beginning to fade, even
from tnose minds in which they have not been effaced by anxiety and disap-
pointment, he adorned it with all that is most lovely and delightful in the physi-
cal and in the moral world. Neither Theocritus nor Ariosto had a finer, or a
more healthful sense of the pleasantness of external objects, or loved better
to luxuriate amidst sunbeams and flowers, the songs of nightingales, the
juice of summer fruits, and the coolness of shady fountains. His poetry
reminds us of the miracles of Alpine scenery: nooks and dells, beautiful
as fairy land, are embosomed in its most nigged and gigantic elevations
The roses and myrtles bloom unchilled on the verge of th avalanche.
MACAULAY.
BOOK IV.
FOR that warning voice, which he who saw
Th' Apocalypse heard cry in Heav'n aloud,
Then when the Dragon, put to second rout,
Came furious down to be revenged on men,
' Woe to th' inhabitants on earth !' that now, 5
While time was, our first parents had been warn'd
The coming of their secret foe, and 'scaped,
Haply so 'scaped his mortal snare : for now
Satan, now first inflamed with rage, came down,
The tempter ere th' accuser of mankind, 10
To wreck on innocent frail man his loss
Of that first battle, and his flight to Hell :
Yet not rejoicing in his speed, though bold
Far off and fearless, nor with cause to boast,
Begins his dire attempt, which nigh the birth 16
Now rolling, boils in his tumultuous breast,
And, like a dev'lish engine, back recoils
Upon himself: horror and doubt distract
His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir
I . The opening of this Book is ingenious and happy. A prominent sub-
ject of the Apocalypse of John (Rev. xii. 2), here referred to. is Satan's
overthrow, whose first attempts upon Man's purity and happiness form the
ground-work of this part of the poem. S.
II. Wreck: Wreak.
13. In hi* tpttd: In the speed he had employed.
I 54 PARADISE LOST.
The Hell within him ; for within him Hell 20
He brings, and round about him ; nor from Hell
One step no more than from himself can fly
By change of place : now Conscience wakes Despair
That slumber'd, wakes the bitter memory
Of what he was, what is, and what must be 25
Worse ; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.
Sometimes tow'rds Eden, which now in his view
Lay pleasant, his grieved look he fixes sad ;
Sometimes tow'rds Heav'n and the full-blazing Sun,
Which now sat high in his meridian tow'r : 30
Then much revolving, thus in sighs began :
thou that with surpassing glory crown 'd, .
Look'st from thy sole dominion like the God
Of this new world ; at whose sight all the stars
Hide their diminish 'd heads ; to thee I call, 35
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,
O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
That bring to my remembrance from what state
24. Memory : Used in the sense of consideration.
30. TbirV : At noon the sun is lifted up as in a tower. Virgil uses the
nmc figure. N.
32. O Thou : An address is here made to the sun, as the most resplendent
object that meets Satan's view, ending in a soliloquy that displays great art,
impiety, and wickedness.
In this splendid soliloquy, the hatred of the fiend does not debar him from
acknowledging how worthy that luminary is of wonder and admiration.
Rousseau, in his last illness, was heard to ejaculate, ' Oh, how beautiful is
the sun ! I feel as if he called my soul towards him !" Indeed, the sun is
so glorious a body, that it can hardly excite our wonder that, in the more
early and ignorant ages, it should have received the honours of deification.
One of the German poets, when about to expire, requested to be raised
from his couch in order to take a last look at that glorious luminary : " Oh."
said he, with the sublimity of enthusiasm, " if a small part of the Eternal's
creation can be so exquisitely beautiful as this, how much more beautiful
must be the Eternal himself!" BUCKE.
Oh Thau. Ifc. : This is one of those magnificent speeches to which no
other name can be given, than that it is supereminently Miltonic. This is
mainly argumentative sublimity ; in which, I think, he is even still greater
than in his splendid and majestic imagery. E. B.
BOOK IV. 155
I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere ;
Till pride and worse ambition threw me down 40
Warring in Heav'n against HeavVs matchless King :
Ah wherefore ! he deserved no such return
From me, whom he created what I was
In that bright eminence, and with his good
Upbraided none ; nor was his service hard. 45
What could be less than to afford him praise,
The easiest recompense, and pay him thanks,
How due ! yet all his good proved ill in me,
And wrought but malice ; lifted up so liigb,
I sdeign'd subjection, and thought one step higher 50
Would set me high'st, and in a moment quit
The debt immense of endless gratitude,
So burdensome still paying, still to owe,
Forgetful what from Him I still received,
And understood not that a grateful mind 65
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharged : what burden then ?
had his pow'rful destiny ordain'd
Me some inferior Angel, I had stood
Then happy ; no unbounded hope had raised 60
Ambition. Yet, why not ? some other Pow'r,
As great might have aspired, and me, though mean,
38. That bring to my remembrance, 6fc. : Satan being now within the
prospect of Eden, and looking round upon the glories of the creation, is
filled with sentiments different from those which he discovered whilst he
was in Hell. The place inspires him with thoughts more adapted to it.
He reflects upon the happy condition from which he fell, and breaks forth
into a speech that is softened with several transient touches of remorse and
elf-accusation ; but, at length, he confirms himself in impenitence, and in
his design of drawing back man into his own state of guilt and misery
This conflict of passions is raised with a great deal of art, as the opening of
his speech to the sun is very bold and noble. A.
40. Pride: An inordinate self-esteem. Ambition: A worse passion, as it
prompted him to impious efforts to acquire equal dominion with God.
50. Sdeign'd : Disdained, from the Italian sdegnare.
55. And connects this verb with the verbs in 50
58. Dettiny : Act of destination.
156 PARADISE LOST.
Drawn to his part ; but other Pow'rs as great
Fell not, but stand unshaken, from within
Or from without, to all temptations arm'd. 65
Hadst thou the same free will and pow'r to stand ?
Thou hadst. Whom hast thou then or what t' accuse,
But Heav'n's free love dealt equally to all ?
Be then his love accursed, since love or hate,
To me alike, it deals eternal woe. 70
Nay, cursed be thou ; since against his thy will
Chose freely what it pow so justly rues.
Me miserable ! which way shall I fly
Infinite wrath, and infinite despair ?
Which way I fly is Hell ; myself am Hell ; 75
And in the lowest deep a lower deep
Still threatening to devour me opens wide,
To which the Hell I suffer seems a Heav'n
then at last relent. Is there no place
Left for repentance, none for pardon left ? 80
None left but by submission ; and that word
DISDAIN forbids me, and my dread of shame
Among the Spirits beneath, whom I seduced
With other promises and other vaunts
Than to submit, boasting 1 could subdue 85
Th' Omnipotent. Ay me, they little know
How dearly I abide that boast so vain,
Under what torments inwardly I groan,
75. Mytelf am Hell, Ifc. : An example of Hyperbole. Hyperboles are of
two kinds ; either such as are employed in description, or such as are sug-
gested by the warmth of passion ; for if the imagination has a tendency to
magnify its objects beyond their natural proportion, passion possesses this
tendency in a vastly stronger degree ; and, therefore, not only excuses the
most daring figures, but very often renders them natural and just. All pas-
sions, without exception, love, terror, amazement, indignation, anger, and
even grief, throw the mind into confusion, aggravate their objects, and, of
course, prompt a hyperbolical style. Hence, the following sentiments of
Satan in Milton, as strongly as they are described, contain nothing but what
is natural and proper, exhibiting the picture of a mind agitated with rage
and despair. BLAIR.
81. That tcord (submission).
BOOK IV. 157
While they adore me on the throne of Hell !
With diadem and sceptre high advanced, 90
The lower still I fall, only supreme
In misery ! such joy ambition finds.
But say I could repent, and could obtain
By act of grace my former state, how soon
Would highth recall high thoughts, how soon unsay 95
What feign'd submission swore ! ease would recant
Vows made in pain, as violent and void ;
For never can true reconcilement grow
Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep
W T hich would but lead me to a worse relapse, 100
And heavier fall : so should I purchase dear
Short intermission bought with double smart.
This knows my Punisher : therefore, as far
From granting he, as I from begging peace.
All hope excluded thus, behold, instead 105
Of us outcast, exiled, his new delight,
Mankind created, and for him this world.
So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,
Farewell remorse : all good to me is lost :
Evil be thou my good ; by thee at least HO
Divided empire with Heav'n's King I hold,
By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign ;
As Man ere long, and this new world shall know.
Thus while he spake, each passion dimm'd his face ;
Thrice changed with pale, ire, envy, and despair ; 115
Which marr'd his borrow'd visage, and betray'd
Him counterfeit, if any eye beheld.
110-J2. The meaning is : Evil be thou my source of happiness; by means
of thee I hold at least divided empire, &c. ; by thee (I repeat), and (here-
fcfter) will reign, perhaps, more than half, by adding Earth to my empire.
114. Tkut while fie spake, Sfc. : The above speech is, perhaps, the finest that
is ascribed to Satan in the whole poem. The evil spirit afterwards proceeds
to make his discoveries concerning our first parents, and to learn after what
manner they may be best attacked. A. Each passion, namely, ire, envy,
and despair, dimmed his face, and changed it into an intense paltnett. To
change with, is an idiom of Latin and Greek writers.
158 PARADISE LOST.
For heav'uly minds from such distempers foul
Are ever clear. Whereof he soon aware,
Each perturbation smooth 'd with outward calm, 120
Artificer of fraud ; and was the first
That practised falsehood under saintly show,
Deep malice to conceal, couch'd with revenge :
Yet not enough had practised to deceive
Uriel once warn'd ; whose eye pursued him down 126
The way he went, and on th' Assyrian mount
Saw him disfigured more than could befall
Spirit of happy sort ; his gestures fierce
He mark'd and mad demeanour, then alone,
As he supposed, all unobserved, unseen. 130
So on he fares, and to the border comes
Of Eden, where delicious Paradise,
Now nearer, crowns with her inclosure green,
As with a rural mound, the champaign head
Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides 135
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild,
Access deny'd ; and over head up grew,
123. Couch 1 d : Lying close.
126. Milton places Eden in Assyria (210, 285), and Niphates was in the
neighbourhood of Eden, III. 742 j IV. 27.
131. Faret: Goes, travels.
132. Satan has now arrived at the border of Eden, where he has a nearer
prospect of Paradise, which the poet represents as situated in a champaign
(level) country, upon the top of a steep hill, called the Mount of Paradise.
The sides of this hill were overgrown with thickets and bushes, so as not to
be passable ; and overhead, above these, on the sides of the hill, likewise,
grew the loftiest trees, and as they ascended in ranks, shade above shade,
they formed a kind of natural theatre, the rows of trees rising one above
another in the same manner as the benches in the theatres and places of
public shows. And yet higher than the highest of these trees grew up the
ttrdurout (verdant) wall of Paradise, a green enclosure like a rural mound
like a bank set with a hedge ; but this hedge grew not up so high as to hinder
Adam 1 & prospect into (view of) the neighbouring country below (nether em-
pire). Above this hedge, or green xi//, grew a circling row of thn finest
fruit trees ; and the only entrance into Paradise was a gate on the eastern
side. N
BOOK IV. 159
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm ;
A sylvan scene ; and as the ranks ascend 140
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view. Yet higher than their tops
The verdurous wall of Paradise up sprung ;
Which to our gen'ral sire gave prospect large
Into his nether empire neighb'ring round : 145
And higher than that wall a circling row
Of goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit,
Blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue,
Appear'd with gay enamel'd colours mix'd :
On which the Sun more glad inipress'd his beams 150
Than in fair ev'ning cloud, or humid bow,
When God hath show'r'd the earth : so lovely seem'd
That landskip : and of pure now purer air
Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires
Vernal delight and joy, able to drive 155
All sadness but despair : now gentle gales,
Fanning their odorif'rous wings, dispense
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
140. A sylvan scene : We are reminded of the beautiful lilies of Virgil,
JE.li. i. 164 :
" Turn silvis sccna coruscis
Desuper, borrentique atrum nemus imminet umbra.*'
148. Fruits : It would accord better with V. 341 ; IV. 249, 422 ; VII.
324 ; VIII. 307, to read fruit. The singular is used to denote hanging fruit,
the plural gathered.
153. Landskip : The originals from which Milton has borrowed in describ-
ing this landscape, are the gardens of Alcinous, and the shady grotto of
Calypso, by Homer ; the garden of Paradise, by Ariosto ; of Armida, by
Tasso; and of Venus, by Marino; and of the Bower of Bliss, by Spenser;
but competent judges affirm that the copy greatly transcends in beauty the
originals.
158. This fine passage is taken from as fine a one in Shakspeare's Twelfth
Night :
" like the sweet south
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing ani giving odour."
160 PARADISE LOST.
Those balmy spoils. As when to them who sail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past 160
Mozambique, off at sea north-east winds blow
Sabean odours from the spicy shore
Of Araby the Blest ; with such delay
Well pleased they slack their course, and many a league
Cheer'd with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles : 165
So entertain'd those odorous sweets the Fiend
Who came their bane, though with them better pleased
Than Asmodeus with the fishy fume
That drove him, though enamour'd, from the spouse
Of Tobit's son, and with a vengeance sent 170
From Media post to Egypt, there fast bound.
Now to th' ascent of that steep savage hill
Satan had journey 'd on, pensive and slow ;
But further way found none, so thick intwined,
As one continued brake, the undergrowth 175
Of shrubs and tangling bushes had perplex'd
All path of man or beast that pass'd that way :
One gate there only was, and that look'd east
On th' other side ; which when th' arch-felon saw,
Due entrance he disdain 'd, and in contempt, 180
This expression of the air's stealing and dispersing the sweets of flowers,
is very common in the best Italian poets. N.
162. Sabean odour* : In Ovington's voyage to Surat (1696) , is the following
passage, p. 55 : " We were pleased with the prospect of this island, because
we had been long strangers to such a sight ; and it gratified us with the
fragrant smells which were wafted from the shore, from whence, at three
leagues' distance, we scented the odours of flowers and fresh herbs ; and, what
is very observable, when, after a tedious stretch at sea, we have deemed our-
selves to be near land by our observation and course, our smell in dark and
misty weather has outdone the acuteness of our sight, and we have discov-
ered land by the fresh smells, before we discovered it with our eyes."
Sabean, from Saba, a city and country of Arabia Felix, celebrated for its
frankincense.
168. jitmodau : The Jewish name of an evil spirit ; the demon of vanity
or of dress.
170. Tobti'* MM: See the Book of Tobit, in the Apocrypha, or Kitto'i
Bib. Cyclop. Art. Tobit, where the incidents adverted to are set forth.
BOOK IV.
161
At one slight bound high overleap'd all bound
Of hill or highest wall, and sheer within
Lights on his feet. As when a prowling wolf,
Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey,
Watching where shepherds pen their flocks at eve 185
In hurdled cots amid the field secure,
Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the fold :
Or as a thief bent to unhoard the cash
Of some rich burgher, whose substantial doors,
Cross-barr'd and bolted fast, fear no assault, 190
In at the window climbs, or o'er the tiles :
So clomb this first grand thief into God's fold ;
So since into his church lewd hirelings climb.
Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life,
The middle tree and highest there that grew, 195
Sat like a cormorant ; yet not true life
181. jit one slight bound, fyc. : His bounding over the walls of Paradise ;
his sitting in the shape of a cormorant upon the tree of life, which stood in
the centre of it, and overtopped all the other trees of the garden ; his alight-
ing among the herd of animals, which are so beautifully represented as play-
ing about Adam and Eve ; together with his transforming himself into dif-
ferent shapes, in order to hear their conversation, are circumstances that
give an agreeable surprise to the reader, and are devised with great art, to
connect that series of adventures in which the poet has engaged this artificer
of fraud. A.
182. Sheer : At once.
183-88. The comparison of Satan to a wolf, and to a thief, is derived from
John x. 1.
192. Clomb: Climbed.
193. Lewd : This word, in the time of Milton, was used in a wider sense
than at present to signify profane, impious, wicked, as well as wanton
I. 490 ; VI. 182.
196. Sat like a cormorant : The thought of Satan's transformation into a
cormorant, and placing himself on the tree of life, seems raised upon that
passage in the Iliad, where two deities are described as perching on the top
of an oak in the shape of vultures. A.
The cormorant is a voracious sea-bird. Dr. Geo. Campbell remarks that
if for cormorant Milton had said " bird of prey," which would have equally
suited both the meaning and the measure, the image would have been
weaker than by this specification. The more general the terms are, the pic-
ture is the weaker ; the more special they are, it is the brighter.
K.
162 PARADISE LOST.
Thereby regain'd, but sat devising death
To them who lived ; nor on the virtue thought
Of that life-giving plant, but only used
For prospect, what well used had been the pledge 200
Of immortality. So little knows
Any, but God alone, to value right
The good before him, but perverts best things
To worst abuse, or to their meanest use.
Beneath him, with new wonder, now he views 205
To all delight of human sense exposed
In narrow room Nature's whole wealth, yea more,
A Heav'n on Earth : for blissful Paradise
Of God the garden was, by him in th' east
Of Eden planted ; Eden stretch'd her line 210
207-8. In reading the poet's exquisite description of the residence fitted
up for our first parents, it is a natural inquiry, How did he proceed in forming
it ? What was the mental process by which he elaborated so beautiful a de
scription, for he writes only from imagination ?
The steps by which he must have proceeded in creating his imaginary
garden, are thus felicitously described by Dugald Stewart (Works, vol. i. 360)
When he first proposed to himself that subject of description, it is reasonable
to suppose that a variety of 'the most striking scenes, which he had seen,
crowded into his mind. The association of ideas suggested them, and the
power of conception placed each of them before him with all its beauties
and imperfections. In every natural scene, if we destine it for any par-
ticular purpose, there are defects and redundancies which art may some-
times, but cannot always, correct. But the power of imagination is un-
limited. She can create and annihilate ; and dispose, at pleasure, her woods,
her rocks, and her rivers. Milton, accordingly, would not copy his Eden
from any one scene, but would select from each the features which were
most eminently beautiful. The power of abstraction enabled him to make
the separation, and taste directed him in the selection. Thus he was fur-
nished with his materials ; by a skilful combination of which, he has created
a landscape, more perfect, probably, in all its parts, than was ever realized
in nature, and, certainly, very different from anything which England ex-
hibited at the period when he wrote. It is a curious remark of Mr. Wai-
pole, that Milton's Eden is free from the defects of the old English garden,
and is imagined on the same principles which it was reserved for the pre-
sent age to carry into existence.
For a similar account of the above process, the reader may consult
Upham's Mental Philosophy, vol. i. pp. 300 8
BOOK IV. 163
From Auran eastward to the royal tow'rs
Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,
Or where the sons of Eden long before
Dwelt in Telassar. In this pleasant soil
His far more pleasant garden God ordain 'd ; 215
Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow
All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste ;
And all amid them stood the tree of life,
High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
Of vegetable gold ; and next to life, 220
Our death, the tree of knowledge, grew fast by,
Knowledge of good bought dear by knowing ill.
Southward through Eden went a river large,
Nor changed his course, but thro' the shaggy hill
Pass'd underneath ingulfd ; for God had thrown 225
That mountain as his garden mould high raised
Upon the rapid current, which thro' veins
Of porous earth with kindly thirst up drawn,
Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill
Water'd the garden : thence united fell 230
Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood,
Which from his darksome passage now appears,
And now divided into four main streams,
211. j&uran : Or Hauran, a region of Syria south of Damascus, mentioned
in Ezek. xlvii. 16, 18. Under the Romans it was called Auranitis.
212. Seleucia : On the bank of the Tigris, forty-five miles north of ancient
Babylon. It was built by Seleucus, one of Alexander's generals, and was
the capital of the Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia.
214. Telassar : A country adjacent to Assyria, Is. xxxvii. 12.
219. Blooming ambrosial fruit : Producing fruit which is delightful both to
the taste and smell ; from ambrosia, a name for the food on which the gods
were fabled to subsist, and to which, along with nectar, they were believed to
owe their immortality.
233. Compare Gen. ii. 10. It is conjectured by Newton, that the river
formed by the combined waters of the Tigris and Euphrates, passed through
the garden; that this river was parted into four other main streams or
rivers, two above the garden, namely, Euphrates and Tigris before their junc-
tion, and two below the garden, the river separating into the rivers Eu-
phrates and Tigris, called, in the time of Moses, Pison and Gihon.
164 PARADISE LOST.
Runs diverse, wand'ring many a famous realm
And country, whereof here needs no account ; 235
But rather to tell how, if Art could tell,
How from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks,
"Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold,
With mazy error under pendent shades
Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed 240
Flow'rs, worthy of Paradise, which not nice Art
In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon
Pour'd forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,
Both where the morning Sun first warmly smote
The open field, and where the unpierced shade 246
Imbrown'd the noontide bow'rs. Thus was this place
A happy rural seat of various view ;
Groves whose rich trees wept od'rous gums and balm,
Others whose fruit burnish'd with golden rind
Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true, 250
If true, here only, and of delicious taste ;
234. Wandering : Travelling over in no direct course.
237. Critped : Curling, or rippling. 238. Orient : Glittering.
239. Pendent : Impending, overhanging.
242. Boon: Bountiful.
246. Imbrown'd: Darkened.
248. Wept : A beautiful personification. Compare Ovid, Met. z. 500
250-51. Hetperian fable * true, if true, here only: Dr. Pierce would in-
clude these words in a parenthesis, to avoid the objection of Dr. Bentley,
that the poets represented the Hesperian apples of solid gold, and, conse-
quently, they could not be of deliciou* tcute. Fable*: Stories, as in XI. 11.
What is said of the Hesperian gardens, is true here only ; if all is not pure
invention, this garden is meant ; and, moreover, these fruits have a delicious
taste, while those had none. N.
The legends concerning these gardens, are quite various. Kitto, in a
recent work, has shown that they originated, probably, in the traditions
which had been handed down concerning Paradise, from the earliest ages,
corrupted and modified, of course, as might be expected.
Of the garden of the Hesperides (says he) we read, that being situated at the
extreme limit of the then known Africa, it was said to have been shut in by
Atlas on every side by lofty mountains, on account of an ancient oracle that
a ion of the Deity would, at a certain time, arrive, open a way of access
BOOK IV. 165
Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,
Or palmy hillock ; or the flow'ry lap
Of some irriguous valley spread her store, 255
Flow'rs of all hue, and without thorn the rose :
Another side, umbrageous grots and caves
Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine
Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
Luxuriant : mean while murm'ring waters fall 260
Down the slope hills, dispersed, or in a lake,
That to the fringed bank with myrtle crown'd
Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams.
thither, and carry off the golden apples which hung on a mysterious tree in
the midst of the garden. Having procured access to the garden, the hero de-
stroyed the watchful serpent that kept the tree, and gathered the apples.
Here we have a strange mixture of the internal and external incidents of
Paradise, the ideas of the primeval people viewing from without the Eden
from which they were excluded, and coveting its golden fruits, mixed up with
those which belong properly to the fall, the serpent, and the tree of life, or
of the tree of knowledge for in these old traditions the trees are not so well
distinguished as in the Mosaic account. In this legend of Hercules the idea
seems to be, that the access to the tree of life is impossible, till the Son of
God opens the way, and overcomes the serpent, by whom that access is pre-
vented.
It deserves remark also, that in most of those accounts of the dragon or
serpent, whom the heathen regarded as the source of evil, and which could
be vanquished only by the Son of God in human form, he is called Typhon
or Python, a word which signifies u to over-persuade, to deceive." Now this
very name Pitho, or Python, designates the great deceiver of mankind.
When the damsel at Philippi is said (Acts xvi. 16) to have been possessed
by " a spirit of divination," it is called in the original ' a spirit of Python ;"
manifestly showing that the pagan Python was and could be no other than
" that Old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world." Rev. xii. 9.
255. Irrigwnu: Watered.
256. Without thorn, tfc. : Thorns and thistles were not brought forth until
the curse was denounced for the sin of man.
257. Another tide (was) umbrageous, tfc. : That is, on another side were
umbrageous (shady) grots, &c.
261-63. The water* fall disperted, or unite their streams in a lake, that
presf-nts her clear looking-glass, holds her crystal mirror, to the fringed
166 PARADISE LOST.
The birds their choir apply ; airs, vernal airs,
Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune 265
The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on th' eternal spring. Not that fair field
Of Enna, where Proserpine gath'ring flow'rs,
Herself a fairer flow'r by gloomy Dis 270
Was gather'd, which cost Ceres all that pain
To seek her through the world, nor that sweet grove
Of Daphne by Orontes, and th' inspired
bank crowned with myrtle. It is usual with the poets (as here and in III.
359) to personify lakes and rivers. N.
265. jittunt : Make musical.
266-67. White univertal Pan, Sfc. : That is, while universal Nature, linked
with the graceful seasons, danced a perpetual round, and throughout the
Earth, yet unjwlluted, led eternal spring. All the poets favour the idea of
the world's creation in the spring. Georg. ii. 338 ; Ovid. Met. i. 107. H.
Pan: The name signifies the whole or a//, this mythological god being
considered the god of all the natural world. He was the god of shep
herds. The woods and mountains of Arcadia, in Greece, were sacred to
him.
The Groeei, in classical mythology, were three beautiful sisters, com
panions of Venus. They presided over scenes of gaiety and amusement
and are regarded as a personification of all that is beautiful in the physical
and social world.
The Hour* were at first guardian goddesses of the three seasons into
which the ancient Greeks divided the year ; afterwards the hours of the day
were committed to their charge. In the moral world, they became the ap-
pointed guardians of law, justice, and peace, which are the producers of ordei
and harmony among men.
Enna : A Sicilian city, the principal site of the worship, of Ceres, the god-
dess of grain and harvests. Her daughter Proserpine, while sporting in the
fertile fields of Enna, with the ocean-nymphs, was stretching forth her hand
to lay hold of a narcissus of great size and beauty, having a hundred flowers
growing from a single root, when, suddenly, the earth opened, the god of the
infernal world Dit or Pluto, by name ascended in a golden chariot, and
carried off the terrified goddess, to be the mistress of his dominions. Her
mother, ignorant of the mode of her abduction, or place of her abode, wan-
dered in frantic grief over the earth in pursuit of her, until she inquired of
the god Heliut (the Sun>, who gave her the information sought
273-74. Daphne : A beautiful grove of cypresses and bay-trees, five mile
from Antioch, in Syria, and near the river Orontes. It received freshnen
BOOK IV 167
Castalian spring, might with this Paradise
Of Eden strive ; nor that Nyseian isle 275
Girt with the river Triton, where old Cham,
Whom Gentiles Ainmon call and Lybian Jove,
Hid Arualthea and her florid son
Young Bacchus from his step-dame Rhea's eye ;
Nor where Abassin kings their issue guard, 280
Mount Amara, though this by some supposed
True Paradise under the Ethiop line
By Nilus' head, inclosed with shining rock,
A whole day's journey high, but wide remote
From this Assyrian garden, where the Fiend 285
Saw undelighted all delight, all kind
Of living creatures, new to sight, and strange.
and beauty from a number of fountains which it contained ; and thus became
a favourite resort for the citizens of Antioch.
The Castalian spring, on Mount Parnassus, was used for purposes of divi-
nation by the priestess of Apollo. There was another fountain of the
same name near Daphne, which, as the story is, gave to those who drank its
waters, a knowledge of futurity. To this the poet may refer.
275-79. Cham, or Ham, son of Noah, called by the Gentiles Amman, or
Hanution, was a name given to Jupiter as worshipped in Lybia ; it is derived
from a Greek word signifying sand.
Amalthea was a beautiful maiden, of whom he became enamoured, which
event awakened the jealousy of Rhea. The isle to which Amalthea and
her son Bacchus were conveyed, is called Nyseian from Nysaeus, a surname
of Bacchus ; it is formed by the river Triton, and is described as possessing
verdant meads, abundant springs, all sorts of trees and flowers, which evei
resounded with the melody of birds.
281. Amara, or Amhara, the highest portion of the Abassin (Abyssin, or
Abyssinian) country. Its kings there placed their children for safe keeping.
The mount is said to have been inclosed with alabaster rocks, and to hav*
required a day to ascend it.
287. Two of far nobler shape : The description of Adam and Eve, as the)
first appeared to Satan, is exquisitely drawn, and sufficient to make the fallei
angel gaze upon them with all that astonishment, and those emotions of envj
which are attributed to him. A.
Dr. Thomas Reid has well observed upon this passage, that the great potr
derives the beauty of the first pair in Paradise from those expressions CT
moral and intellectual qualities which appeared in their outward form ana
demeanour.
168 PARADISE LOST.
Two of far nobler shape erect and tall,
Godlike erect, with native honour clad
In naked majesty scein'd lords of all, 290
And worthy scein'd ; for in their looks divine
The image of their glorious Maker shone,
Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure,
(Severe but in true filial freedom placed),
Whence true authority in men ; though both 295
Not equal, as their sex not equal seem'd
For contemplation he and valour form'd ;
For softness she and sweet attractive grace ;
He for God only, she for God in him :
His fair large front and eye sublime, declared 300
Absolute rule ; and hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clust'ring, but not beneath his shoulders broad
She, as a veil down to the slender waist,
Her unadorned golden tresses wore 305
Dishevell'd, but in wanton ringlets waved
As the vine curls her tendrils ; which imply'd
Subjection, but required with gentle sway,
And by her yielded, by him best received ;
Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, 310
299. For God in him: Or, as some more justly would write it " for God
and him." Compare 440 ; X. 150, and 1 Cor. xi. 7.
302. Hyacinthine lockt : Dark brown.
303. It 'u remarkable that no beard is given to Adam. The poet must
have judged him more comely without one ; or his ideas may have been
guided by the great Italian painters, who always represent Adam without a
beard.
905. Golden treuet : Tresses of a golden hue. The beautiful women of
antiquity are generally described as having locks of this colour. The god-
dess of beauty is hence styled by Horace and Virgil the golden Venus. Mil-
ton's taste was conformed to that of the ancients ; and besides, it is said that
his wife had golden hair, whom, therefore, he may have designed to compli-
ment by forming Eve like her in this respect, which is the more probable,
if it is certain (as Newton affirms) that he drew the portrait of Adam not
without regard to his own person, of which he had no mean opinion.
307. Which implied, tfe. Compare 1 Cor. xi
BOOK IV. 169
And sweet reluctant amorous delay.
Nor those mysterious parts were then conceal'd ;
Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame
Of Nature's works ; honour dishonourable,
Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind 815
With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure,
And banish'd from man's life his happiest life,
Simplicity and spotless innocence !
So pass'd they naked on, nor shunn'd the sight
Of God or Angel, for they thought no ill. 820
So hand in hand they pass'd, the loveliest pair
That ever since in love's embraces met ;
Adam the goodliest man of men since born
His sons ; the fairest of her daughters Eve.
Under a tuft of shade that on a green 325
Stood whispering soft, by a fresh fountain side
They sat them down ; and after no more toil
Of their sweet gard'ning labour than sufficed
To recommend cool Zephyr, and made ease
More easy, wholesome thirst and appetite 330
More grateful, to their supper-fruits they fell,
314. Honour dishonourable : An allusion to 1 Cor. xii. 23. The honour
bestowed by dress is really a dishonour, being a memorial of the fall of our
first parents, and of our own depravity.
315. Ye : Newton prefers to read you, on the ground that the address is
made to shame only.
323-24. These lines are an example of the solecism, and, strictly inter-
preted, would mean that Adam was one of his own sons, and Eve one of her
own daughters ; an evident absurdity. But the mode of expression resembles
that which is often found in Latin and Greek authors, when they use the
superlative for the comparative degree. It only means that Adam was the
goodliest man when compared with his sons, and that Eve was fairer than
any of her daughters-. Achilles is by Homer said to be " the most short-lived
of others," and Nireus to have been " the most elegant of the other Grecians ;"
and Diana is said, by one of the poets, to be " the most beautiful of her at-
tendants," that is, more beautiful than any of her attendants.
327. They tat them down, Ifc, : There is a fine spirit of poetry in the linet
that follow, wherein they are described as sitting on a bed of flowers by the
fide of a fountain, amidst a mixed assembly of animals. A.
Sat is used for itated.
170 PARADISE LOST.
Nectarine fruits which the compliant boughs
Yielded them, side-long as they sat recline
On the soft downy bank dainask'd with flow'rs.
The savoury pulp they chew, and in the rind 335
Still as they thirsted scoop the brimming stream ;
Nor gentle purpose, nor endearing smiles
Wanted, nor youthful dalliance as beseems
Fair couple link'd in happy nuptial league,
Alone as they. About them frisking play'd 340
All beasts of th' earth, since wild, and of all chase
In wood or wilderness, forest or den :
Sporting the lion rauipM, and in his paw
Dandled the kid ; bears, tigers, ounces, pards,
Gambol'd before them ; th' unwieldly elephant, 345
To make them mirth, used all his might, and wreath'd
His lithe proboscis ; close the serpent sly
Insinuating, wove with Gordian twine
His braided train, and of his fatal guile
Gave proof unheeded ; others on the grass 350
Couch'd, and now fill'd with pasture, gazing sat,
Or bedward ruminating ; for the Sun,
332. Compliant : Bending. 333. Recline : In a leaning posture.
334. Damatked: Variegated.
341. Cheat: Chased those taken in hunting.
341. Ramped: Frolicked. 347. Litht: Flexible.
348. Intinuating : Creeping or winding in.
348. Gordian ticlne, or twisting. An allusion is here made to the famous
knot of Gordius, a Phrygian king. The knot which tied the yoke of his
chariot to the draught tree was made in so artful a manner, that the ends of
the cord could not be perceived. This circumstance gave rise to a report
that the empire of Asia was promised by the oracle to the man who could
untie the Gordian knot. Alexander, in passing Gordium. cut the knot with
his sword, and by that act claimed his right to universal authority.
Braided train: In other editions, breaded; interwoven or twisted tail.
351. Couch'd : Lay. This word is placed in such a manner as to require
resting of the voice upon it. and thus to make it doubly expressive. It is
not common to have the rest occur, as hero. <-n the first syllable of the line.
352. Bedward ruminating: Chewing the cud before going to rest. HUM*
BOOK IV. 171
Declined, was hasting now with prone career
To th' ocean isles, aud in th' ascending scale
Of Heav'n the stars that usher cv'ning rose : 355
When Satan still in gaze, as first he stood,
Scarce thus at length fail'd speech recover'd sad :
Hell ! what do mine eyes with grief behold !
Into our room of bliss thus high advanced
Creatures of other mould, earth-born perhaps, 360
Not Spirits, yet to heav'nly Spirits bright
Little inferior ; whom my thoughts pursue
With wonder, and could love, so lively shines
In them divine resemblance, and such grace
The Hand that form'd them on their shape hath pour d. 365
Ah, gentle pair, ye little tbink how nigh
Your change approaches, when all these delights
Will vanish and deliver ye to woe,
More woe, the more your taste is now of joy !
Happy, but for so happy ill secured 370
Long to continue, and this high seat your Heav'n
HI fenced for Heay'n to keep out such a foe
As now is enter'd ; yet no purposed foe
To you, whom I could pity thus forlorn
Though I unpitied : League with you I seek) 375
And mutual amity so strait, so close,
353. Prone: Descending.
354. To the ocean islet : The islands in the western ocean. That the sun
eel in the sea and rose out of it again, was an ancient poetic notion, and has
become part of the phraseology of poetry. And in ascending scale of Heaven :
The balance of Heaven, or Libra, is one of the twelve signs ; and when the
sun is in that sign, as he is at the autumnal equinox, the days and nights are
equal, as if weighed in a balance :
"Libra, dici somnique pares ubi fecerit hoi as."
VIBO Georg. i. 208.
And hence our author seems to have borrowed his metaphor of the scales of
Heaven, weighing night and day, the one ascending as the other sinks. N.
357. With difficulty, and. not till after a long time, he recovered the power
of speech, which had failed him, through astonishment and sadiess.in view
of Adam and Eve.
362. Ps. viii. 5 ; Heb. ii. 7.
172 PARADISE LOST.
That T with you must dwell, or you with me
Henceforth. My dwelling haply may not please,
Like this fair Paradise, your sense ; yet such
Accept your Maker's work ; he gave it me, 380
Which I as freely give : Hell shall unfold,
To entertain you two, her widest gates,
And send forth all her kings ; there will be room,
Not like these narrow limits, to receive
Your num'rous offspring ; if no hotter place, 385
Thank him who puts me loath to this revenge
On you who wrong me not, for him who wrong'd.
And should I at your harmless innocence
Melt, as I do, yet public reason just,
Honour and empire with revenge enlarged, 390
By conqu'ring this new world, compels me now
To do what else, though damn'd, I should abhor.
So spake the Fiend, and with necessity,
The tyrant's plea, excused his dev'lish deeds.
Then from his lofty stand on that high tree 395
Down he alights among the sportful herd
Of those four-footed kinds, himself now one,
Now other, as their shape served best his end
Nearer to view his prey, and unespy'd
To mark what of their state he more might learn 400
By word or action mark'd ; about them round
A lion now he stalks with fiery glare ;
Then as a tiger, who by chance hath spy'd
In some purlieu two gentle fawns at play,
386. Loath: Reluctant.
389-94. Public reason a pleaded in justification of his diabolical and cruel
operations ; that reason consisting in a regard to honour, and the enlargement
of his empire under the influence of revenge. Nereuity is by Milton called
the tyrant- * plea, probably with a view, as Newton thinks, to his own times,
particularly to the plea for ship-money.
395. High tree: The tree of life (198) on which he had been standing for
fome time. He is properly described as assuming the form of the lion and
the tiger ; while the innocent Adam and Eve, destined to be his prey, arc
compared fitly to two gentle fan- m.
404. Purlieu (_nwr. puri". lint, place) pUco free (from trees); a limited
BOOK IV. 173
Straight couches close, then rising changes oft 405
His couchant watch, as one who chose his ground
Whence rushing he might surest seize them both
Griped in each paw : when Adam, first of men
To first of women Eve, thus moving speech,
Turn'd him all ear to hear new utt'rance flow : 410
Sole partner, and sole part, of all these joys,
Dearer thyself than all ; needs must the Pow'r
That made us, and for us this ample world,
Be infinitely good, and of his good
As liberal and free as infinite ; 415
That raised us from the dust, and placed us here
In all this happiness, who at his hand
Have nothing merited, nor can perform
Aught whereof he hath need ; he who requires
From us no other service than to keep 420
This one, this easy charge, of all the trees
In Paradise that bear delicious fruit
pace. This word was originally applied to that part of a royal forest which
had been severed from the rest, and made pure, or free from the forest or
game laws.
406. Couchant : Reclining.
409. Speech : The speeches of these first two lovers flow equally from pas-
sion and sincerity. The professions they make to one another are full of
warmth, but at the same time founded upon truth. In a word, they are the
gallantries of Paradise. A.
411. Sole part, of all, tfc.: Of, here (as frequently in Milton), signifies
among. The sense is : among all these joys thou alone art my partner, and
(what is more) thou alone art part of me, as in 487 :
" Pan of my soul I seek thee, and thce claim
My other half."
PEARCK.
421. Easy charge : It was very natural for Adam to enter upon this topic,
and it was one that Satan was most interested in hearing him discuss. Gen.
ii. 16; i. 28.
422. In Paradite, $c. : There is scarce a speech of Adam or Eve in the
whole poem wherein the .-cntiments and allusions are not taken from this
their delightful habitation. The reader, during their whole course of action,
always finds himself in the walks of Paradise. In short, as the critics have
174 PARADISE LOBT.
So various, not to taste that only tree
Of knowledge, planted by the tree of life ;
So near grows death to life, whatever death is, 425
Some dreadful thing no doubt ; for well thou know'st
God hath pronounced it death to taste that tree,
The only sign of our obedience left
Among so many signs of pow'r and rule
Conferr'd upon us, and dominion giv'n 430
Over all other creatures that possess
Earth, air, and sea. Then let us not think hard
One easy prohibition, who enjoy
Free leave so large to all things else, and choice
Unlimited of manifold delights : 435
But let us ever praise him, and extol
His bounty, following our delightful task
. To prune these growing plants, and tend these flow'rs ;
Which, were it toilsome, yet with thee were sweet.
To whom thus Eve reply'd : thou for whom 440
And from whom I was form'd flesh of thy flesh,
And without whom am to no end, my guide
And head, what thou hast said is just and right.
For we to him indeed all praises owe,
And daily thanks ; I chiefly who enjoy 445
So far the happier lot, enjoying thee
Pre-eminent by so much odds, while thou
Like consort to thyself canst no where find.
remarked, that in those poems wherein shepherds are the actors, the thoughts
ought always to take a tincture from the woods, fields, and rivers ; so we may
observe that our first parents seldom lose sight of their happy station in any*
hing they speak or do ; their thoughts are always " Paradisaical." A.
440. / oft remember : From this and other passages we learn that Milton
considered the period of innocence as covering many days. Compare IV.
639, 680, 712 ; V. 31, &C.
449. That day, tfc. : The remaining part of Eve's speech, in whith she gives
an account of herself upon her first creation, and the manner in which she
was brought to Adam, is as beautiful a passage as any in Milton, or perhaps
in any other author whatsoever. These passages are til worked off with
so much art, that they are capable of pleasing the most delicate reader, with*
out offending the most severe. A.
BOOK IV. 175
That day I oft remember, when from sleep
I first awaked, and found myself reposed 460
Under a shade on flow'rs, much wond'ring where
And what I was, whence thither brought, and how.
Not distant far from thence a murm'ring sound
Of waters issued from a cave, and spread
Into a liquid plain, then stood unmoved 455
Pure as th' expanse of Heav'n. I thither went
With unexperienced thought, and laid me down
On the green bank, to look into the clear
Smooth lake, that to me seem'd another sky.
As I bent down to look, just opposite 460
A shape within the wat'ry gleam appear'd,
Bending to look on me. I started back ;
It started back : but pleased I soon return 'd ;
Pleased it return'd as soon with answ'ring looks
Of sympathy and love : there I had fix'd 465
Mine eyes till now, and pined with vain desire,
Had not a voice thus warn'd me. What thou seest,
What there thou seest, fair Creature, is thyself ;
With thee it came and goes : but follow me,
And I will bring thee where no shadow stays 470
Thy coming, and thy soft embraces, he
Whose image thou art ; him thou shalt enjoy
Inseparably thine : to him shalt bear
450. Awaked: As death is often compared to sleep, so our coining into life
may well be likened to awaking. Adam speaks in the same figure, VIII.
253, which passage should be compared with this. N.
465-6. There I had fixed my eyes till now^ Sfc. : A writer in Addison's Spec-
tator rather shrewdly asks, whether there may not be some moral couched
under the lines in this connection, where the poet lets us know that the first
woman, immediately after her creation, ran to a looking-glass, and became
so enamoured of her own face, that she never would have removed to view
any of the other works of nature, had she not been led off to a man. The
poet seems to have had in view the story of Narcissus in Ovid, Met. Hi. 457,
but has made a much better one.
470-72. A r o shadow may be considered as included in a parenthesis. The
entence may accordingly be read thus : Where he (no shadow) , whose image
thou art, awaits thy coining and thy soft embraces.
176 PARADISE LOST.
Multitudes like thyself, and thence be call'd
Mother of Human liace. What could I do 475
But follow straight, invisibly thus led ?
Till I espy'd thee, fair indeed and tall,
Under a platan ; yet inethought less fair,
Less winning soft, less amiably mild,
Than that smooth wat'ry image. Back I turn'd : 480
Thou following cry'dst aloud, Return, fair Eve ;
Whom fly'st thou ? whom thou fly'st, of him thou art ;
His flesh, his bone : to give thee being I lent
Out of my side to thee, nearest my heart
Substantial life, to have thee by my side 485
Henceforth an individual solace dear ;
Part of my soul I seek thee, and thee claim
My other half : with that thy gentle hand
Seized mine ; I yielded, and from that time see
How beauty is excell'd by manly grace 490
Aii'l wisdom, which alone is truly fair.
So spake our gen'ral mother, and with eyes
Of conjugal attraction unreproved,
478. Platan : From a Greek word signifying broad. The plane-tree, here
described, affords a refreshing and beautiful shade, from the great breadth of
its leaves.
487-88. Part of my $oul .... my other half: An imitation of Horace, Od.
i. 3, 8, u Animae dimidium meae."
490. Eve is not only represented as beautiful, but with conscious beauty.
She has a great idea of herself, and there is some difficulty in prevailing on
her to quit her own image, the first time she discovers its reflection in the
water. HAZLITT.
492. So tpakt our general mother, tfc. : A poet of less judgment and inven-
tion than this great author, would have found it very difficult to fill these
tender parts of the poem with sentiments proper for a state of innocence ; to
describe the warmth of love, and the professions of it, without artifice or hy-
perbole ;. to make the man speak the most endearing things without descend-
ing from his natural dignity, and the woman receiving them without depart-
ing from the modesty of her character : in a word, to adjust the prerogatives
of wisdom and beauty, and make each appear to the other in its proper force
and loveliness. This mutual subordination of the two sexes is wonderfully
kept up in the whole poem, as particularly in the preceding speech of Eve,
and upon the conclusion of it in the following lines.
BOOK IV. 177
And meek surrender, half embracing lean'd
On our first father ; half her swelling breast 495
Naked met his under the flowing gold
Of her loose tresses hid : he in delight,
Both of her beauty and submissive charms,
Smiled with superior love, as Jupiter
On Juno smiles when he impregns the clouds 500
That shed May flow'rs ; and press'd her matron lip
With kisses pure. Aside the Devil turn'd
For envy, yet with jealous leer malign
Eyed them askance, and to himself thus 'plain'd :
Sight hateful ! sight tormenting ! thus these two, 505
Imparadiscd in one another's arms,
The happier Eden, shall enjoy their fill
Of bliss on bliss ; while I to Hell am thrust,
Where neither joy nor love, but fierce desire,
Among our other torments not the least, 510
Still unfulfill'd with pain of longing, pines.
Yet let me not forget what I have gain'd
From their own mouths : all is not theirs, it seems ;
One fatal tree there stands, of Knowledge call'd,
Forbidden them to taste : Knowledge forbidden ? 515
The poet adds that the devil turned away, with envy at the sight of so
m :h happiness. A.
499-501. Jupiter and Juno, the principal male and female divinities of the
heathen, are regarded sometimes as presiding over atmospheric phenomena,
such as rain, wind, &c., and also as representing the productive energies of
nature. Their marriage typified the union of Heaven and Earth in the fer-
tilizing rains. The poet here ascribes to them the sending of those rains
which produced the flowers of spring. The simile is drawn by Milton from
the 14th book of the Iliad, and from the Georgics of Virgil, ii. 335. Pretsed:
That is, Adam pressed her matron (married) lip.
500. Impregnt : Renders prolific. The word is pronounced impranet
503. Leer malign : A malignant, oblique look.
505. Jmparad ited : Enjoying a Paradise, placed in a condition resembling
that of Paradise.
509. IVhere, for where 1 *. Milton not unfrequently omits the verb ii, aa in
VIII. 621.
5)5. Knowledge forbidden : A most artful question from its generality, im-
8* L
178 PARADISE LOST.
Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
Envy them that ? Can it be sin to know ?
Can it be death ? And do they only stand
By ignorance ? Is that their happy state,
The proof of their obedience and their faith ? 520
O fair foundation laid whereon to build
Their ruin ! Hence I will excite their minds
With more desire to know, and to reject
Envious commands, invented with design
To keep them low whom knowledge might exalt 525
Equal with Gods : aspiring to be such,
They taste and die. What likelier can ensue ?
But first with narrow search I must walk round
This garden, and no corner leave unspy'd :
A chance but chance may lead where I may meet 330
Some wand'ring' Spirit of Heav'n by fountain side>
Or in thick shade retired, from him to draw
What further would be learn 'd. Live while ye may,
Yet happy pair ; enjoy, till I return,
Short pleasures, for long woes are to succeed. 535
So saying, his proud step he scornful turn'd,
But with sly circumspection, and began
Thro' wood, thro' waste, o'er hill, o'er dale, his roam.
Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heav'n
With earth and ocean* meets, the setting Sun 540
plying, falsely, that some useful knowledge had been forbidden, whereas, as
Newton observes, the only knowledge that was prohibited was the knowledge
of evil by the commission of it
530. A rhanct. iff. : Pearce would include in a parenthesis (but chattrt) , and
thus read the passage : a chanrt, and it can be only a chance, may lead, tft
But perhaps it is best to read it without alteration, and interpret it thus :
There is a chance, or possibility, that chance may lead. &c. Chance in the
second instance is personified. We apply the word to effects or events that
are produced by causes unknown, ot ftgPvgents not intending to produce them.
The word but is used improperly for that, as in Job xii. 2, u No douht but ye
are the people," &c. Addison abounds in the same faulty use of this word,
as for example : u There is no question but Milton had," &c.
539. Longitude: Length or distance, particularly east and west. See note
III. 555, 574.
BOOK IV. . 179
Slowly descended, and with right aspect
Against the eastern gate of Paradise
Levell'd his ev'ning rays : it was a rock
Of alabaster, piled up to the clouds,
Conspicuous far, winding with one ascent 645
Accessible from earth, one entrance high ;
The rest was craggy cliff, that overhung
Still as it rose, impossible to climb.
Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,
Chief of th' angelic guards, awaiting night ; 550
About him exercised heroic games
Th' unarmed youth of Heav'n, but nigh at hand
Celestial armoury, shields, helms, and spears,
Hung high with diamond flaming, and with gold.
Thither came Uriel, gliding through th' even 555
On a sun-beam, swift as a shooting star
541. Slowly descended: This contradicts 353, and therefore, instead of slowly,
lowly has been substituted by some. Dr. Pearce, however, would retain the
present reading, and explaias the difficulty by saying, that the sun descended
slowly at this time because Uriel, its angel, came on a sunbeam to Paradise
(556), and was to return on the same beam, which he could not have done if
the sun had moved on with its usual rapidity of course.
541. With right aspect : In a position directly facing.
548. Still as it rose : More and more as it rose in height.
549. Gabriel : One of the archangels (Dan. viii. 9 ; Luke i.) The name
ignifies the strength of God.
551. Heroic games: They watched only at night, and exercised themselves
rigorously duri/ig the day. So the infernal spirits were engaged, in the ab-
sence of Satan, II. 528.
555. Through the even : During the last decline of day ; or, through the
evening sky.
556. Swift as a shooting star : See Iliad iv. 74, where the descent o.
Minerva from Heaven is compared to the same object.
556. On a sun-beam, Sfc. : As Uriel was coming from the sun to the earth,
his traveling upon a sun-beam was in the most direct and level course that
he could take; for the sun's rays were now pointed right against the eastern
gate of Paradise, where Gabriel was -eitting, and to whom Uriel was going.
The thought of making him glide on a sun-beam, I have been informed, is
taken from some capital picture of some great Italian master, where an ange'
is made to descend in like manner. N.
180 PARADISE LOST.
In autumn thwarts the night, when vapours fired
Impress the air, and shews the mariner
From what point of his compass to beware
Impetuous winds. He thus began in haste : 560
Gabriel, to thce thy course by lot hath giv'n
Charge and strict watch, that to this happy place
No evil thing approach or enter in.
This day at hight of noon came to my sphere
A Spirit, zealous, as he seem'd, to know 565
More of th' Almighty's works, and chiefly Man,
God's latest image : I described his way
Bent all on speed, and mark'd his aery gait ;
But in the mount that lies from Eden north,
Where he first lighted, soon discern'd his looks 570
Alien from Hcav'n, with passions far obscured :
Mine eye pursued him still, but under shade
Lost sight of him. One of the banish'd crew,
I fear, hath ventured from the deep, to raise
New troubles : him thy care must be to find. 575
To whom the winged warrior thus return'd :
Uriel, no wonder if thy perfect sight,
Amid the Sun's bright circle, where thou sitt'st,
See far and wide : iu at this gate none pass
The vigilance here placed, but such as come 580
Uriel's gliding down to the earth upon a sun-beam, with the poet's device
to make him descend, as well in his return to the nun as in his coming from
it, is a prettiness that might have been admired in a little fanciful poet, but
seems below the genius of Milton. The description of the host of armed
angels walking their nightly round in Paradise, is of another spirit :
'So } ing. on be led hi* radiant filei,
Dtzzling the moon." L. 797-98.
as that account of the hymns which our first parents used to hear them sing
in these their midnight walks .6SO-88 , is altogether divine, and inexpressibly
amusing to the imagination. A.
557. Thwart* the night : Crosses the sky at night.
561-63. Some would include all except the word Gabriel, in a paren-
thesis.
567. The angels were first made in the image of God. See III. 151.
Described : Observed closely. Some read " descried."
BOOK IV. 181
Well known from Heav'n ; and since meridian hour
No creature thence : if Spirit of other sort
So minded, have o'erleap'd these- earthy bounds
On purpose, hard thou know'st it to exclude
Spiritual substance with corporeal bar. 686
But if within the circuit of these walks,
In whatsoever shape he lurk, of whom
Thou tell'st, by morrow dawning I shall know.
So promised he ; and Uriel to his charge
Return 'd on that bright beam, whose point now raised, 590
Bore him slope downward to the Sun, now fall'n
Beneath th' Azores ; whether the prime orb,
Incredible how swift, had thither roll'd
Diurnal, or this less voliibil earth,
By shorter flight to th' east, had left him there 595
Arraying with reflected purple and gold
590. Returned on that bright beam : Milton supposes that Uriel glides back
on the same sun-beam that he came upon ; which he considers not as a flow-
ing point of light, but as a continued rod extending from the sun to the earth.
The extremity of this luminous rod, white Uriel was discoursing, and the sun
gradually descending, must necessarily be raised up higher than when he
came upon it, and consequently bore him slope doivnward on his way back
again. This has been represented by Addison as a pretty device, but below
the genius of Milton (556) , to make Uriel descend, for the sake of more ease
and greater expedition, both in his way/rom the sun, and to the sun again;
but Milton had no such device here. He makes Uriel come from the sun, not
on a descending but on a level ray (541 , from the sun's right aspect to the
east, in the very margin of the horizon. Here is no trick then, nor device ;
but perhaps a too great desire to show his philosophy, as, in the next lines on
this common occasion of the sun's setting, he starts a doubt whether that be
produced in the Ptolemaic or Copernicati way. BENTLEY.
592. Azores : The western islands in the Atlantic, now belonging to Por-
tugal. The word is here to be pronounced in three syllables. Prime orb :
The sun, liad rolled thither diurnal, in a day's time. Or this lest volubil earth :
The second syllable is long ; when short, Milton spelled it voluble, as in IX. 436.
Less voluble, means rolling less. It required less motion for the earth to
move from west to east, upon its own axis, according to the system of
Copernicus, than for the heavens and heavenly bodies to move from east to
west according to the system of Ptolemy. Our author, in like manner, III.
575, questions whether the sun was in the centre of the world or not, so
scrupulous was he in declaring for any system of philosophy. N.
182 PARADISE LOST.
The clouds that on his western throne attend.
Now came still ev'ning on, and twilight grey
Had in her sober liv'ry all things clad ;
Silence accompanied : for beast and bird, 600
They to their grassy couch, these to their nests,
Were slunk, all but the wakeful nightingale :
She all night long her am'rous descant sung :
Silence was pleased. Now glow'd the firmament
With living sapphires : Hesperus, that led 605
The starry host, rode brightest, till the Moon,
Rising in clouded majesty, at length
Apparent queen, unveil'd her peerless light,
And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw.
When Adam thus to Eve : Fair Consort, th' hour 610
Of night, and all things now retired to rest,
Mind us of like repose, since God hath set
Labour and rest, as day and night, to men
Successive ; and the timely dew of sleep
Now falling, with soft slumb'rous weight inclines 615
Our eye-lids. Other creatures all day long
Rove idle, unemploy'd, and less need rest ;
Man hath his daily work of body or mind
598. This is the first evening in the poem : for the action of the preceding
books lying out of the sphere of the sun, the time could not be computed.
When Satan came first to the earth, and made his famous soliloquy, at the
beginning of this book, the sun was high in hit meridian tower ; and this is
the evening of that day ; and surely there never was a finer evening : word*
cannot furnish a more charming description. N.
603. Detcant : Varied song, or tune.
605. Hetperu* : The planet Venus, when in the /, or, when it is to the
earth, an evening star. When in the east, a morning star, it bears the
name of Lucifer, or Light-bringer, because he precedes the sun, and may
easily be imagined as introducing the King of Day. See note on IX. 49.
609. Dark: Darkness.
610. We have another view of our first parents in their evening discourses,
which are full of pleasing images and sentiments suitable to their condition
and characters. The speech of Eve, in particular, is dressed up in such a
..soft and natural turn of words and sentiments, as cannot be sufficiently ad-
mired. A.
BOOK IV.
183
Appointed, which declares his dignity,
And the regard of Heav'n on all his ways ; 620
While other animals inactive range ;
And of their doings God takes no account.
To-morrow, ere fresh morning streak the east
With first approach of light, we must be ris'n,
And at our pleasant labour, to reform 625
Yon flow'ry arbours, yonder alleys green,
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown,
That mock our scant manuring, and require
More hands than ours to lop their wanton growth :
Those blossoms also, and those dropping gums, 630
That lie bestrown unsightly and unsmooth,
Ask riddance, if we mean to tread with ease ;
Meanwhile, as Nature wills, Night bids us rest.
To whom thus Eve, with perfect beauty adorn'd :
My Author and Disposer, what thou bidst, 635
Unargued, I obey ; so God ordains ;
God is thy law, thou mine ; to know no more
Is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise.
With thee conversing I forget all time ;
All seasons and their change, all please alike. 640
Sweet is the breath of Morn, her rising sweet,
625. Reform : Improve.
628. Manuring : Cultivation, from the French manowre, to work with
hands.
640. Seasons of the day are intended, as in VIII. 69 ; IX. 200.
641-56. Milton has been supposed to have derived many of his ideas re-
specting landscape from Tasso, Spenser, Ariosto, and Italian romances. But
a poet, accustomed to the environs of Ludlow, could want no adventitious
aiils to form a taste naturally elegant. Nature alone was Milton's book.
After reading Comus, and the pictures in Paradise Lost, how astonished
are we at the assertion of Johnson, that Milton viewed nature merely
through ' the spectacle of books." Mistaking allusion for description, this
great moralist imagines Milton to call in learning as a principal, when he
calls it in only as an auxiliary. BUCKE.
641-56. The variety oi images in this passage is infinitely pleasing ; and
the recapitulation of each particular image, with a little varying of the ex-
prewiion, makes one of the finest turns ol" words imaginable. A.
184 PARADISE LOST.
With charm of earliest birds ; pleasant the Sun,
When first on this delightful land he spreads
His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower,
Glist'ring with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth 646
After soft show'rs ; and sweet the coming on
Of grateful ev'ning mild ; then silent Night,
With this her solemn bird, and this fair Moon,
And these the gems of Heay'n, her starry train ;
But neither breath of Morn, when she ascends 650
With charm of earliest birds ; nor rising Sun
On this delightful land ; nor herb, fruit, flower,
Glist'ring with dew ; nor fragrance after showers ;
Nor grateful ev'ning mild ; nor silent Night
With this her solemn bird, nor walk by Moon, 655
Or glitt'ring star-light, without thee is sweet.
But wherefore all night long shine these ? For whom
This glorious sight, when sleep hath shut all eyes ?
To whom our general ancestor reply'd :
Daughter of God and Man, accomplish'd Eve, 660
These have their course to finish round the earth
By morrow ev'ning, and from land to land
In order, though to nations yet unborn,
Minist'ring light prepared, they set and rise ;
Lest total darkness should by night regain 665
Her old possession, and extinguish life
In nature and all things, which these soft fires
Not only enlighten, but with kindly heat
Of various influence, foment and warm,
Temper or nourish, or in part shed down 670
Their stellar virtue on all kinds that grow
648. Solemn bird: The nightingale.
671. Their iteUar virtue : As Milton was a universal scholar, he had not a
little affectation of showing his learning of all kinds, and makes Adam dis-
course here somewhat like an adept in astrology, which was too much tne
philosophy of his own times. What he says afterwards of numberless
spiritual creatures walking the earth unseen, and joining in praises to their
great Creator, is of a nobler strain, more agreeable to reason and revelation,
as well as more pleasing to > imagination, and seems to be an imitation
BOOK IY. 185
On earth, made hereby apter to receive
Perfection from the Sun's more potent ray.
These then, though unbeheld in deep of night,
Shine not in vain ; nor think, tho' men were none, 675
That Heav'n would want spectators, God want praise
Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep ;
All these with ceaseless praise his works behold,
Both day and night. How often from the steep 680
Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard
Celestial voices to the midnight air,
Sole, or responsive each to other's note,
Singing their great Creator ! Oft in bands
While they keep watch, or nightly rounding walk 685
With heav'nly touch of instrumental sounds,
In full harmonic number join'd, their songs
Divide the night, and lift our thoughts to Heav'n.
Thus talking hand in hand alone they pass'd
and improvement of old Hesiod's notion of good geniuses, the guardians of
mortal men, clothed with air, wandering over the earth. Hesiod i. 120-125.
N.
674. Deep of night : Late hours of night.
677-78. This is an ancient sentiment. Hesiod and Plato frequently allude
to the existence of invisible beings. Hesiod represents them as wandering
over the earth, keeping account of human actions, both just and unjust.
Chrysostom believed that every Christian has a guardian angel. Cardan
insists that he was attended by one, as Socrates and lamblichus, and many
others supposed themselves to have been. Hermes, a contemporary with
St. Paul (Rom. xv. J4\ assigned to every one not only an angel-guardian,
but a devil, as a tempter. The late Sir Humphrey Davy firmly believed
that there are " thinking beings" nearly surrounding us. and to us invisible.
To insist that nothing exists but what the human eye can see, is more
worthy the intellect of a Caliban than that of a Milton, a Newton, a La
Place, or a Davy. BUCKE.
A similar expression to "walk the earth," :s found in Book VIII. 477,
"creep the ground.''
683. Sole: Alone.
685. Nightly rounding : Nightly going round, as a guard.
688. Divide the night into watches or periods.
680. Thu* talking, tjc. : Adam and Eve, in the state of innocence, are
186 PARADISE LOST.
On to their blissful bow'r ; it was a place 690
Chosen by the Sov'reign Planter, when he framed
All things to Man's delightful use. The roof
Of thickest covert was inwoven shade
Laurel and myrtle, and what higher grew
Of firm and fragrant leaf : on either side 695
Acanthus, and each odorous bushy shrub
Fenced up the verdant wall ; each beauteous flow'r,
Iris all hues, roses, and jessamine,
Rear'd high their flourish' d heads between, and wrought
Mosaic : underfoot the violet, 700
Crocus, and hyacinth, with rich inlay
Broider'd the ground, more colour 'd than with stone
Of costliest emblem. Other creature here,
Beast, bird, insect, or worm, durst enter none:
Such was their awe of Man. In shadier bower 705
characters well imagined, and well supported ; and the different sentiments
arising from difference of sex, are traced out with inimitable delicacy and
philosophical truth. After the fall, the poet makes them retain the same
characters, without any other change than what the transition from inno-
cence to guilt might be supposed to produce, Adam has still that pre-emi-
nence in dignity, and Eve in loveliness, which we should naturally look for
m the father and mother of mankind. BEATTIE.
693. Shade laurel : Shade of laurel, &c.
698. Irii all hue* : Of all hues. The name of this flower, Jleur de lit, o:
flag-flower, is here called Iris from its colours resembling those of the rain-
bow.
699. Flourished : Embellished, beautiful.
700-1. The violet, ffc. : A copy of Homer's description in Iliad xiv. 347,
&c.
702-3. There are several kinds of mosaic, but all of them consist in im-
bedding fragments of different coloured substances, usually glass or stones,
in a cement, so as to produce the effect of a picture. The beautiful chapel
of St. I^awrence, in Florence, which contains the tombs of the Medici,
has been greatly admired by artists on account of the vast multitude of
precious marble, jaspers, agates, avanturines, malachites, &c., applied in
mosaic upon its walls. URE.
703. Of cottliett emblem : Emblem here has the Greek sense of inlay, m-
tertian, inlaid work, by which mathematical or pictorial figures are pro-
duced.
BOOK IV. 187
More sacred and sequester'd, though but feign'd,
Pan or Sylvanus never slept, nor Nymph
Nor Faunus haunted. Here, in close recess,
With flowers, garlands, and sweet-smelling herbs,
Espoused Eve deck'd first her nuptial bed, 710
And heav'nly choirs the hymenean sung,
What day the genial Angel to our sire
Brought her in naked beauty more adorn'd,
More lovely than Pandora, whom the Gods
Endow'd with all their gifts : and too like 715
In sad event, when to th' unwiser son
Of Japhet brought by Hermes, she ensnared
Mankind with her fair looks, to be avenged
On him who had stole Jove's authentic fire.
Thus at their shady lodge arrived, both stood, 720
707. Pan : A fabled Grecian divinity, who presided over flocks and herds.
Sytvanus : A rural Italian God. Nymph : Iff mythology, a goddess of the
mountains, forests, meadows, or waters. According to the ancients, all the
world was full of nymphs some terrestrial, others celestial ; and these had
names assigned to them according to their place of residence, or the parts of
the world over which they were supposed to preside. BRANDE.
708. Faunus : Among the Romans, a kind of demi-god, or rural divinity,
resembling the Pan, of the Greeks ; being possessed, like him, of the power
of prophecy. In form he resembled a satyr, being represented as half goat
and half man. He sometimes bears the name of Sylvan.
714. Pandora : In Grecian mythology, the first mortal female, created by
Jupiter, for the purpose of punishing Prometheus for stealing fire from
Heaven, the authentic, or original fire. All the gods vied in making her pre-
sents, beauty, eloquence, &c., hence her name, which means all-gifted; but
Jupiter gave her a box, filled with numberless evils, which she was desired
to give to the man who married her. She was conducted by Mercury to
Prometheus, who, sensible of the deceit, would not accept the present ; bu
his brother Epimetheus, not being equally prudent, fell a victim to Pan
dora's charms, accepted the box, from which, on its being opened, there
issued all the ills and diseases which have since continued to afflict the
human race. Hope remained, however, at the bottom of the box, as the
only consolation of the troubles of mankind. BRANDE.
For another version of the story consult Anthon's Class. Diet.
7i3. The epithet unwiser, does not imply that his brother Prometheus was
unwise. Milton uses unwiter as any Latin author would imprudentior for not
to wite at he might have been. JOKTIN.
188 PARADISE LO81
Both turn'd, and under open sky adored
The God that made both sky, air, earth, and hoav'n,
Which they beheld, the moon's resplendent globe,
And starry pole : Thou also mad'st the night,
Maker omnipotent, and thou the day, 725
Which we in our appointed work employ'd
Have finish'd, happy in our mutual help
And mutual love, the crown of all our bliss
Ordain'd by thee ; and this delicious place
For us too large, where thy abundance wants 730
Partakers, and uncropt falls to the ground.
But thou hast promised from us two a race
To fill the earth, who shall with us extol
Thy goodness infinite, both when we wake
And when we seek, as now, thy gift of sleep. 735
This said unanimous, and other rites
Observing none, but adoration pure
Which God likes best, into their inmost bower
Handed they went ; and eased the putting off
720-21. Doth Hood, both turn'd: A great admirer of Milton observes, that
he sometimes places two monosyllables at the end of the line, stopping at
the fourth foot, to adapt the measure of the verse to the sense ; and then
begins the next line in the same manner, which has a wonderful effect. N.
720-38. A masterly transition is here made to their evening worship. Dr.
Johnson, in his " Life of Milton," has made a gross attack upon the poet for
his personal neglect of devotional duties, but the injustice of that attack may
be inferred from this passage, as well as from several stanzas at the close of
Book X., and at the beginning of Book XI. ; but, on this point consult I vimey's
Life of Milton, pp. 286-88.
723. Moon : Virg. JEn. vi. 725, " Lucentemque globum lunae."
724. Thou alto, tfr. : A sudden transition here in the mode of speaking ;
first, 8]<eaking of God, and then suddenly turning the discourse, and speaking
to him. A similar transition from the third to the second person may be
seen in the hymn to Hercules, Virg. JEa. viii. 291. N.
736. Other ritet. tfc. : Here, says Thyer, Milton expresses his own favourite
notions of devotion, which, it is well known, were ve'ry much against any-
thing ceremonial ; he was full of the interior of religion, though he little re-
garded the exterior. This remark is just only in relation to the national
church establishment of England, which he held in great disrespect
739 Eated: Being relieved from.
OOK IT. 189
These troublesome disguises which we wear, 740
Straight side by side were laid ; nor turn'd I ween
Adam from his fair spouse, nor Eve the rites
Mysterious of connubial love refused :
Whatever hypocrites austerely talk
Of purity, and place, and innocence, 745
Defaming as impure what God declares
Pure, and commands to some, leaves free to all.
Our Maker bids increase ; who bids abstain
But our Destroyer, foe to God and Man ?
Hail wedded Love, mysterious law, true source 750
Of human offspring, sole propriety
In Paradise of all things common else.
By thee adult'rous lust was driven from men,
Among the bestial herds to range ; by thee,
Founded in reason, loyal, just, and pure, 755
Relations dear, and all the charities
Of father, son, and brother, first were known.
Far be 't, that I should write thee sin or blame,
Or think thee unbefitting holiest place,
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets, 760
Whose bed is undefiled and chaste pronounced,
743-750. Mysterious : Involving a secret or hidden meaning, being repre-
sented by the apostle as emblematic of the spiritual union between Christ
and his church, Eph. v. 32.
74^. Whatever hypocrites, $c. : Our author calls those who, under a
notion of greater purity and perfection, deny and forbid marriage, as they do
in the Church of Rome, hypocrites ; and says afterwards (749) , that it is the
doctrine of oui Destroyer, in allusion to that passage of St. Paul in 1 Tim.
iv. 1, 2, 3. N.
751-52. Sole propriety : The only property ; the only object of which the
exclusive possession belonged to themselves. Of all, Sfc. : Of, as elsewhere
in this poem, is used in the sense of among.
756. Jill the charities : A word used in the Latin signification, and, like
taritatc*. comprehends all the endearments of consanguinity and affinity, as in
Cicero de Offioiis, i. 17, ' Cari sunt parentes, cari liberi, propiuqui, familia-
res ; sed omnes omnium carilatcs patria una complexa est.'' N.
781. An allusion is made to Heb. xiii. 4. Though this panegyric upon
wedded love may be condemned as a digression, yet it can hardly be called
190 PARAOlbB LOST.
Present, or past, as saints and patriarchs used.
Here Love his golden shafts employs, here lights
His constant lamp, and waves his purple wings,
Reigns here and revels ; not in the bought smile 765
Of ha/lots, loveless, joyless, unendear'd,
Casual fruition ; nor in court-amours,
Mix'd dance, or wanton mask, or midnight ball,
Or serenate, which the starved lover sings
To his proud fair, best quitted with disdain. 770
These, lull'd by nightingales, embracing, slept,
And on their naked limbs the flow'ry roof
Shower'd roses, which the morn repair'd. Sleep on,
Blest pair ! and yet happiest, if ye seek
No happier state, and know to know no more. 775
Now had Night measured with her shadowy cone
Half way up hill this vast sublunar vault,
* digression when it grows so naturally out of the subject, and is introduced
so properly while the action of the poem is in a manner suspended, and
while Adam and Eve are lying down to sleep : and if morality be one great
end of poetry, that end cannot be better promoted than by such digressions
as this, and that upon hypocrisy at the latter part of the Third Book. \.
769. Serenate : For serenade, from the Italian ttrenata. Starved : Chilled
with cold, as the serenade is often performed in clear, cold evenings. See
Horace, Ode iu. 10: 1 ; i. 25: 7.
771. Love: An allusion to Cupid, the heathen divinity, who is usually re-
presented as a beautiful boy, with bow and arrows, and with wings.
776. Shadowy cone: The shadow cast by the earth is a cone (a figure
sloping like a sugar loaf) , the base of it resting upon that side of the globe
where the light of the sun does not fall, and. consequently, when it is night
there. This cone, to those who are on the darkened side of the Earth, could
it be seen, would mount as the sun fell lower, and be at its utmost height in
the vault of their heaven at midnight The shadowy cone had now arisen
half-way to that point ; consequently, supposing it to be about the time
when the days and nights are of equal length (X. 329) it must be now
about nine o'clock, the usual time of the angels' setting guard (779) . This
is marking the time very poetically. R.
777. StMunar vault : The shadow of the earth sweeps the whole arch or
vault of heaven between the earth and the moon, and extends beyond the
orbit of the moon, as appears from the eclipses of the moon, which it occa
ions. N.
BOOK IV. 191
And from their ivory port the Cherubim
Forth issuing at th' accustom 'd hour, stood arm'd
To their night-watches in warlike parade, 780
When Gabriel to his next in power thus spake :
Uzziel, half these draw off, and coast the south
With strictest watch ; those other wheel the north ;
Our circuit meets full west. As flame they part ;
Half wheeling to the shield, half to the spear. 785
From these, two strong and subtle Spirits he call'd
That near him stood, and gave them thus in charge :
Ithuriel and Zephon, with wing'd speed
Search thro' this garden ; leave unsearch'd no nook ;
But chiefly where those two fair creatures lodge, 790
Now laid perhaps asleep, secure of harm.
This evening from the Sun's decline arrived
Who tells of some infernal Spirit seen
Hitherward bent (who could have thought ?) escaped
The bars of Hell, on errand bad no doubt : 795
Such where ye find, seize fast, and hither bring.
778. Ivory port, or gate : There is no allusion here to the ivory gate of
sleep mentioned by Homer and Virgil, whence false dreams proceeded ; for
the poet could not intend to insinuate that what he was saying about the
angelic guards, was all fiction. As the rock was of alabaster (543) , so he
makes the gate of ivory. Houses and palaces of ivory are mentioned, as
instances of magnificence, in Scripture, as are, likewise, doors of ivory, in
Ovid, Met iv. 185 :
;' Lemniui extomplo t-alvas pateficit eiurnat."
N.
782. Uzziel : In Hebrew this means " the strength of God."
784. Jit flame they part : A short simile, but expressive of their rapidity of
movement, and of the brightness of their armour, at the same time. It is
suited to those beings of whom the Scripture says, " He maketh hit angel*
spirits, and hit ministers a flame of fire."
785. Shield and spear, are here elegantly put for left hand and right. The
expression may have been borrowed from a phrase in Livy, " Derlinare ou
hastam velad scutum," to wheel to the right or left. HUME.
788. The names of these angels are significant of the offices they per-
formed. Ithuriel, in the Hebrew means the discovery of God. Zeplion, signi-
fies a secret, or searcher of hearts.
192 PARADISE LOST.
So saying, on be led his radiant files,
Dazzling the moon ; these to the bower direct,
In search of whom they sought : him there they found,
Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve, 800
Assaying by his devilish art to reach
The organs of her fancy, and with them forge
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams ;
Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint
Th' animal spirits that from pure blood arise, 805
Like gentle breaths from rivers pure, thence raise
At least distemper'd, discontented thoughts,
Vain hopes, vain aims, inordinate desires,
Blown up with high conceits, ingendcring pride.
Him thus intent Ithuriel with his spear 810
Touch'd lightly ; for no falsehood can endure
Touch of celestial temper, but returns
Of force to its own likeness. Up he starts,
Disco ver'd and surprised. As when a spark
Lights on a heap of nitrous powder, kid 815
Fit for the tun some magazine to store
Against a rumour'd war, the smutty grain
With sudden blaze diffused, inflames the air;
So started up in his own shape the Fiend.
Back stept those two fair Angels, half amazed 820
So sudden to behold the grisly king ;
S03. Jli he lot : As he pleased. 804. Or if: Or (assaying) if.
809. Thence : That is, by tainting the animal spirits, he might raise bad
thoughts and emotions, although they should not lead also to overt trans-
pwnon.
808. Sqvat : Dr. Campbell remarks that no other word could have so hap-
pily expressed the posture, as that which the poet has chosen.
Clou at the ear of Eve : Satan's planting himself at the ear of Eve. under
the form of a toad, in order to produce vain dreams and imaginations, is a
circumstance that gives an agreeable surprise ; so his starting up in his own
form is wonderfully fine, both in the literal description and in the moral
which is concealed under it. His answer (827) upon his being discovered
and demanded to give an account of himself is conformable to the pride and
intrepidity of his character. A.
816. Tun : Cask or barrel.
BOOK IV. 198
Yet thus, unmoved with fear, accost him soon :
Which of those rebel Spirits, adjudged to Hell,
Com'st thou, escaped thy prison ? and transform'd,
Why sat'st thou like an enemy in wait, 825
Here watching at the head of these that sleep ?
Know ye not then, said Satan, fill'd with scorn,
Know ye not me ? Ye knew me once no mate
For you ; there sitting where ye durst not soar.
Not to know me, argues yourselves unknown, 830
The lowest of your throng ; or if ye know,
Why ask ye, and superfluous begin
Your message, like to end as much in vain ?
To whom thus Zephon, answering scorn with scorn,
Think not, revolted Spirit, thy shape the same, 835
Or undiminish'd brightness, to be known
As when thou stood'st in Heav'n upright and pure ;
That glory then, when thou no more wast good,
Departed from thee ; and thou resemblest now
Thy sin and place of doom obscure and foul. 840
But come ; for thou, be sure, shalt give account
To him who sent us, whose charge is to keep
This place inviolable, and these from harm.
So spake the Cherub ; and his grave rebuke,
Severe in youthful beauty, added grace 845
Invincible. Abash'd the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is, and saw
Virtue in her shape how lovely ; saw and pined
His loss ; but chiefly to find here obseVved
His lustre visibly impairM ; yet seem'd 850
834. To whom thut Zephon, ffc. : Zephon's rebuke, with the influence i
had on Satan, is exquisitely graceful and moral. Satan is afterwards led
away to Gabriel, the chief of the guardian angels, who kept watch in Para-
dise. A.
835-36. The meaning seems to be this: Think not, revolted spirit, thy
shape (to be) the same, or undiminished (thy) brightness, (so as) to be known
(recognised) as when, &c.
844. Clterub : A spirit next in order to a seraph.
848. Pined- Regretted.
9 M
194 PARADISE LOST.
Undaunted. If I most contend, said he,
Best with the best, the sender not the sent,
Or all at once ; more glory will be won,
Or less be lost. Thy fear, said Zephon bold,
Will save us trial what the least can do 855
Single against thce wicked, and thence weak.
The Fiend replyM not, overcome with rage ;
Bat like a proud steed rein'd, went haughty on,
Champing his iron curb To strive or fly
He held it vain ; awe from above had qucll'd 860
His heart, not else dismay'd. Now drew they nigh
The western point, where those half-rounding guards
Just met, and closing stood in squadron join'd,
Awaiting next command. To whom their chief,
Gabriel from the front, thus call'd aloud : 865
friends, I hear the tread of nimble feet
Hasting this way, and now by glimpse discern
Ithuriel and Zephon through the shade,
And with them comes a third of regal port,
But faded splendour wan ; who, by his gait 870
And fierce demeanour, seems the prince of Hell,
Not likely to part hence without contest :
Stand firm, for in his look defiance lours.
He scarce had ended, when those two approached,
852. With the beit, tft. : That is, let me, the best, contend with the best,
with the sender, not with the sent.
856. Thenee weak : This sentiment was, probably, drawn from Prov. xxviii.
1 : " The wicked flee when no man pursueth ; but the righteous are bold as
a lion."
858-61. Went haughty on: Satan's disdainful conduct on this occasion, is
so remarkable a beauty, that the most ordinary reader cannot but take
notice of it. Gabriel's discovering his approach at a distance, is drawn with
great strength and liveliness of imagination.
862. Half-rounding : Going half round.
865. Gabriel is pronounced here in three syllables.
866-73. The conference between Gabriel and Satan, abounds with senti-
ments proper for the occasion, and suitable to the persons of the speaker*.
A.
870 Won : A darkish white.
BOOK IV. 195
And brief related whom they brought, wnere found, 875
How busy'd, in what form and posture couch'd.
To whom with stern regard thus Gabriel spake :
Why hast thou, Satan, broke the bounds prescribed
To thy transgressions, and disturb'd the charge
Of others, who approve not to transgress 880
By thy example, but have pow'r and right
To question thy bold entrance on this place ;
Employ'd it seems to violate sleep, and those
Whose dwelling God hath planted here in bliss ?
To whom thus Satan with contemptuous brow : 885
Gabriel, thou hadst in Heav'n th' esteem of wise,
And such I held thee ; but this question ask'd
Puts me in doubt. Lives there who loves his pain ?
WLo would not, finding way, break loose from Hell,
Though thither doom'd ? Thou would'st thyself, no doubt, 890
And boldly venture to whatever place
Farthest from pain, where thou might'st hope to change
Torment with ease, and soonest recompense
Dole with delight, which in this place I sought';
To thee no reason, who knowest only good, 895
But evil hast not try'd : and wilt object
His will who bound us ? Let him surer bar
His iron gates, if he intends our stay
In that dark durance : thus much what was ask'd.
The rest is true, they found me where they say ; 9( V
877. Regard: Look.
879-80. Transgretsion* and transgrest, are* both used in a physical nd no*
in a moral sense. The boundaries of Hell were those prescribec' to tb
movements of Satan, and beyond these Satan was not legally allowed to past
the holy angels appeared not to pass beyond the limits prescribed for theK
own motions or excursions.
893. With tote : A Latin idiom. The English idiom would be "for jo*e.''
The meaning is the same.
894. Dole: Grief.
896. And wilt object : And wilt thou object, &c. A concise mode of ex-
pression similar to '-and know'tt for whom," II. 730.
899. Durance : Imprisonment. What : As to what, &c.
196 PARADISE L08T.
But that implies not violence or harm.
Thus he in scorn. The warlike Angel moved,
Disdainfully, half smiling, thus reply'd :
loss of one in Heav'n to judge of wise,
Since Satan fell, whom folly overthrew, 905
And now returns him from his prison 'scaped,
Gravely in doubt whether to hold them wise
Or not, who ask what boldness brought him hither,
Unlicensed from his bounds in Hell prescribed ;
So wise he judges it to fly from pain 910
However, and to 'scape his punishment.
So judge thou still, presumptuous, till the wrath,
Which thou incurr'st by flying, meet thy flight
Sev'nfold, and scourge that wisdom back to Hell
Which taught thee yet no better, that no pain 915
Can equal anger infinite provoked.
But wherefore thou alone ? Wherefore with thee
Came not all Hell broke loose ? Is pain to them
Less pain, less to be fled ? or thou than they
Less hardy to endure ? Courageous Chief, 920
The first in flight from pain, hadst thou alleged
To thy deserted host this cause of flight,
Thou surely hadst not come sole fugitive.
To which the Fiend thus answer'd, frowning stern :
Not that I less endure, or shrink from pain, 925
Insulting Angel : well thou know'st I stood
Thy fiercest, when in battle to thy aid
The blasting volley'd thunder made all speed,
And seconded thy else not dreaded spear.
But still thy words at random, as before, 930
Argue thy inexperience what behoves
From hard essays and ill successes past,
A faithful leader, not to hazard all
Through ways of danger by himself untry'd :
904. Of witt : Of what is wise.
927. Fitrcett : Greatest fierceness the adjective for a substantiva.
931. Inexperience: Want of knowledge. .
BOOK IV. 197
I therefore, I alone first undertook 935
To wing the desolate abyss, and spy
This new-created world, whereof in Hell
Fame is not silent, here in hope to find
Better abode, and my afflicted Pow'rs
To settle here on earth, or in mid-air ; 940
Though for possession put to try once more
What thou and thy gay legions dare against ;
Whose easier bus 'ness were to serve their Lord
High up in Heav'n, with songs to hymn his throne,
And practised distances to cringe, not fight. 945
To whom the warrior Angel soon reply'd :
To say and straight unsay, pretending first
Wise to fly pain, professing next the spy,
Argues no leader, but a liar traced,
Satan, and couldst thou faithful add ? name, 950
O sacred name of faithfulness profaned !
Faithful to whom ? to thy rebellious crew ?
Army of Fiends, fit body to fit head.
Was this your discipline and faith engaged,
Your military obedience, to dissolve 955
Allegiance to th' acknowledged Pow'r Supreme ?
And thou, sly hypocrite, who now wouldst seem
Patron of liberty, who more than thou
Once fawn'd, and cringed, and servilely adored
Heav'n's awful Monarch ? wherefore but in hope 960
To dispossess him, and thyself to reign ?
But mark what I arreed thee now, Avaunt ;
Fly thither whence thou fledst : if from this hour
Within these hallow'd limita thou appear,
Back to th' infernal pit I drag thee chain'd, 965
And seal thee so, as henceforth not to scorn
945. And : "With" is understood.
962. Arrted : Advise, or award.
965. / drag, for I will drag. The present is often thus used for the
future, to indicate the certainty of the execution of the threat. Compare
Rev. xx. 3.
198 PARADISE LOST.
The facile gates of Hell too slightly barr'd.
So threaten 'd he ; but Satan to no threats
Gave heed, but, waxing more in rage, reply'd :
Then when I am thy captive, talk of chains, 970
Proud limitary Cherub ; but ere then
Far heavier load thyself expect to feel
From my prevailing arm, though Heav'n's King
Ride on thy wings, and thou with thy compeers,
Used to the yoke, draw'st his triumphant wheels 975
In progress through the road of Heav'n star-paved.
While thus he spake, th' angelic squadron bright
Turn'd fiery red, sharpening in mooned horns
Their phalanx, and began to hem him round
With ported spears, as thick as when a field 980
Of Ceres ripe for harvest waving bends
Her bearded grove of ears, which way the wind
Sways them ; the careful plowman doubting stands,
Lest on the threshing-floor his hopeful sheaves
Prove chaff. On th' other side Satan, alarm 'd, 985
Collecting all his might, dilated stood,
Like Teneriff or Atlas, unremoved :
His stature reach'd the sky, and on his crest
967. Facile: Easy.
971. Limitary: A scornful expression as here used by Satan, taunting him
with being placed at the limit as a guard, as if it was a very subordinate
occupation. The epithet was suggested by what the angel said. 964.
974. Wing* : Imagery drawn from Ps. xviii. 10-12 : " He rode upon a
cherub, and did fly." See Ezek. L, x., xi
978. Mooned horn* : Horns like the moon.
980. Ported tpeart : Spears carried with points towards him.
986-87. Dilated ttood : The word dilated expresses very strongly the atti-
tude of an eager and undaunted combatant, whose fury not only seems to
erect and enlarge his stature, but expands, as it were, his whole frame, and
extends every limb. The use of the word unrcmav'd for immovable, is very
poetical, and corresponds with conjugal attraction unreprov'd (492) . TUYER.
987. With more fitness is this comparison employed here than a similar
one by Virgil in relation to ^Eneas, jEn. xii. 701.
988. Hit ttature, $r. ; Imagery derived from Homer's Discord, Iliad iv.
445, and Virgil's Fame, -*n. iv. 177 :
- Inf rediturque tolo. et caput inter nubil* condit."
BOOK IV. 199
Sat horror plumed ; nor wanted in his grasp
What seem'd both spear and shield. Now dreadful deeds 990
Might have ensued, nor only Paradise
In this commotion, but the starry cope
Of Heav'n perhaps, or all the elements
At least had gone to wrack, disturb'd and torn
With violence of this conflict, had not soon 995
Th' Eternal to prevent such horrid fray,
Hung forth in Heav'n his golden scales, yet seen
989. Sat horror plumed : Horror is personified, and is made the plume of
his helmet. How much nobler an idea is this than the horses' tails, and
sphinxes, and dragons, on the helmets of the ancient heroes, or even than
the Chimaera vomiting flames, on the crest of Turnus, JEn. rii. 785. N.
992. Cope : Arch, or concave.
994. Collecting all hit might : Satan clothing himself with terror when
he prepares for the combat, is truly sublime, and, at least, equal to Homer's
description of Discord, celebrated by Longinus. or to that of Fame, in Virgil,
who are both represented with their feet standing on the earth and their
heads reaching above the clouds. It may here be remarked, that Milton is
everywhere full of hints, and sometimes literal translations, taken from the
greatest of the Greek and Latin poets. A.
997. Scales : The breaking off of the combat between Gabriel and Satan
by the hanging out of the golden scales in heaven, is a refinement upon Ho-
mer's thought, who tells us that before the battle between Hector and Achilles,
Jupiter weighed the event of it in a pair of scales. Book xxii.
" Jove lifts the golden balances, that show
The fates of mortal men and things below ;
Here each contending hero's lot he tries,
And weighs, with equal hand, their destinies.
Low sinks the scale surcharged with Hector's fate ;
Heavy with death it sinks, and hell receives the weight.*'
Virgil, before the last decisive combat, describes Jupiter in the same man-
ner, as weighing the fates of Turnus and ^Eneas. Milton, though "he fetched
this beautiful circumstance from the Iliad and ^Eneid, does not only insert it
ss a poetical embellishment, like the authors above-mentioned, but makes an
artful use of it for the proper carrying on of his story, and for the breaking
off of the combat between the two warriors, who were upon the point of en-
gaging. To this we may further add, that Milton is the more justified in
this passage, as we find the same noble allegory in holy writ, where a wicked
prince, some few hours before he was assaulted and slain, is said to have been
" weighed in the scales and to have been found wanting." A.
Further illustrations may be found in Job xxviii. ; xxx vii. ; Is. xl. ; 1 Sam.
ii. 3 ; Prov. xvi. 2.
200 PARADISE LO8T.
Betwixt Astrca and the Scorpion sign,
Wherein all things created first he weighed,
The pendulous round earth with balanced air 1000
In counterpoise, now ponders all events,
Battles, and realms : in these he put two weights,
The sequel each of parting and of fight ;
The latter quick up flew, and kick'd the beam ;
Which Gabriel spying, thus bespake the Fiend : 1005
Satan, I know thy strength, and thou know'st mine ;
Neither our own, but giv'n. What folly then
To boast what arms can do ? since thine no more
Than Ileav'n permits, nor mine, though doubled now
To trample thee as mire : for proof look up, 1010
And read thy lot in yon celestial sign,
Where thou art weigh 'd, and shewn how light, how weak,
998-99. Yet teen betwixt Attrea, tfc. : The constellation Libra, or the Scale*,
ituated between Astnea, or Virgo, and the Scorpion constellation.
1000. Pendulottt: Suspended.
1003. Bentley suggests tignal as a better word than sequel, but it does not
so well accord with the classical passages whence Milton probably derived
the sentiment. See Iliad viii. 69 and ^Eneid xii. 725. Sequel is here put
for that which determined the sequel, consequences, or event, either of parting
or of fight. The weight which decided upon fighting proved the lighter, of
course demonstrated that in arms he would prove inferior to Gabriel (1012) :
the other weight, being the heavier, showed that it was his wisest course to
hasten away from the meditated combat. Newton has called attention to the
difference between Milton's account of the scales and that of Homer and Vir-
gil. In these the fates of the two combatants being weighed one against the
other, and the descent of one of the scales indicating the approaching death ol
him whose fate lay in that scale, quo vergat pondere Uthum : whereas in Mil-
ton nothing is weighed but what relates to Satan only, and in the two scale*
are weighed the two different events of his retreating and of his fighting ; and
this for the purpose simply of satisfying himself, or enabling him to read his
own destiny. The celestial scales (Libra) are used for this purpose a sub-
lime idea. This instance leads Newton justly to remark that, when Milton
imitates a fine passage, he does not imitate it servilely, but makes it an ori-
ginal of his own by his manner of varying and improving it.
1008. 'JTiine and mine are to be referred to itrength (1006) .
1012. The ascending scale is not made the sign of victory, as in Homer
and Virgil, but of lightness and weakness, according to that of Belshazzar,
BOOK IV. 201
If thou resist. The Fiend look'd up, and knew
His mounted scale aloft : nor more ; but fled
Murm'ring, and with him fled the shades of night. 1015
Dan. v. 27, " Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting." So
true it is. that Milton oftener imitates Scripture than Homer and Virgil; even
when he is thought to imitate them most. N.
DIFFICULTIES IN EXECUTING THE PORTRAIT OF OUR
FIRST PARENTS.
The difficulty which met Milton in his portrait of our first parents was,,
obviously, to make them perfect, without being unnatural ; to make them
sinless, and yet distinguish them from angels ; to show them human, yet un-
fallen; to make, in short, a new thing on the earth; a man and woman
beautiful beyond desire, simple beyond disguise, graceful without conscious-
ness, naked without shame, innocent but not insipid, lofty but not proud ;
uniting in themselves the qualities of childhood, manhood, and womanhood
as if, in one season, spring, summer, and autumn could be imagined. This
was the task Milton had to accomplish ; and, at his bidding, there arose the
loveliest creatures of the human imagination, such as poet's eye never, before
or since, imaged in the rainbow or the moonshine, or saw in the light of
dreams ; than fairies more graceful, than the Cherubim and the Seraphim
themselves more beautiful.
Milton's Adam is himself, as he was in his young manhood, ere yet the
cares of life had ploughed his forehead, or quenched his serene eyes. Eve,
again, is Milton's life-long dream of what woman was, and yet may be a
dream from which he again and again awoke, weeping, because the bright
vision had passed away, and a cold reality alone remained. You see in her
every lineament, that he was one, who, from the loftiness of his ideal, had
been disappointed in woman. In the words, frequently repeated as a speci-
men of a blunder,
" Adam, the goodliest man of men, since born
His ions ; the fairest of her daughters. Eve,"
he has unwittingly described the process by which his mind created them.
Adam is the goodliest of his sons, because he is (poetically) formed by com-
bining their better qualities ; and thus are the children the parents of their
father. Eve is the fairest of her daughters ; for it would require the collected
essence of all their excellences to form such another Eve. GIWJLLJN.
9*
BOOK V.
THE ARGUMENT.
X
MORNING approached, Eve relates to Adam her troublesome dream ; ne
likes it not, yet comforts her ; they come forth to their day labours ; their
morning hymn at the door of their bower. God, to render man inexcusable,
sends Raphael to admonish him of his obedience, of his free estate, of his
enemy near at hand, who he is, and why his enemy, and whatever else may
avail Adam to know. Raphael comes down to Paradise, his appearance de-
scribed, his coming discerned by Adam afar off. sitting at the door of his
bower ; he goes out to meet him, brings him to his lodge, entertains him
with the choicest fruits of Paradise got together by Eve ; their discourse at
table ; Raphael performs his message, minds Adam of his state and of his
enemy ; relates, at Adam's request, who that enemy is, and how he came
to be so, beginning from his first revolt in Heaven, and the occasion thereof;
how he drew his legions after him to the parts of the north, and there incited
them to rebel with him, persuading all but only Abdiel, a Seraph ; who iu
argument dissuades and opposes him, then forsakes him.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THIS Book consists of elements of the same character and of similar combi-
nation as the Fourth. Eve's dream, and the manner of relating it are in a very-
high degree poetical. Here the invention is perfect in imagery, sentiment,
and language. The approach of the angel Raphael, as viewed at a distance
by Adam, is designed with all those brilliant circumstances, and those unde-
finable touches, which give the force of embodied reality to a vision.
The hints of a large part of the incidents are taken from the Scriptures ;
but the invention is not on that account the less. To bring the dim, gene-
ral idea into broad light in all its lineaments, is the difficulty, and requires
the power.
The conversation between Raphael and Adam is admirably contrived on
both sides. Those argumentative portions of the poem are almost always
grand. Now and then, indeed, the bard indulges in the display of too much
abstruse learning, or metaphysical subtleties. In relating the cause of Satan's
rebellion, Raphael sustains all the almost unutterable sublimity of his sub-
ject. The hero is drawn wicked and daring beyond prior conception, but
mighty and awful as he is wicked. Language, to express these high thoughts,
would have sunk before any other genius but Milton's; and as he had to
convey the movements of heavenly spirits by earthly comparisons, the diffi-
c j'.tv increased every step E. B.
BOOK V.
Now morn her rosy steps in th' eastern clime
Advancing, sow'd the earth with orient pearl,
When Adam waked, so custom'd, for his sleep
Was aery light from pure digestion bred,
And temp'rate vapours bland, which th' only sound 5
Of leaves and fuming rills, Aurora's fan,
2. Orient pearl was esteemed the most valuable. In Don Quixote is this
passage : " She wept not tears but seed-pearl, or morning dew j and he
thought higher, that they were like orient pearls."
The goddess Aurora, says Dr. Anthon, sometimes represented in a saffron-
coloured robe, with a wand or torch in her hand, coming out of the golden
palace, and ascending a golden chariot. Homer describes her as wearing a
flowing veil, which she throws back to denote dispersion of the night, and
as opening with her rosy fingers the gates of day. Others represent her as a
nymph crowned with flowers, with a star above her head, standing in a
chariot drawn by winged horses, while in one hand she holds a torch, and
with the other scatters roses, as illustrative of the flowers which spring from
the dew, which the poets describe as diffused from the eyes of the goddess
In liquid pearls.
5. Only : for alone.
8. Fuming : Virg. Georg. ii. 217. Aurora 1 * fan is here put for the morn-
ing irind. or breeze ; thus, in the translation of a poem of Du Bartas, is this
line : " Call forth the wind*. Oh Heaven's fresh fans, quoth he." Also in
this passage :
11 . ... now began
Aurora's uiher with her windy fern,
Gently to shake the wood* on vry iid.
204 PARADISE LOST.
Lightly dispersed, and the shrill matin song
Of birds on ev'ry bough ; BO much the more
His wonder was to find unwaken'd Eve
With tresses discomposed, and glowing cheek, 10
As through unquiet rest ; he on his side
Leaning, half raised, with looks of cordial love
Hung over her cnainour'd, and beheld
Beauty, which whether waking or asleep,
Shot forth peculiar graces ; then with voice 15
Mild, as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes,
Her band soft touching, whisper'd thus : Awake,
My fairest, my espoused, my latest found,
7. Matin : Virg. JEn. riii. 456 :
" K.t matutini volucrum fub culmine enntui. 1 '
Though Milton seems to have derived hints and expressions from a great
variety of sources, yet, as Brydges well observes, " he almost always gave
a new character to what he took. The similar passages so numerously
pointed out by commentators, arc not similar in force and poetical spirit.
Words, simple or compound, may be borrowed (as in line 5, above, and in
other lines, from Sylvesters ' Du Bartas') , but the context and application
are different. Just as the brick, which is taken from a cottage, may be
worked into the walls of a palace ; but is the architecture of the palace
therefore taken from the cottage ? Many of the words used by Milton may
be found in the most miserable poetasters of his predecessors."
9. Hit wondtr WXM, Sfc. : We were told, in the foregoing Book, how the
evil spirit practised upon Eve as she lay asleep, in order to inspire her with
thoughts of vanity, pride, and ambition. The author, who shows a wonder-
ful art throughout his whole poem, in preparing the reader for the several
occurrences that arise in it, founds upon the above-mentioned circumstance
the first part of the Fifth Book. Adam, upon his awaking, finds Eve Mill
asleep, with an unusual discomposure in her looks. The posture in which
>ie regards her, is described with a tenderness not to be expressed, as the
whisper with which he awakens her is the softest that was ever conveyed
to a lover's ear. A.
11. Unquiet rett : In the last Book Satan was represented as infusing im-
proper thoughts into her mind ; hence this effect.
1 6. Zrphyrtt* : A soft and gentle wind ; the west wind. Flora : The god-
dess of blossoms and flowers.
17-18. Stroke, my fairnt : It should not be overlooked that Milton, in the
conferences between Adam and Eve, had his eye very frequently upon the
BOOK V. 205
Heav'n's last best gift, my ever new delight,
Awake ; the morning shines, and the fresh field 20
Calls us ; we lose the prime, to mark how spring
Our tender plants, how blows the citron grove,
What drops the myrrh, and what the balmy reed,
How Nature paints her colours, how the bee
Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet. 25
Such whisp'ring waked her, but with startled eye
On Adam, whom embracing, thus she spake :
sole in whom my thoughts find all repose,
My glory, my perfection, glad I see
Book of Canticles (Song of Solomon), in which there is a noble spirit of
eastern poetry, and very often not unlike what we meet with in Homer,
who is generally placed near the age of Solomon. There is no question
that the poet, in the speech that follows, remembered those two passages
which are spoken on a like occasion, and filled with the same pleasing
images of nature. " My beloved spake, and said unto me, ' Rise up, my
love, my fair one, and come away ; for lo ! the winter is past, the rain is
over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the time of the singing of
birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The fig-tree
putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a
good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.' " " Come, my
beloved ! let us go forth into the field ; let us get up early to the vineyards ;
let us see if the vine flourish ; whether the tender grapes appear and the
pomegranates bud forth."
His preferring the garden of Eden to that
" where the sapient king
Held dalliance with his fair Kgyptian sjxjuse,"
shows that the poet had this delightful scene in his mind. A.
21. Prime: Best part of the day (170 ; IX. 200) .
24. I am inclined to think that this mention of Nature is the only blemish
in the passage. None of Adam's curious questionings, which writers have
reprobated, were unnatural in a being continually contemplating the uni-
verse with an undimmed eye ; but it is very inconsistent to suppose he
would personify the principle of things, and separate its operation from the
immediate action of the divine hand. Nature was a noble and splendid
conception in the minds of the heathen poets and philosophers, but it is a
puerile contradiction after the thoughts have been long fixed on a personal
deity. S.
28. O tole : O thou only one.
206 PARADISE LOST.
Thy face, and morn returned ; for I this night 30
(Such night till this I never pass'd) have dream'd,
If dream'd, not as I oft am wont, of thee,
Works of day past, or morrow's next design,
But of offence and trouble, which my mind
Knew never till this irksome night. Methought, 35
Close at mine ear one call'd me forth to walk,
With gentle voice ; I thought it thine : it said,
Why sleep'st thou, Eve ? now is the pleasant time,
The cool, the silent, save where silence yields
To the night-warbling bird, that now awake 40
Tunes sweetest his love-labour'd song ; now reigns
Full orb'd the moon, and with more pleasing light
Shadowy sets off the face of things ; in vain,
If none regard ; Heav'n wakes with all his eyes,
Whom to behold but thee, Nature's desire ? 45
In whose sight all things joy, with ravishment
Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.
I rose as at thy call, but found thee not ;
To find thee I directed then my walk ;
And on, methought, alone I pass'd through ways 50
30. For I this night, Sfc. : The breaks in Eve's narration, are extremely
beautiful, and adapted to the circumstances of one just awakened, before the
thoughts were well recollected. STILLINGFLEET.
38-47. Why tleepttt thou, tfc. : Eve's dream is full of those high conceits
engendering pride, which, we are told, the devil endeavoured to instill into
her. * Of this kind is that part of it where she fancies herself awakened by
Adam, in the beautiful lines that follow.
An injudicious poet would have made Adam talk through the whole work
in such sentiments as these ; but flattery and falsehood are not the courtship
of Milton's Adam, and could not be heard by Eve in her state of innocence,
excepting only in a dream produced on purpose to taint her imagination.
Other vain sentiments of the same kind, in this relation of her dream, will
be obvious to every reader. Though the catastrophe of the poem is finely
presaged on this occasion, the particulars of it are so artfully shadowed, that
they do not anticipate the story which follows in the Ninth Book. It may
be added, that though the vision itself is founded upon truth, the circum-
stances of it are full of that wildness and inconsistency which are natural to
a dream. A.
41. Hit: The nightingale is also sometimes spoken of as feminine
BOOK V.
207
That brought me on a sudden to the tree
Of interdicted knowledge : fair it seem'd,
Much fairer to my fancy than by day :
And as I wond'ring look'd, beside it stood
One shaped and wing'd, like one of those from Heav'n 55
By us oft seen. His dewy locks distill'd
Ambrosia : on that tree he also gazed ;
And fair plant, said he, with fruit surcharged,
Deigns none to ease thy load and taste thy sweet
Nor God, nor Man ? is knowledge so despised ? 69
Or envy, or what reserve forbids to taste ?
Forbid who will, none shall from me withhold
Longer thy offer'd good : why else set here ?
This said, he paused not, but with vent'rous arm
He pluck'd, he tasted ! Me damp horror chill'd 65
At such bold words vouch'd with a deed so bold :
But he thus overjoy'd, fruit divine,
Sweet of thyself, but much more sweet thus cropt,
Forbidden here, it seems, as only fit
For Gods, yet able to make Gods of Men : 70
And why not Gods of Men, since good, the more
Communicated, more abundant grows,
The Author not impair'd, but honour'd more ?
Here, happy creature, fair angelic Eve,
Partake thou also ; happy though thou art, 75
Happier thou may'st be, worthier canst not be :
Taste this, and be henceforth among the Gods
Thyself a Goddess, not to earth confined,
53. Much fairer to my fancy than by day : As the sensations are often
more pleasing, and the images more lively, when we are asleep, than when
we are awake ; and what can be the cause of this ? Our author plainly
thinks it may be effected by the agency of some spiritual being upon the
sensory while we are asleep. N.
57. Ambrotia : Virg. JEn. i. 403 :
' Imbroiiaque com divinum vertice odorem
Spiravere. 1 '
66. Vouched : Confirmed.
67. Overjoyed : After this word supply declared.
208 PARADISE LOST.
But sometimes in the air, as we, sometime*
Ascend to Heav'n, by merit thine, and see 80
What life the Gods live there, and such live thou.
So saying, he drew nigh, and to me held,
Ev'n to my mouth, of that same fruit held part
Which he had pluck'd. The pleasant sav'ry smell
So quicken'd appetite, that I, methought, 85
Could not but taste. Forthwith up to the clouds
With him I flew, and underneath beheld
The earth outstretched immense, a prospect wide
And various ; wond'ring at my flight and change
To this high exaltation ; suddenly 90
My guide was gone, and I, methought, sunk down,
And fell asleep ; but bow glad I waked
To find this but a dream ! Thus Eve her night
Related ; and thus Adain answer'd sad :
Beet image of myself and dearer half, 95
The trouble of thy thoughts this night in sleep
Affects me equally ; nor can I like
This uncouth dream, of evil sprung I fear ;
Yet evil whence ? In thee can harbour none,
Created pure. But know, that in the soul 100
Are many lesser faculties, that serve
Keason as chief: among these Fancy next
Her office holds. Of all external things .
Which the five watchful senses represent,
She forms imaginations, aery shapes ; 105
Which Reason joining or disjoining, frames
79. An ellipsis is here to be supplied : But sometimes (ascend) in the air,
as we do. &c.
93. Night: For u dreams of night."
95. The general style in which, throughout the poem, Eve is addressed by
Adam, or described by the poet, is in the highest degree of compliment ; yet
that which distinguishes Milton from the other poets, who have pampered
the eye and fed the imagination with exuberant descriptions of female beauty,
is the moral severity with which he has tempered them. There is not a
line in his works which tends to licentiousness, or the impression of which,
if it has such a tendency, is not effectually checked by thought and senti-
ment. HAZL.ITT
BOOK V.
209
All what we affirm or what deny, and call
Our knowledge or opinion ; then retires
Into her private cell when Nature rests.
Oft in her absence mimic Fancy wakes 110
To imitate her ; but misjoining shapes,
Wild work produces oft, and most in dreams,
111 matching words and deeds long past or late.
Some such resemblances methinks I find
Of our last evening's talk, in this thy dream, 115
But with addition strange ; yet be not sad.
Evil into the mind of God or Man
May come and go, so unapproved, and leave
No spot or blame behind : Which gives me hope
That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream ' 120
Waking thou never wilt consent to do.
Be not dishearten'd then, nor cloud those looks
That wont to be more cheerful and serene
Than when fair morning first smiles on the world ;
And let us to our fresh employments rise 125
Among the groves, the fountains, and the flowers
That open now their choicest bosom'd smells,
Reserved from night, and kept for thee in store.
So cheer'd he his fair spouse, and she was cheer'd ;
But silently a gentle tear let fall 130
From either eye, and wiped them with her hair.
Two other precious drops that ready stood,
Each in their crystal sluice, he ere they feH
Kiss'd as the gracious signs of sweet remorse
And pious awe, that fear'd to have offended. 135
So all was clear'd, and to the field they haste.
But first, from under shady arborous roof
Soon as they forth were come to open sight
J17. The word Gorf, in this line, may be regarded as synonymous with
angel, being sometimes used by the sacred writers in this sense. John x.
3*>. The poet, in lines 60, 70, uses the word in this sense. S.
129. So cheered he, SfC. : Adam, conformable to his character for superior
wisdom, instructs and comforts Eve upon this occasion. A.
137. jirborout roof: Roof composed of branches of trees.
N
*-'!" PARADISE LOST.
Of day spring, and the Sun, who scarce up risen,
With wheels yet hov'ring o'er the ocean brim, 140
Shot parallel to th' earth his dewy ray,
.Discovering in wide landskip all the east
Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains,
Lowly they bow'd, adoring, and began
Their orisons, each morning duly paid 145
In various style ; for neither various style
Nor holy rapture wanted they to praise
Their Maker, in fit strains pronounced or sung
Unmeditated ; such prompt eloquence
Flow'd from their lips, in prose or num'rous verse, 150
More tuneable than needed lute or harp
To add more sweetness ; and they thus began :
These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good,
Almighty, thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair : thyself how wondrous then ! 155
Unspeakable, who sit'st above these Heav'ns
To us invisible, or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works : yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and pow'r divine.
Speak ye who best can tell, ye sons of light, 160
153. Thete are thy work*, Sfc. : Here commences a most noble hymn in
praise or the Deity. It is written in imitation of one of those Psalms,
where, in the overflowings of. gratitude and praise, the Psalmist calls not
only upon the angels, but upon the most conspicuous parts of the inanimate
creation, to join with him in extolling their common Maker. Invocations
of this nature fill the mind with glorious ideas of God's works, and awaken
that divine enthusiasm which is so natural to devotion. But if this calling
upon the dead parts of nature, is, at all times, a proper kind of worship, it
was, in a peculiar manner, suitable to our first parents, who had the creation
fresh upon their minds, and had not seen the various dispensations of Proi i
dence, nor, consequently, could be made acquainted with those many topics
of praise which might afford matter to the devotions of their posterity. I
need not remark the beautiful spirit of poetry which runs through this
whole hymn, nor tke holiness of that resolution with which it concludes.
A.
160. Sptak ye, ifc. : He is wuptakaJbU (156) : no creature can speak wor-
thily of him as be is ; but speak ye who are best able, ve angels, &c.
BOOK V. 211
Angels; for ye behold Him, and with songs
And choral symphonies, day without night,
Circle his throne rejoicing ! ye in Heav'n,
On Earth join all ye Creatures to extol
Him first, him last, him midst, and without end. 165
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,
If better thou belong not to the dawn,
Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
With thy bright circlet, praise him in thy sphere,
While day arises, that sweet hour of prime. 170
Thou Sun, of this great world both eye and soul,
Acknowledge him thy greater ; sound his praise
In thy eternal course, both when thou climb'st,
And when high noon hast gain'd, and when thou fall'st.
Moon, that now meets the orient Sun, now fly'st, 175
With the fix'd stars, fix'd in their orb that flies,
And ye five other wand'ring fires that move
162. Day vrithout night : Without night such as ours ; yet, not without
a grateful vicissitude. See Book V. 628-9, 645-6 ; VI. 8.
166. Fairest of stars : Venus, here spoken of as the morning star, being so
a part of the year. There is a discrepancy, however, with Book IV. 605,
if we consider Milton as implying that at this time the planet was a morn-
ing star. We must regard this as a general hymn of praise, suited to any
season of the year.
170. Prime : Dawn ; so called because it is the first part of day.
172. Thy greater : Thy superior. The sun is here beautifully personified.
175-76. The train of thought is this : Thou moon, that sometimes dost ap-
proach the bright sun in thy monthly circuit (from full moon to new moon) ,
and dost sometimes recede (as from new to full moon), resound his praise in
connection with the fixed stars, &c. See note on 177.
176. Fixed in their orb (or concentric, crystalline sphere) , that flies, or re-
volves rapidly around the earth; that is, appears to do so. VIII. 19, 21.
177. Ye five other : Dr. Bentley reads four, Venus and the Sun and Moon
having been already mentioned, and only four more remaining, Mercury,
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, according to the discoveries of Milton's age. We
must either suppose that Milton did not consider the morning star as the
planet Venus, which would explain the difficulty suggested in line 166; or
he must be supposed to include the earth, to make up the other five besides
those he had mentioned; and he calls it, VIII. 129, the planet Earth, though
212 PARADISE LOST.
In mystic dance not without song, resound
His praise, who out of darkness call'd up light.
Air, and ye Elements, the eldest birth 180
Of Nature's womb, that in quaternion run
Perpetual circle, multiform, and mix
And nourish all things ; let your ceaseless change
Vary to our great Maker still new praise.
Te Mists and Exhalations that now rise 185
From hill or steaming lake, dusky or grey,
Till the Sun paint your fleecy skirts with gold,
In honour to the world's great Author rise,
Whether to deck with clouds the uncolour'd sky,
Or wet the thirsty earth with falling show'rs, 190
Rising or falling still advance his praise.
His praise, ye Winds, that from four quarters blow
Breathe soft or loud ; and wave your tops, ye Pines,
With every plant ; in sign of worship wave.
Fountains, and ye that warble, as ye flow, 195
Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise.
Join voices all ye living Souls ; ye Birds,
this is not agreeable to the system according to which he is speaking at pre-
sent. N.
Wandering fire* : The planets are thus designated in distinction from the
fixed stars, that do not change their position in the heavens relative to one
another.
178. Not without long : An allusion to the Pythagorean theory, called
" the music of the spheres," by which was only intended, according to
Bishop Newton, the proportion, regularity, and harmony of their motions :
out see note on 625.
180. Element*: It was once supposed that fire, air, earth, and water, were
simple bodies, out of which the world was composed. Modern science has
entirely overturned this theory. See Book III. 715.
181. That in quaternion run, tfc. : That in a fourfold mixture and combina-
tion run a perpetual circle, one element continually changing into another,
according to the doctrine of Heraclitus, borrowed from Orpheus. Cicero de
Nat. Deor. ii. 33. N.
197. Soul* : The word is used here, as it sometimes is in Scripture, for
other creatures besides man. Gen. i. 20, 30, marginal readings. N.
BOOK V. 213
That singing up to Heaven-gate ascend,
Bear on your wings and in your notes his praise.
Ye that in waters glide, and ye that walk 200
The earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep,
Witness if I be silent, morn or ev'n,
To hill or valley, fountain, or fresh shade,
Made vocal by my song, and taught his praise.
Hail Universal Lord, be bounteous still 205
To give us only good ; and if the night
Have gather'd aught of evil, or conceal'd,
Disperse it, as now light dispels the dark.
So pray'd they innocent, and their thoughts
Firm peace recover 'd soon, and wonted calm. 210
On to their morning's rural work they haste,
Among sweet dews and flow'rs ; where any row
Of fruit trees over-woody reach 'd too far
Their pamper'd boughs, and needed hands to check
Fruitless embraces ; or they led the vine 215
To wed her elm ; she spoused about him twines
198. To Heaven gate ascend: Shakspeare had used the same hyperbole,
Cymbeline, Act ii. ; also in Sonnet xxix.
202. It is a curious question, why the singular pronoun 7 is here used in-
stead of the plural, since Adam and Eve were both engaged in this religious
service. The most plausible explanation is that which Stebbing furnishes.
He says, that from Milton's known opinion on the subject of female modesty
and subjection, it is easy to suppose he never intended to represent Ere as
audibly accompanying the devotions of her husband ; an idea which is
strengthened by referring to 1 Cor. xiv. 34, and 1 Tim. ii. 11. But Bishop
Newton explains the matter by saying, that Milton here imitates the ancient
chorus, where sometimes the plural and sometimes the singular number is
used.
205-8. This petition resembles a well-known petition in Plato, offered to
Jupiter : " Give us good things whether we pray for them or not, and remove
from us evil things, even though we pray for them ; and Xenophon tells us
that Socrates was in the habit of praying to the gods simply for good tilings,
as they knew best what things were best.
214. Pampered boughs : Boughs overgrown with superfluous leaves and
fruitless branches ; from the French pamprt. N.
216. To wed her elm : An allusion to Ovid. Met. xiv. 661. Virgil likewise
employs the metaphor of the vice embracing the elm, Georg. ii. 367.
214 PARADISE LOST.
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings
Her dow'r th' adopted clusters, to adorn
His barren leaves. Them thus employ'd beheld
With pity Heav'n's high King, and to him call'd 220
Kaphael, the sociable Spirit, that deign'd
To travel with Tobias, and secured
His marriage with the sev'ntimes-wedded maid.
Raphael, said he, thou hear'st what stir on Earth
Satan from Hell, 'scaped thro' the darksome gulf, 225
Hath raised in Paradise, and how disturb'd
This night the human pair, how he designs
In them at once to ruin all mankind.
Go, therefore, half this day as friend with friend
Converse with Adam, in what bow'r or shade 230
Thou find'st him from the heat of noon retired,
To respite his day-labour with repast,
Or with repose ; and such discourse bring on
As may advise him of his happy state,
Happiness in his pow'r left free to will, 235
Left to his own free will, his will though free,
Yet mutable ; whence warn him to beware
He swerve not too secure. Tell him withal
His danger, and from whom ; what enemy,
Late fall'n himself from Heav'n, is plotting now 240
The fall of others from like state of bliss.
By violence ? No, for that shall be withstood ;
But by deceit and lies. This let him know,
Lest wilfully transgressing he pretend
Surprisal, unadmonish'd, unforewarn'd. 245
So spake th' Eternal Father, and fulfill'd
All justice : nor delay'd the winged Saint
After his charge received ; but from among
222. Tobiat : The story here alluded to may be found in the apocryphal
book of Tobit
224. Raphael : This good spirit is characterized by affability, and by pecu-
liar benevolence towards mankind.
235. In hit power : In the power of him.
BOOK V. 215
Thousand celestial Ardours, where lie stood
Veil'd with his gorgeous wings, up springing light 250
Flew through the midst of Heav'n ; th' angelic choirs,
On each hand parting, to his speed gave way
Through all th' empyreal road ; till at the gate
Of Heav'n arrived, the gate self-open'd wide
On golden hinges turning, as by work 255
Divine the Sov'reign Architect had framed.
From hence no cloud, or, to obstruct his sight,
Star interposed, however small, he sees,
Not unconform to other shining globes,
Earth and the gard'n of God, with cedars crown'd 2GO
Above all hills. As when by night the glass
Of Galileo, less assured, observes
249. Ardours : This term is applied to heavenly spirits either on account of
their brightness or their zeal. Seraphim has the same meaning in Hebrew.
253. Empyreal : Formed of pure fire, or refined light.
254-56. Till at the gate, Sfc. : This passage contrasts beautifully in sound
with that which describes the gates of Hell, Book II. 879-83. See Ho-
mer's Iliad, v. 749.
Raphael's departure from before the throne and his flight through the choirs
of angels, is finely imagined. As Milton everywhere fills his poem with
circumstances that are marvellous and astonishing, he describes the gate of
Heaven as framed after such a manner that it opened of itself upon the ap-
proach of the angel who was to pass through it.
The poet in these lines seems to have regarded two or three passages in
the 18th Iliad, as that in particular where, speaking of Vulcan, Homer says
that he had made twenty tripods running on golden wheels, which, upon oc-
casion, might go of themselves to the assembly of the gods, and, when there
was no more use for them, return again after the same manner.
But, as the miraculous workmanship of Milton's gates is not so extraordi-
nary as this of the tripods, I am persuaded he would not have mentioned it>
had he not been supported in it by a passage of Scripture which speaks of
wheels in Heaven that had life in them, and moved of themselves, or stood
still, in conformity with the Cherubim whom they accompanied.
There is no question that Milton had this circumstance in his thoughts,
because, in the following Book he describes the chariot of the Messiah with
living wheels, according to the plan in Ezekiel's vision. A.
258. Interpotfd : Being interposed ; no cloud or star being interposed to
obstruct his sight, he sees, however small, &c.
262. Atturtd : Certain, or accurate. Galileo was the first who used the
216 PARADISE LOST.
Imagined lands and regions in the moon .
Or pilot, from amidst the Cyclades
Delos or Samos first appearing, kens 265
A cloudy spot. Down thither prone in flight
He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky
Sails between worlds and worlds, with steady wing
Now on the polar winds, then with quick fan
Winnows the buxom air : till within soar 270
Of tow'ring eagles, to all the fowls he seems
A Phoenix, gazed by all, as that sole bird,
telescope for astronomical purposes. He was visited by Milton, while in
Italy, as we learn from the Jhrtopagitica. The glass, by a figure of speech,
is said to obterve the moon, the instrument being put for the astronomer who
looks through it.
264. The Cycladet, embracing Delos and Samos, are Islands of the Grecian
Archipelago.
265. Kent a cloudy tpot : Descries indistinctly those islands ; judging them
at their first appearance to be clouds. The angel had a more distinct view
of the Earth and Paradise.
267-35. He tpeed$, tfc. : Raphael's descent to the earth, with the figure of
his person, is represented in very lively colours, and conformably to the no-
tions given of angels in Scripture. Milton, after having set him forth in all
his heavenly plumage, and represented him as having alighted upon the earth,
the poet concludes his description with a circumstance which is altogether
new, and imagined with the greatest strength of fancy. Raphael's reception
by the guardian angels, his distant appearance to Adam, have all the graces
that poetry is capable of expressing.
270. Beats the yielding, or obedient air.
272. Phoenix that tde bird : The epithet tole is applied to this fabulous
bird, because only one of the species was thought to exist at a time. Its
plumage was exceedingly beautiful. Having lived to the advanced age of
about six hundred years, it constructs a funeral pile of light wood and odorous
gums, upon which, kindled by the rays of a tropical sun, it is consumed.
Another phcrnix starts up from the ashes, bears away the relics of the pile
to Thebes in Egypt, and places them in the Temple of the Sim, other birds
accompanying him in this operation, and gazing Qpon him.
According to another account, she lighted the combustible pile with the
fanning of her wings, and thus apparently consumed herself, but not really ;
this being the process by which she endowed herself with new vitality : she
then
Mount* from her funeral pyre on wingi of flame,
And oir and hine, another and the tame !
BOOK V. 217
When to inshrine his reliques in the Sun's
Bright temple, to Egyptian Thebes he flies.
At once on th' eastern cliff of Paradise 975
He lights, and to his proper shape returns,
A seraph wing'd ; six wings he wore, to shade
His lineaments divine ; the pair that clad
Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast
With regal ornament ; the middle pair 280
Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold
And colours dipt in Heav'n ; the third his feet
Shadow'd from either heel with feather'd mail,
Sky-tinctured grain. Like Maia's son he stood, 285
And shook his plumes, that heav'nly fragrance fill'd
The circuit wide. Straight knew him all the bands
Of Angels under watch ; and to his state,
And to his message high in honour rise ;
For on some message high they gufiss'd him bound. 290
Their glitt'ring tents he pass'd, and now is come
Into the blissful field, through groves of myrrh
And flow'ring odours, cassia, nard, and balm :
A wilderness of sweets ; for Nature here
This fable, which varies in form in different writers, has been used as an
illustration of the doctrine of the resurrection ; sometimes as an emblem of
the renovation of the world, and the revival of a golden age of the world.
See Brande's Diet.
276. Proper shape : His own shape, or rather, his usual attitude. When
flying he teemed to the birds a "phoenix ; now, with his wings adjusted, in the
manner afterwards described, he appears what he really was, a Seraph.
284. Feathered mail: The feathers lie one short of another, resembling
the plates of metal of which coats of mail are composed. R.
Sky-tinctured grain : The fibre, or substance dyed of a sky colour ; there-
fore beautiful and durable.
285. Maia?t ton : Mercury. The poet alludes to the account given by
Homer and Virgil of Mercury's rapid descent to the earth as a messenger of
the gods. Iliad, xxiv. 339 ; JEn. iv. 253. See Dryden's translation of the
latter.
294-97. Wildemett of tweet* : A wild, uncultivated forest of sweet yJo'tti .
Wantoned at in her prime: Roved without restraint, as being hi ner first and
10
218 PARADISE LOST.
Wanton'd as in her prime, and play'd at will 295
Her virgin fancies, pouring forth more sweet,
Wild above rule or art, enormous bliss.
Him through the spicy forest onward come
Adam discern'd, as in the door he sat
Of his cool bow'r, while now the mounted Sun 300
Shot down direct his fervid rays to warm
Earth's inmost womb, more warmth than Adam needs :
And Eve within, due at her hour prepared
For dinner sav'ry fruits, of taste to please
True appetite, and not disrelish thirst 305
Of nect'rous draughts between, from milky stream,
Berry or grape. To whom thus Adam call'd :
Haste hither, Eve, and, worth thy sight, behold
Eastward among those trees, what glorious shape
Comes this way moving ; seems another morn 310
Risen on mid-noon ; some great behest from Heav'n
To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe
This day to be our guest. But go with speed,
And what thy stores contain bring forth, and pour
Abundance, fit to honour and receive 315
Our heav'nly stranger : well we may afford
Our givers their own gifts, and large bestow
From large bestow'd, where Nature multiplies
Her fertile growth, and by diaburd'ning grows
belt state. Nature pouring forth mart twttt : Producing that which was more
sweet for the reason that neither rule nor art had anything to do in its pro*
duction. Enormou* blitt : This delightful fragrance was enormous bliss
that is, it was the source of such bliss ; it was a source of the highest physical
gratification.
310-11. Stemt another morn, tfe. : What an original and splendid thought ;
Such lustre as morning imparts to night, this angel's brightness imparts to noon-
day. His light is as much greater than an ordinary noon-day, as the light of
the morning is superior to the glimmering* of the night. It roust be under-
deratood before scant.
316-17. WM vx may afford, tfc.: This sentiment should be engraven on
the mind as a motive to contribute liberally to all those humane and religious
objects which God has made it our duty to sustain and to promote.
BOOK V. 219
More fruitful ; which instructs us not to spare. 320
To whom thus Eve : Adam, earth's hallo w'd mould,
Of God inspired, email store will serve, where store,
All seasons, ripe for use hangs on the stalk,
Save what by frugal storing firmness gains
To nourish, and superfluous moist consumes : 325
But I will haste, and from each bough and brake,
Each plant and juiciest gourd, will pluck such choice
To entertain our Angel guest, as he
Beholding shall confess, that here on Earth
God hath dispensed his bounties as in Heav'n. 330
So saying, with dispatchful looks in haste
She turns, on hospitable thoughts intent
321-22. EartKs hallowed mould, $c. : Form or model. A phrase descriptive
of Adam.
325. Superfluous moist consume* : This is rather too philosophical for the
female character of Eve. One of the poet's greatest faults is his introducing
inconsistencies in the characters both of angels and man, by mixing too much
with them his own philosophical notions. T.
326. Each bough and brake, tfc. : The bough belongs to fruit trees ; the
plant is such as that which produces strawberries, &c. ; the gourd includes
such as lie on the earth ; and the brake is the species between trees and plants;
a bush. P.
327. Choice: Choice (fruits).
332. On hospitable thoughts, ffc. : The author here gives us a particular de-
scription of Eve in her domestic employments. Though in this and other
parts of the same Book, the subject is only the housewifery of our first pa-
rent, it is set off with so many pleasing images and strong expressions, as
make it none of the least agreeable parts in this divine work. A.
Sir E. Brydges, however, expresses a different and discordant opinion.
u If I may venture," says he, " to express my frank opinion, I confess that I
do not admire this description of Eve's housewifery and table-entertainment
of the angel: it was not necessary, and had been better omitted. The pic-
ture is too earthly, too familiar I had almost said too coarse. It breaks in
upoi. the imaginative spell ; that dimness and mysteriousness in which
spiritual poetry delights."
In defence of Milton, however, against the force of this criticism, it may be
urged, that he probably designed to inculcate, and to enforce, by the highest
example of female loveliness, a virtue which in some quarters is too much
neglected that of looking well " to the ways of one's household." Job xxxi.
15,27.
220 PARADISE LOST.
What choice to choose for delicacy best,
What order, so contrived as not to mix
Tastes, not well join'd, inelegant, but bring 3S5
Taste after taste upheld with kindliest change ;
Bestirs her then, and from each tender stalk
Whatever Earth, all-bearing mother, yields
In India East or West, or middle shore
In Pontus or the Punic coast, or where 340
Alcinous reign'd, fruit of all kinds, in coat
Rough or smooth rined, or bearded husk, or shell,
She gathers, tribute large, and on the board
Heaps with unsparing hand. For drink, the grape
She crushes, inoffensive must, and meaths 345
From many a berry, and from sweet kernels press'd
She tempers dulcet creams, nor these to hold
Wants her fit vessels pure, then strews the ground
With rose and odours from the shrub unfumed.
Mean while our primitive great sire, to meet 350
His god-like guest, walks forth, without more train
Accompany M than with his own complete
333. Choice to choose : Milton and the classical poets often indulge in alli-
teration. See Book VIII. 130; IX. 289; XI. 427.
339. Middle ihore : A comma seems to be required after shore, and then the
expression may indicate, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
340. Pontut : A region of Asia Minor bordering on the Black Sea. Punic :
Carthaginian, in Africa, nearly opposite to Sicily. JUcinovt: A king of
Ph;racia, distinguished for his love of agriculture. The gardens of Alcinous
are described by Homer and succeeding poets. He dwelt on the island of
Corfu, called by Homer Scheria.
345. Inoffensive mutt : This new wine he calls inoffensive, to indicate that it
was not intoxicating, not fermented, but simply the mild juice of the grape.
Aleatht : Sweet liquors.
348. Want* her : Are there wanting to her. Vessels, (i. e.) shells of fruits,
IV. 335, " and in the rind."
349. Shrub unfumed : The shrub gave forth odours without the application
of fire and the emission of smoke. The expression here used of strewing the
ground with odours, is highly poetical.
351. Without more train : That is, with no mart train, iff.
352. Walkt forth, Iff. . The natural majesty of Adam, and, at the same
BOOK V. 221
Perfections : in himself was all his state,
More solemn than the tedious pomp that waits
On princes, when their rich retinue long 355
Of horses led, and grooms besmear'd with gold,
Dazzles the crowd, and seta them all agape.
Nearer his presence Adam, though not awed,
Yet with submiss approach and rev'rence meek,
As to a superior nature, bowing low, 360
Thus said : Native of Heav'n, for other place
None can than Heav'n such glorious shape contain ;
Since by descending from the thrones above,
Those happy places thou hast deign'd a while
To want, and honour these, vouchsafe with us 365
Two only, who yet by sov'reign gift possess
This spacious ground, in yonder shady bow'r
To rest, and what the garden choicest bears
To sit and taste, till this meridian heat
Be over, and the Sun more cool decline. 370
Whom thus the angelic virtue answer'd mild :
Adam, I therefore came ; nor art thou such
Created, or such place hast here to dwell,
As may not oft invite, though Spirits of Heav'n,
To visit thee. Lead on then where thy bow'r 375
O'ershades ; for these mid hours, till ev'ning rise,
I have at will. So to the sylvan lodge
They came, that like Pomona's arbour smiled
With flow'rets deck'd and fragrant smells ; but Eve
time, his submissive behaviour to the superior being who had vouchsafed to
be his guest ; the solemn " hail" which the angel bestows (388) upon the
mother of mankind, with the figure of Eve ministering at the table (444-51),
are circumstances which deserve to be admired. A.
356. Besmeared : Hor. Ode iv. 9 : 14, " Aurum vestibus illitum."
359. Submiss : Poetic term for submissive, respectful.
369. To sit and taste : That is, to taste while sitting. II. 917.
371. Virtue: Spirit
374. After invite, us is to be understood.
377. At will: At my disposal.
378. Pomona'*: Goddess of gardens and fruits. Ovid, Met. xiv. 623
222 PARADISE LOST.
Undeck'd save with herself, more lovely fair 380
Than Wood-Nympb, or the fairest Goddess feign'd
Of three that in mount Ida naked strove,
Stood to entertain her guest from Hcav'n. No veil
She needed, virtue-proof; no thought infirm
Alter'd her cheek. On whom the Angel Hail 385
Bestow'd ; the holy salutation used
Long after to blest Mary, second Eve.
Hail Mother of Mankind, whose fruitful womb
Shall fill the world more num'rous with thy sons,
Than with these various fruits the 1 trees of God 390
Have heap'd this table. Raised of grassy turf
Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
And on her ample square, from side to side,
All autumn piled, tho' spring and autumn here
Danced hand in hand. A while discourse they hold ; 395
No fear lest dinner cool ; when thus began
Our author : Heav'nly stranger, please to taste
These bounties which our Nourisher, from whom
All perfect good, unmeasured out, descends,
380. Undecked tave with htrtdf: A remarkable expression. She bad no
ornament besides that which was furnished by her own beautiful form. la a
like elegant manner is Adam elsewhere described : " In himself was all his
state," all his grandeur.
381. Wood-Nymph : The nymphs of ancient fiction were viewed as holding
a sort of intermediate place between men and gods, as to the duration of life ;
not being absolutely immortal, yet living a vast length of time. They were
generally represented as young and beautiful virgins, partially covered with
a veil or thin cloth, bearing in their hands vases of water, or shells, leaves,
or grass, or having something as a symbol of their appropriate offices. FISKE.
381. Fairest Goddett : Venus, the goddess of beauty, to whom, in a con-
test with Juno and Minerva for the purpose, the prize of beauty was
awarded by Paris; hence her zeal for the interest of the Trojans in their
war with the Greeks, and hence the opposition to the Trojans of those other
goddesses.
385. Virtue-proof: This word refers to the veil, as evidence of the virtue
of modesty, according to the customs of the East.
387. Luke i. 2, 8.
394 Jill autumn : All the fruits of autumn.
BOOK v. 223
To us for food, and for delight hath caused 400
The earth to yield ; unsav'ry food perhaps
To spiritual natures : only this I know,
That one celestial Father gives to all.
To whom the Angel : Therefore, what he gives
(Whose praise be ever sung) to Man in part 405
Spiritual, may of purest Spirits be found
No ingrateful food : and food alike those pure
Intelligential substances require,
As doth your rational ; and both contain
Within them ev'ry lower faculty 410
Of sense, whereby they hear, see, smell, touch, taste,
Tasting concoct, digest, assimilate,
And corporeal to incorporeal turn.
For know, whatever was created, needs
To be sustain 'd and fed : of elements 415
The grosser feeds the purer ; earth the sea,
Earth and the sea feed air ; the air those fires
Ethereal, and as lowest first the moon ;
Whence in her visage round those spots, unpurged
Vapours not yet into her substance turn'd. 420
402. Spiritual: Angelic.
407-8. Pure intdligential substances: Unbodied minds. In man, the
rational substance is united with a material body. This poetic account of
angels' food, may have been suggested by the expression " angels' food," in
Fs. bcxviii. 25.
414. For know, tfc. : Here follows a rather curious and obsolete disser-
tation upon physics. Modern science repudiates such representations.
419-20. Spots, tfc. : It is certainly a great mistake to attribute the spott
in the moon to vapours not yet turned into her substance. They are owing to
the irregularities of her surface, and to the different nature of its constituent
parts, land, and water. It is certainly very unphilosophical to say (426) that
the sun sups with the ocean, but it is not unpoetical. And whatever other
faults are found in this passage, they are not so properly the faults of Milton
as of his times, and of those systems of philosophy which he had learned in
his younger years. If he had written after the late discoveries and improve-
ments in science, he would have written in another manner : yet a greater
latitude may be indulged to a poet than to a philosopher, in writing upon
physical subjects.
224 PARADISE LOST.
Nor doth the moon no nourishment exhale
From her moist continent to higher orbs.
The Sun, that light imparts to all, receives
From all his alimental recompense
In humid exhalations, and at even 425
Sups with the ocean. Though in Heav'n the trees
Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines
Yield nectar ; though from off the boughs each mom
We brush mellifluous dews, and find the ground
Cover'd with pearly grain, yet God hath here 430
Vary'd his bounty so with new delights,
As may compare with Heav'n ; and to taste
Think not I shall be nice. So down they sat,
And to their viands fell ; nor seemingly
The Angel, nor in mist, the common gloss 435
Of Theologians ; but with keen dispatch
Of real hunger and concoctive heat
To transubstantiate ; what redounds, transpires
Through Spirits with ease : nor wonder, if by firo
Of sooty coal the empiric alchemist 440
Can turn, or holds it possible to turn,
Metals of drossiest ore to perfect gold,
As from the mine. Mean while at table Eye
Minister'd naked, and their flowing cups
With pleasant liquors crown'd. innocence 445
421. Nor doth the moon no nourishment exhale, tfc. : A Latin form of ex-
pression (Georg. i. 83) for, " and the moon does nourishment exhale."
422. Moitt continent : Shakspeare, in Hamlet, calls the moon " the moist
tar."
426. Ps. cv. 40 ; Rev. xxii. 2.
435-36. In mitt : In an unsubstantial manner. See Gen. xviii., xix. Glot* :
Explanation. Ditpatch: Haste.
437. Concoctive, tfc. : With digesting heat to change into another (that is,
angelic) substance.
439. If: Since.
440. Empiric? Versed in experiments.
445. Crown'd: An expression drawn from classical writers. It means
filltd.
BOOK V
225
Deserving Paradise ! if ever, the .
Then had the sons of God excuse to have been
Enamour'd at thy sight ; but in those hearts
Love unlibidinous reign'd, nor jealousy
Was understood, the injured lover's Hell. 460
Thus, when with meats and drinks they had sufficed,
Not burden'd nature, sudden mind arose
In Adam, not to let th' occasion pass
Giv'n him by this great conference, to know
Of things above his world, and of their being 465
Who dwell in Heav'n, whose excellence he saw
Transcend his own so far, whose radiant forms
Divine effulgence, whose high pow'r so far
Exceeded human ; and his wary speech
Thus to th' empyreal minister he framed : 460
Inhabitant with God, now know I well
Thy favour in this honour done to Man,
Under whose lowly roof thou hast vouchsafed
To enter, and these earthly fruits to taste,
Food not of Angels, yet accepted so, 465
As that more willingly thou couldst not seem
At Heav'n's high feasts to have fed : yet what compare ?
To whom the winged Hierarch reply'd :
447. An allusion to Gen. vi. 2, though it denotes angels, and not, as in that
passage, the pious portion of the human family. The repetition of the
adverb then, gives great emphasis to the sentiment advanced.
451. Sufficed: Satisfied.
452. Not burdened : This furnishes an invaluable hint as to the proper use
of food. Milton was a very temperate man himself.
458. Divine effulgence is in apposition with radiant forms, and is explana
lory of the latter phrase.
467. Compare: Similitude.
468. To wAom, Ifc. : Raphael's behaviour is every way suitable to lh<
dignity of his nature, and to that character of a sociable spirit with which
the author has so judiciously introduced him. He had received instructions
to converse with Adam, as one friend converses with another, and to warn
him of the enemy who was contriving his destruction. Accordingly he is
represented as sitting down at table with Adam, and eating of the fruits ol
Paradise. The occasion naturally leads him to his discourse on the food cf
io o
PARAD1BC LOST.
Adam, one Almighty is, from whom
All things proceed, and up to him return, 470
If not depraved from good, created all
Such to perfection, one first matter all,
Endued with various forms, various degrees
Of substance, and in things that live, of life :
But more refined, more spirituous, and pure, 475
As nearer to him placed, or nearer tending
Each in their sev'ral active spheres assign'd,
Till body up to spirit work, in bounds
Proportion'd to each kind. So from the root
Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leave* 480
More aery, last the bright consummate flow'r
Spirits odorous breathes : flow'rs and their fruit,
Man's nourishment, by gradual scale sublimed,
To vital spirits aspire, to animal,
To intellectual : give both life and sense, 485
Fancy and understanding ; whence the soul
Reason receives, and reason is her being,
Discursive or intuitive : discourse
angels. After having thus entered into conversation with man upon more
indifferent subjects, he warns him of the necessity of obedience, and makes
a natural transition to the history of that angel who was employed in the
circumvention of our first parents. A.
471. Created a//, ffc. : That is, created all good good to perfection; not
absolutely so, but perfect in their different kinds and degrees, and all consist-
ing of one first matter, which first matter is indued (indutus) clothed upon,
with variout form*, &c. N.
474. Subttance: Solidity. _
478. Boundt : Limits or degrees.
478. Dr. Adam Clarke, in a volume of his sermons, makes some acute
observations on the materialism of this poem ; but it is not necessary, or
proper, perhaps, to interpret it so exactly and literally as to furnish a just
foundation for a charge so grave. Bishop Newton also finds fault with the
metaphysics of the poet in this passage, and regards it as particularly un-
warrantable to attribute to an angel his own false notions in philosophy.
482. Spirit* odorout : Spirit* is pronounced here in two syllables, but iu 484
in one syllable. The second syllable of odorout is long.
488 Ditcurtivt: Employing the process of argument. Intuitive: Din-
' BOOK v. 227
Is oftest yours ; the latter most is ours,
DifFring but in degree ; of kind the same. 490
Wonder not then, what God for you saw good,
If I refuse not, but convert, as you,
To proper substance : time may come, when Men
With "Angels may participate, and find
No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare ; 495
And from these corp'ral nutriments perhaps
Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit,
Improved by tract of time, and wing'd ascend
Ethereal, as we, or may at choice
Here or in heav'nly Paradises dwell ; 500
If ye be found obedient, and retain
Unalterably firm his love entire,
Whose progeny you are. Mean while enjoy
Your fill what happiness this happy state
Can comprehend, incapable of more. 505
To whom the patriarch of mankind reply'd :
favourable Spirit, propitious guest,
Well hast thou taught the way that might direct
Our knowledge, and the scale of nature set
From centre to circumference, whereon 510
In contemplation of created things,
By steps we may ascend to God. But say,
cerning the truth of propositions immediately, without resorting to argu-
mentation. Ditcourse : Discursive reason. The power and the act of com-
paring propositions, and, from this comparison, of drawing conclusions or
consequences.
491. What: The object of refuse that is, wonder not then if I refuse not
what God saw good for you.
498. Tract: Duration.
504. Your fill : Here may be appended a comma, or the preposition of
may be supplied.
50910. The tcale, or ladder, of nature ascends by steps from a point, a
centre, to the whole circumference of what mankind can see or comprehend.
The metaphor is bold and expressive. Matter one first matter is that
centre. Diversified nature is the scale which reaches on all sides beyond
our utmost conceptions. R.
512. Every part of the vast system of the universe is not only connected
228 PARADISE LOST
What meant that caution join'd, If je be found
Obedient ? Can we want obedience then
To him, or possibly his love desert, 516
Who form'd us from the dust, and placed us here
Full to the utmost measure of what bliss
Human desire can seek or apprehend ?
To whom the Angel : Son of Heav'n and Earth,
Attend. That thou art happy, owe to God ; 520
That thou continues! such, owe to thyself;
That is, to thy obedience : therein stand.
This was that caution giv'n thee ; be advised.
God made thee perfect, not immutable ;
And good he made thee : but to persevere 525
He left it in thy pow'r ; ordain'd thy will
By nature free, not over-ruled by fate
Inextricable, or strict necessity,
Our voluntary service he requires,
Not our necessitated : such with him 530
Finds no acceptance, nor can find ; for how
Can hearts, not free, be try'd whether they serve
Willing or no, who will but what they must
By destiny, and can no other choose ?
Myself and all th' angelic host, that stand 535
In sight of God enthroned, our happy state
Hold, as you yours, while our obedience holds :
On other surety none. Freely we serve,
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not : in this we stand or fall : 540
And some are fall'n, to disobedience fall'n,
And so from Heav'n to deepest Hell. fall,
From what high state of bliss into what woe !
with the rest by a kind of natural necessity, but the connection is apparent
to the contemplative eye of reason ; and hence, having become acquainted
with the lowest circumstance in it, the mind is carried gradually and easily
on, till it looks down from the highest point on the whole grand creation of
God. S.
520. Otce to God : Acknowledge your obligations to God.
321. Owt to thytdf: Be indebted to thyself, to thy continued obedienc*
BOOK v. 229
To whom our great progenitor : Thy words
Attentive, and with more delighted ear, 545
Divine Instructor, I have heard, than when
Cherubic songs by night from neighb'ring hills
Aereal music send ; nor knew I not
To be both will and deed created free ;
Yet that we never shall forget to love 550
Our Maker, and obey him whose command
Single is yet so just, my constant thoughts
Assured me, and still assure : tho' what thou tell'st
Hath pass'd in Heav'n, some doubt within me move,
But more desire to hear, if thou consent, 555
The full relation, which must needs be strange,
Worthy of sacred silence to be heard ;
And we have yet large day ; for scarce the Sun
Hath finish 'd half his journey, and scarce begins
His other half in the great zone of Heav'n. 560
Thus Adam made request : and Raphael,
After short pause, assenting, thus began :
548. Nor knew I not, $c. : The two negatives in this clause give an
affirmative sense. The meaning, therefore, is : I knew both will and deed
to be created free ; I knew that our will and actions are free.
551. Whose command, though single, and, therefore, on that account to be
obeyed, t* yet so just (is besides so just), that it lays a farther obligation upon
our obedience. N.
554. Some doubt : That is, of the constancy of our love to our Maker : a
higher order of beings have ceased to love him.
557. Sacred silence : Such as prevailed in offering sacrifices, and perform-
ing other religious ceremonies. Horace speaks of this, Ode ii. 13: 29, 30,
in these terms :
" Utrumque tticro digna silentio
Mirantur umbra; tlicere.''
562. Prime : First. It is customary with the epic poets to introduce, by
way of episode and narrative, the principal events which happened before
the action of the poem commences. And as Homer's Ulysses relates his
adventures to Alcinous, and as Virgil's ^Eneas recounts the history of the
siege of Troy, and of his own travels, to Dido : so the angel relates to
Adam the fall of the angels and the creation of the world, beginning his
narrative of the former event much in the same manner as ^Eneas com-
mences his account of the destruction of Troy, Virg. JEn. ii. 3 :
" Infandum, regina, jubes renovare dolorem.''
230 PARADISE LOST.
High matter thou enjoin 'ei me, prime of men,
Sad task and hard ; for how shall I relate
To human sense th' invisible exploits 565
Of warring Spirits ? How without remorae
The ruin of BO many, glorious once
And perfect while they stood ? How last unfold
The secrets of another world, perhaps
Not lawful to reveal ? yet for thy good 570
This is dispensed ; and what surmounts the reach
Of human sense, I shall delineate so,
By lik'ning spiritual to corp'ral forms,
As may express them best : though what if Earth
Be but the shadow of Heav'n, and things therein 575
Each to other like, more than on earth is thought ?
As yet this world was not, and Chaos wild
Beign'd where these Heav'ns now roll, where Earth n/)w resta
Upon her centre poised ; when on a day
(For time, though in eternity, apply'd 580
To motion, measures all things durable
By present, past, and future) on such day
As Heav'n ; s great year brings forth, th' empyreal host
Of angels by imperial summons call'd,
Innumerable before th' Almighty's throne 585
574-76. A very skilful suggestion is here made, that renders plausible the
bold inventions of the poet, especially in describing the battles of the fallen
angels.
583. Jit Heaven?! great year : Plato's great year seems to have been in the
poet's thoughts :
Magnus ab integro teclornm nttcitur ordo."
Virf Kc. ir. ft.
The great year of the heavens, according to Plato, was the revolution of
all the spheres. Everything returns to where it set out, when the motion
of the spheres first began. This was a fit time for the declaration of the
vicegerency of the Son of God. Milton selects a similar period for the
birth of the angels (861) , imagining such vast revolutions prior to the creation
of angels and of the world. So far back into eternity did the comprehensive
mind of the poet carry him. R.
583. Th' empyreal hott, tft. : The bint of this august assembly was, pro-
bably, derived from Job i. 6 ; 1 Kings zxii. 19.
BOOK V. 231
Forthwith from all the ends of Heav'n appear'd
Under their Hierarchs in order bright :
Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced,
Standards and gonfalons 'twist van and rear
Stream in the air, and for distinction serve 690
Of hierarchies, of orders, and degrees ;
Or in their glitt'ring tissues bear emblazed
Holy memorials, acts of zeal and love
Recorded eminent Thus when in orbs
Of circuit inexpressible they stood, 595
Orb within orb, the Father infinite,
By whom in bliss imbosom'd sat the Son,
Amidst as from a flaming mount, whose top
Brightness had made invisible, thus spake :
Hear, all ye Angels, progeny of light, 600
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Pow'rs,
Hear my decree, which unrevoked shall stand :
This day I have begot whom I declare
My only Son ; and on this holy hill
Him have anointed, whom ye now behold 605
At my right hand ; your Head I him appoint ;
And by myself have sworn, to him shall bow
All knees in Heav'n, and shall confess him Lord :
Under his great vicegerent reign abide
United as one individual soul, 610
For ever happy. Him who disobeys,
Me disobeys, breaks union, and that day
Cast out from God, and blessed vision, falls,
Into utter darkness, deep engulph'd, his place
Ordain M without redemption, without end. 615
So spake th' Omnipotent : and with his words
All seem'd well pleased ; all seem'd, but were not all.
That day, as other solemn days, they spent
590. Gonfalon* : Colours.
601. Thronet, tjc. : Names or titles for distinguishing the various orders or
ranks of angels.
607. Bow: Isaiah xlv. 23 ; Phil. ii. 9-11.
232 PARADISE LOST.
In song and dance about the sacred hill ;
Mystical dance, which yonder starry sphere 620
Of planets and of fix'd, in all her wheels
Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,
Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular
Then most, when most irregular they seem ;
And in their motions harmony divine 625
So smooths her charming tones, that God's own ear
Listens delighted. Ev'ning now approach'd
(For we have also our ev'ning and our mom,
We ours for change delectable, not need)
Forthwith from dance to sweet repast they turn 630
Desirous ; all in circles as they stood,
Tables are set, and on a sudden piled
With angels' food, and rubied nectar flows
In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold,
Fruit of delicious vines, the growth of Heav'n. 635
On flow'rs reposed, and with fresh flow'rete crown'd,
They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet
Quaff immortality and joy, secure
Of surfeit, where full measure only bounds
620. Myttical: Complicated.
622. Maze* : Windings and turnings. Eccentric : Revolving about a dif-
ferent centre. Intervolved : Involved one within another.
625. Job xxxviii. 37. There seems in this line to be an allusion to the
Pythagorean doctrine of the " music of the spheres." Pythagoras was so great
an enthusiast in music, that he not only assigned to it a conspicuous place in
his system of education, but even supposed that the heavenly bodies them-
selves were arranged at distances corresponding to the intervals of the
diatonic scale, and imagined them to pursue their sublime march to notes
created by their own harmonious movements, called " the music of the
spheres;" but he maintained that this celestial concert, though loud and
grand, is not audible to the feeble organs of man, but only to the gods.
OI-MSTED'S LETTERS OK ASTRONOMY.
633. Rubied : Nectar of the colour of the rubies. Homer's Iliad xix. 38,
iritr.if iavBntr.
638. Secure of turfeit : Free from danger of excessive indulgence.
639. Where full mtatvrt. Ifc. : Full measure is the only thing that limits
hem. The utmost they are capable of containing is the only bound set to
BOOK v. 233
Excess, before th' All-bounteous King, who show'r'd 640
With copious hand, rejoicing in their joy.
Now when ambrosial night with clouds exhaled
From that high mount of God, whence light and shade
Spring both, the face of brightest Heav'n had chang'd
To grateful twilight (for night comes not there 645
In darker veil) and roseate dews disposed
All but th' unsleeping eyes of God to rest :
Wide over all the plain, and wider far
Than all this globous earth in plain outspread
(Such are the courts of God) th' angelic throng, 650
Dispersed in bands and files, their camp extend
By living streams among the trees of life,
Pavilions numberless, and sudden rear'd,
Celestial tabernacles, where they slept
Fann'd with cool winds ; save those who in their course 655
Melodious hymns about the sov'reign throne
Alternate all night long : but not so waked
Satan ; so call him now, his former name
Is heard no more in Heav'n ; he of the first,
If not the first Arch- Angel, great in pow'r, 660
In favour, and pre-eminence, yet fraught
With envy 'gainst the Son of God, that day
Honour'd by his great Father, and proclaim'd
Messiah King anointed, could not bear
Through pride that sight, and thought himself impair'd. 665
them ; they have full measure, but they cannot be too full they 'cannot
overflow : without overflowing, full.
642. Ambrotial night : Refreshing by the sleep which it affords, as the
-1. Called ambrosia, was refreshing to the beings using it. Homer's Iliad,
i. 57.
650. Rev. xxii.
653. Their camp, embracing pavilions or tents, numberless, and suddenly
reared.
657. Alternate melodious hymns; that is, sung by turns. Not to waked:
Did not so employ his waking powers.
862. With envy : Here is set forth the origin of the apostasy in heaven.
834 PARADISE LOST.
Deep malice thence conceiving, and disdain,
Soon as midnight brought on the dusky hour
Friendliest to sleep and silence, he resolved
With all his legions to dislodge, and leave
Un worshipped, unobey'd the throne supreme 670
Contemptuous, and his next subordinate
Awak'ning, thus to him in secret spake :
Sleep'st thou, companion dear ? What sleep can close
Thy eye-lids ? and remember'st what decree
Of yesterday, so late hath pass'd the lips 675
Of Heav'n's Almighty ! Thou to me thy thoughts
Wast wont, I mine to thee was wont to impart ;
Both waking we were one ; how then can now
Thy sleep dissent ? New kws thou seest imposed ;
New laws from him who reigns, new minds may raise 680
In us who serve, new counsels to debate
What doubtful may ensue : more in this place
To utter is not safe. Assemble thou
Of all those myriads which we lead the chief ;
Tell them that by command, ere yet dim night 685
Her shadowy cloud withdraws, I am to haste,
And all who under me their banners wave,
Homeward with flying march where we possess
The quarters of the north ; there to prepare
671. Beelzebub is here referred to.
684. Tht chief: The chief angels ; the chiefs.
685. He begins his revolt with a lie. John viii. 44. V.
689. The quarter* of the north : Language drawn from what Isaiah says
of the king of Babylon, xiv. 12; and from the prophecies of Jeremiah, i. 14 ;
jv. 6 ; vi. 1. Shakspeare, before Milton, had called Satan the monarch of the
north. Henry VI. Act v. Bishop Newton informs us that he had seen a
Latin poem by Val marina, printed in 1627, at Vienna, the plan of which, in
many particulars is very similar to Paradise Lost. It opens with the ex-
altation of the Son of God, and therefore Lucifer revolts, and draws a thin]
part of the angels after him into the quarter* of the north. He thinks it
more probable that Milton had seen this poem than some others from which
he is charged with borrowing largely, being a universal scholar, reading all
sorts of books, and taking hints from the moderns as well as the ancient*.
There is also an Italian poem, printed in Venice, in 1590, which, as some
BOOK v. 235
Fit entertainment to receive our King 690
The great Messiah, and his new commands ;
Who speedily through all the hierarchies
Intends to pass triumphant, and give laws.
. So spake the false Arch-Angel, and infused
Bad influence into th' unwary breast 695
Of his associate : he together calls,
Or sev'ral one by one ? the regent pow'rs,
Under him regent : tells as he was taught,
That the Most High commanding, now ere night,
Now ere dim night had disencumber'd Heav'n, 700
The great hierarchal standard was to move ;
Tells the suggested cause, and casts between
Ambiguous words and jealousies, to sound
Or taint integrity : but all obey'd
The wonted signal and superior voice 705
Of their great potentate ; for great indeed
His name, and high was his degree in Heav'n !
His count'nance, as the morning star that guides
The starry flock, allured them, and with lies
Drew after him the third part of HeavVs host. 710
Mean while th' Eternal Eye, whose sight discerns
think, Milton may have also seen, and been indebted to. It describes the
battle of the angels against Lucifer. The poem of Tasso on the Creation,
has been generally neglected, but seems not to have altogether escaped the
notice of Milton in preparing Paradise Lost. Todd mentions yet another
obscure poem, by a different author, printed at Venice, in 1608, and also
treating upon the subject of the Creation, to which, possibly, Milton had
access.
702. Tells the cause that Satan had suggetted, namely, to prepare enter-
tainment for their new king, and to receive his laws, interspersing his re-
marks with ambiguous words, and words provocative of jealousy in angeli
minds.
70S-9. Countenance with, lies, tfc. : Satan's countenance, not reveal-
ing the base intentions he sought to fulfil, allured, and deceived them, as with
lies. Compare Rev. xii. 3, 4.
711. Milton frequently takes a liberty, allowable in a poet, of expressing
only some part or quality of a person, where he means the person himself,
and goes on to say things, which, properly speaking, are applicable only to the
person himself. His countenance and tli 1 Eternal eye (711), are employed as
236 PARADISE LOST
Abstrusest thoughts, from forth his holy mount,
And from within the golden lamps that burn
Nightly before him, saw without their light
Rebellion rising; saw in whom, how spread 715
Among the sons of morn, what multitudes
Were banded to oppose his high decree ;
And smiling to bis only Son, thus said :
Son, thou in whom my glory I behold
In full resplendence, Heir of all my might, 720
Nearly it now concerns us to be sure
Of our omnipotence, and with what arms
We mean to hold what anciently we claim
Of Deity or empire ; such a foe
Is rising, who intends to erect his throne 726
Equal to ours, throughout the spacious north ;
Nor so content, hath in his thought to try
In battle what our pow'r is, or our right.
Let us advise, and to this hazard draw
With speed what force is left, and all employ 730
In our defence, lest unawares we lose
This our high place, our sanctuary, our hill.
To whom the Son, with calm aspect and clear,
Lightning divine, ineffable, serene,
Made answer : Mighty Father, thou thy foes 736
Justly hast in derision, and secure
the part for whole, or the person to whom they respectively belong. The
acts of smiling and speaking (718), therefore, are not attributed to the eye
(711) , but to the Eternal. Compare Pa. ii.
713. Alluding to the lampt in John's vision, Rev. iv. 5, "And there were
even lamps of fire burning before the throne."
716. Son* of morn: An epithet describing the angels, as Lucifer is so
called in Is. xiv. 12. It is supposed that this epithet is given, either on
account of their early creation, or to express angelic beauty and gladnvn,
the morning being the most delightful part of the day.
719. Compare Heb. i. 2, 3.
734. Lightning : For light'nmg or lightening, a participle, and qualifying
atpect. It means shedding or diffusing light, and is qualified by the follow
Ing adjectives used adverbially.
BOOK v. 237
Laugh'st at their vain designs and tumults vain,
Matter to me of glory, whom their hate
Illustrates, when they see all regal pow'r
Giv'n me to quell their pride, and in event 740
Know whether I be dextrous to subdue
Thy rebels, or be found the worst in Heav'n.
So spake the Son ; but Satan with his pow'rs
Far was advanced on winged speed, an host
Innumerable as the stars of night,
Or stars of morning, dew-drops, which the Sun
Impearls on ev'ry leaf and ev'ry flow'r.
Regions they pass'd, the mighty regencies
Of Seraphim, and Potentates, and Thrones,
In their triple degrees ; regions to which 750
All thy dominion, Adam, is no more
Than what this garden is to all the earth,
And all the sea, from one entire globose
Stretch'd into longitude ; which having pass'd,
At length into the limits of the north 755
739. Illustrates : Brings into clearer notice.
742. Worst: Weakest.
746. Stars of morning : Casimer calls the dews " stelluls noctis deceden
tis." The sun impearls the drops of dew ; that is, gives them the appear-
ance of pearls. V. 2.
747. Impearls : Du Bartas, in the translation, thus writes :
" the flowery meads
Impeurl'd with tear*, which sweet Aurora sheds."
T.
750. Triple dtgrett : An idea borrowed from Tasso and the schoolmen.
753. Globose: Globe.
754. Longitude : Length. Which : Which regions.
755. Jit length into the limits, Sfc. : The revolt in Heaven is described witn
great force of imagination, and a fine variety of circumstances. The learned
reader cannot but be pleased with the poet's' imitation of Homer, in 762.
Homer mentions persons and things, which, he tells us, in the language of
the gods are called by different names from those they go by in the language
of men. Milton has imitated him with his usual judgment in this par-
ticular place, wherein he has, likewise, the authority of Scripture to justify
bim. A.
238 PARADISE LOST.
They came, and Satai to his royal seat
High on a hill, far blazing, as a mount
Raised on a mount, with pyramids and tow'rs
From diamond quarries hewn, and rocks of gold ;
The palace of great Lucifer (so call 760
That structure in the dialect of men
Interpreted) which not long after, he
Affecting all equality with God,
In imitation of that mount whereon
Messiah was declared in sight of Heav'n, 765
The Mountain of the Congregation call'd ;
For thither he assembled all his train.
Pretending so commanded to consult
About the great reception of their Ring,
Thither to come, and with calumnious art 770
Of counterfeited truth, thus held their ears :
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtue 1 *, Pow'rs,
If these magnific titles yet remain
Not merely titular, since by decree
Another now hath to himself ingross'd 775
All pow'r, and us eclipsed under the name
Of King Anointed, for whom all this haste
Of midnight march, and hurried meeting here,
This only to consult, how we may best,
With what may be devised of honours new, 780
Receive him coming to receive from us
Knee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile,
Too much to one, but double how endured,
To one and to his image now proclaim'd ?
But what if better counsels might erect 785
Our minds, and teach us to cast off this yoke ?
Will ye submit your necks, and choose to bend
The supple knee ? Ye will not, if I trust
To knew ye right ; or if ye know yourselves
766. Alluding to Is. xiv. 13.
772. Virtutt : An order of angel*. See 837.
784-83. To ant : The Father. Hit imagt : The Son of God.
BOOK v. 239
Natives and sons of Heav'n possess'd before 790
By none, and if not equal all, yet free,
Equally free ; for orders and degrees
Jar not with liberty, but well consist.
Who can in reason then or right assume
Monarchy over such as live by right 795
His equals, if in pow'r and splendour less,
In freedom equal ? or can introduce
Law and edict on us, who without law
Err not ? much less for this to bo our Lord,
And look for adoration, to th' abuse 800
Of those imperial titles which assert
Our being ordain'd to govern, not to serve.
Thus far his bold discourse without control
. Had audience, when among the Seraphim
Abdiel, than whom none with more zeal adored 805
The Deity, and divine commands obey'd,
Stood up, and in v a flame of zeal severe,
The current of his fury thus opposed :
argument, blasphemous, false, and proud !
Words which no ear ever to hear in Heav'n 810
Expected, least of all from thee, Ingrate,
In place thyself so high above thy peers.
Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn
The just decree of God, pronounced and sworn,
790. Possessed refers to Heaven. The meaning is: No one possessed
Heaven before them ; they are a sort of Aborigines. This idea is more
fully expressed in 859.
792 Jar: Disagree. The metaphor is drawn from discords in music.
799. Much leu, STC. : The construction is difficult, but may thus be under-
stood : Much less (in reason or right) can he introduce law and edict on u*
for tbJs purpose, namely, to be our Lord.
800. To the abuse, Sfc. : It means, and thus abuse those titles by which
Satai. addressed his associates, 772-74. The above argument is answered by
Abdiel, 831.
803. Bold discourse : Satan had impiously assumed an equality with God ;
tni on this ground had refused him the homage of obedience.
C09. Blasphemous : It will be noticed that the second syllable must b*
pronounced long, or receive the stress of voice.
240 PARADISE LOST.
That to his only SOD, by right endued 816
With regal sceptre, ev'ry soul in Heav'n
Shall bend the knee, and in that honour due
Confess him rightful King ? Unjust, thou say'st,
Flatly unjust, to bind with laws the free,
And equal over equals to let reign, 820
One over all with unsucceeded pow'r.
Shalt thou give law to God ? Shalt thou dispute
With him the points of liberty, who made
Thee what thou art, and form'd the pow'rs of Heav'n
Such as he pleased, and circumscribed their being ? 825
Yet, by experience taught, we know how good,
And of our good and of our dignity
How provident he is, how far from thought
To make us less, bent rather to exalt
Our happy state under one head more near 830
United. But to grant it thee unjust,
That equal over equals monarch reign :
Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count,
Or all angelic nature join'd in one,
Equal to him begotten Son ? by whom 835
AB by his Word the mighty Father made
All things, ev'n thce ; and all the Spirits of Heav'n
By him created in their bright degrees,
Crown'd them with glory, and to their glory named
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Pow'rs, 840
Essential Pow'rs ; nor by his reign obscured,
But more illustrious made ; since he the Head
One of our number thus reduced becomes ;
His laws our laws ; all honour to him done
021. With vntwxteded power : Power which admit! of no successor per
petital.
824. Point* of liberty : Questions relating to liberty.
836-37. John i. 3 ; Coloss. i. 15-18 ; Heb. i. 2.
840. This line is a translation of one in the frontispiece of Keywood .
Hierarchy of Angels :
Throni, Dominitionei. Principttoi. Virtntei. roteiUtei.''
843. htdvctd : In the MOM of constituted.
BOOK V. 241
Returns our own. Cease then this impious rage, 845
And tempt not these ; but hasten to appease
Th' incensed Father, and th' incensed Son,
While pardon may be found, in time besought.
So spake the fervent Angel ; but his zeal
None seconded, as out of season judged, 850
Or singular and rash, whereat rejoiced
Th' Apostate, and more haughty thus replied :
That we were form'd then, say'st thou ? and the work
Of secondary hands, by task transferred
From Father to his Son ? Strange point, and new ! 855
Doctrine which we would know whence learn'd : who saw
When this creation was ? Remember'st thou
Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being ?
We know no time when we were not as now ;
Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised 860
By our own quick'ning pow'r, when fatal course
Had circled his full orb, the birth mature
Of this our native Heav'n, ethereal sons.
Our puissance is our own ; our own right hand
Shall teach us highest deeds, by proof to try 865
Who is our equal : then thou shalt behold
853. The opinion that the angels were not created, but self-existent, is
here advanced, or alluded to by Satan. In Book IX. 145, he proposes the
opinion as a matter of question.
855. Point : Assertion.
861. Fatal course : Destiny. An allusion seems here to be made to ancient
philosophy, according to which Destiny (or Fate) was a secret and invisible
power or virtue, which, with incomprehensible wisdom regulated all the
occurrences of this world, which to human eyes appear irregular and fortui-
tous. The Stoics, however, understood by Destiny a certain concatenation of
things, which, from all eternity, follow each other of absolute necessity
there being no power able to interrupt their connection. To this invisible
,K>wer even the gods were compelled to succumb. BRANDE.
We may observe that our author makes Satan a fatalist. We angels
(says he) were self-begot, self-raised, by our own quickening power when the
course of fate had completed its full round and period : then we were the birth
mature the production, in due season, of this our native Heaven. No com-
pliment to fatalism to put it into the mouth of the devil. N.
863. Puissance: Power.
242 PARADISE LOST.
Whether by supplication we intend
Address, and to begirt th' almighty throne
Beseeching or besieging. This report,
These tidings, carry to th' Anointed King ; 870
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.
He said, and as the sound of waters deep
Hoarse murmur echo'd to his words applause
Through the infinite host ; nor less for that
The flaming Seraph fearless, though alone 875
Encompass M round with foes, thus answer'd bold :
O alienate from God, Spirit accursed,
Forsaken of all good ! I see thy fall
Determined, and thy hapless crew involved
In this perfidious fraud, contagion spread 880
Both of thy crime and punishment : henceforth
No more be troubled how to quit the yoke
Of God's Messiah : those indulgent laws
Will not be now vouchsafed ; other, decrees
Against thee are gone forth without recall ; 38
That golden sceptre, which thou didst reject,
Is now an iron rod, to bruise and break
Thy disobedience. Well thou didst advise,
Yet not for thy advice or threats I fly
These wicked tents devoted, lest the wrath 890
Impendent, raging into sudden flame,
Distinguish not ; for soon expect to feel
His thunder on thy head, devouring fire ;
Then who created thee lamenting learn,
When who can uncreate thee thou shalt know. 895
80 spake the Seraph Abdicl, faithful found
869. Beseeching or betieging : Addison object* to this, and other examples
of alliteration, as wanting in dignity ; yet, in this instance it seems so
natural and unstudied, that we cannot reasonably object to it
872. Rev. xix. 6.
879. Crew : A term that well expresses their miserable and guilty state.
887. Ps. ii. 9.
890. Lett : Before this supply the words, " but I fly."
896. The Seraph Abdid: The part of Abdiel, who was the only spirit b
BOOK v. 243
Among the faithless, faithful only he ;
Among innumerable false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal ; 900
Nor numbers, nor example, with him wrought
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,
Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd,
Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustain'd
Superior, nor of violence fear'd aught ; 905
And with retorted scorn his back he turn'd
On those proud tow'rs to swift destruction doom'd.
this infinite host of angels that preserved his allegiance to his Maker, ex-
hibits to us a noble model of religious singularity. The zeal of the Seraph
breaks forth in a becoming warmth of sentiments and expressions, as the
character which is given us of him denotes the generous scorn and intre-
pidity which attends heroic virtue. The author, doubtless, designed it as a
pattern to those who live among mankind in their present state of degene-
racy and corruption. A.
MILTON'S PORTRAIT OF THE ANGELS AND DEVILS.
Milton's management of his angels and devils proves, as much as anything
in the poem, the versatility of his genius, the delicacy of his discrimination
of character, that Shakspearian quality in him which has been so much over-
looked. To break up the general angel or devil element into so many finely-
individualized forms ; to fit the language to the character of each ; to do this
in spite of the dignified and somewhat unwieldy character of his style ; to
avoid insipidity of excellence in his seraphs, and inspidity of horror in his
fiends ; to keep them erect and undwindled, whether in the presence of Satan
on the one side, or of Messiah on the other, was a problem requiring skill
as well as daring, dramatic as well as epic powers. No mere mannerist could
have succeeded in it. Yet, what vivid portraits has he drawn of Michael,
Raphael (how like, in their difference from each other, as well as in their
names, to the two great Italian painters !) , Abdiel, Uriel, Beelzebub, Moloch,
Belial, Mammon all perfectly distinct ; all speaking a leviathan language,
which, in all, however, is modified by the character of each, and in none sinks
into mannerism. If Milton had not been the greatest of epic poets, he might
have been the second of dramatists. Macaulay has admirably shown how,
or rather that Shakspeare has preserved the distinction between similar char-
acters, such as Hotspur and Falconbridge ; and conceded even to Madame
D'Arblay a portion of the same power, in depicting several individuals, all
young, all clever, all clergymen, all in love, and yet all unlike each other.
But Milton has performed a much more difficult achievement. He has re
244 PARADISE LOST.
presented five devils, all fallen, all eloquent, all in torment, bate, and hell,
and yet ah so distinct that you could with difficulty interchange a line of the
utterances of each. None but Satan, the incarnation of egotism, could have
said
' What milter where, if I be till the tame ?'
None but Moloch the rash and desperate could thus abruptly have broken
tilence
" My sentence U lor open war.' 1
None but Belial the subtile, far-revolving fiend could have spoken of
Those thought* that wander through eternity. 1 '
None but Mammon the down-looking demon would ever, alluding to the
cubterranean riches of Hell, have asked the question
' What can Iltai'tn .<Auic more ?"
Or, who but Beelzebub, the Metternich of Pandemonium, would have com-
menced his oration with such grave, terrific irony as
' Thronet. and imperial poweri, offspring of Heaven,
Ethereal virtue*, or these titles now
.Vast w renounce, mad changing style, be called
Princ** tfHell?"
GlLJILLA*.
BOOK VI.
THE ARGUMENT.
RAPHAEL continues to relate how Michael and Gabriel were sent forth to
battle against Satan and his Angels. The first fight described ; Satan and
bis Powers retire under night ; he calls a council, invents devilish engines,
which, in the second day's fight, put Michael and his angels to some disorder ;
but they at length, pulling up mountains, overwhelmed both the force and
machines of Satan. Yet the tumult not so ending, God on the third day sends
Messiah his Son, for whom he had reserved the glory of that victory ; He,
in the power of his Father, coming to the place, and causing his legions to
stand still on either side, with his chariot and thunder driving into the midst
of his enemies, pursues them, unable to resist, towards the wall of Heaven ;
which opening, they leap down with horror and confusion into the place of
punishment prepared for them in the deep ; Messiah returns with triumph to
his Father.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
The battle of the rebellious angels is the grand feature of this Book, and is
generally regarded as one of the most admirable parts of the poem. I will
frankly confess that I cannot entirely subscribe to this opinion. In the first
place, the introduction of the invention of artillery into the combat is objec-
tionable : in the war of spirits it is degrading, and almost ludicrous. In the
whole mode of carrying on this mighty effort against Heaven, there is too
much of earth and materialism. It will be answered, that this was of ne-
cessity ; for how was a war of spirits to be expressed ? Perhaps such a dif-
ficulty was insurmountable ; but then the subject should have been covered
with a mantle ; at least the elements might have been made to contend a
universal tempest of fire, wind, and water. Here everything is conducted
almost in the ordinary manner, and with the technical skill of human war-
fare, except that the degree of force is more gigantic.
It will be pleaded that Milton had the authority of the language of Holy
Writ for such descriptions, and that he generally speaks in the very words of
the Bible. It is true that he adapts these words with astonishing skill and
genius : but he contrives to go into details which break up the spell of their
mysteries. The phraseology of these sacred writings referred to is astonish-
ingly sublime, picturesque, and poetical : if Milton could have stopped ex-
actly where that stopped, he would have done better. This is a bold censure,
bat it is sincere. I think that the poet was led into this by his rivalry of
Homer and Virgil, and the other ancient classics. He had a great advantage
over them in his subject, and he should not have fallen from it. There is no
poetry in Homer or Virgil like the poetry of the Bible.
The condensed collocation of Milton's language is peculiar to himself. Its
breaks its bursts the strong the rough and the flowing the concise and
the gigantic are mingled with a surprising skill, and eloquence, and magic.
It is easy to find single gems in other authors ; the galaxy is the wonder.
Milton's splendour, when it began to rise, did not stop till it blazed.
Even supposing his Book of Battles to be liable to the censure I have haz-
arded, still the manner in which it augments its force as it goes onward, U
miraculous. The character of Satan, combining the height of wickedness
with grandeur of power and will, is supported in a state of progressive eleva-
tion ; while the Deity, Father and Son, still retains his supremacy, and to
whatever sublimity the rebel angel is lifted, soars in unapproached dominion
above him. All this is displayed with marvellous splendour of genius in the
close of the Sixth Book. The effects of Satan's defeat are conceived and de-
scribed with a superhuman strength of imagination. E. B
BOOK VI.
ALL night the dreadless Angel, unpursued,
Through Heav'n's wide champain held his way, till morn,
Waked by the circling hours, with rosy hand
Unbarr'd the gates of light. There is a cave
Within the mount of God, fast by his throne, 5
Where light and darkness in perpetual round
1. Angel: Abdiel. 2. Champain: Open plain.
3. Circling hours : In mythology these divinities are regarded in two points
>{ view as the goddesses of the seasons, and hours of the day ; and their
number is stated in different ways accordingly. Their duty was to hold the
gates of Heaven, which they opened to send forth the chariot of the sun in
the morning, and receive it again in the evening. No classical poet has de-
scribed them with greater beauty than Shelley, in a celebrated passage of his
Prometheus Unbound. These goddesses are often depicted as forming the train
of Venus. BRANDE.
See also note, Book V. 2.
5. Mount of God, tfc. : In his description of Heaven, Milton finds ample
field for the serious^ as well as the sportive exercise of his unbounded imagi-
nation. He gives us the conception of a region immeasurably large. Many
earths are massed together to form one continent surrounding the throne of
God ; a continent, not of cloud or aery light, but of fixed, solid land, with
steadfast, towering mountains, and soft slumbrous vales ; to which Pollok, in
his copy of it, has added, finely, wastes and wildernesses retreats even there
for solitary meditation. Afar, like a cloud, rises the centre and pinnacle of
the region, the throne of Jehovah, now bathed in light, and now shaded by
profound darkness. GILFILLAN.
6. Where light and darkness, tfc. The making darkness a positive thing is
248 PARADISE LOST.
Lodge and dislodge by turns, which makes through Heav'n
Grateful vicissitude, like day and night ;
Light issues forth, and at the other door
Obsequious darkness enters, till her hour 10
To veil the Heav'n, though darkness there might well
Seem twilight here : and now went forth the morn
Such as in highest Heav'n, array VI in gold
Empyreal ; from before her vanished night,
Shot through with orient beams ; when all the plain, 15
Covcr'd with thick embattled squadrons bright,
Chariots and flaming arms, and fiery steeds,
Reflecting blaze on blaze, first met his view.
War he perceived, war in procinct, and found
Already known what he for news had thought 20
To have reported. Gladly then he mixM
Among those friendly Pow'rs, who him received
With joy and acclamations loud, that one,
That of so many myriads fall'n, yet one
Return 'd not lost. On to the sacred hill 2d
They led him, high applauded, and present
Before the seat supreme ; from whence a voice
From midst a golden cloud thus mild was heard:
Servant of God, well done ! well hast thou fought
The better fight, who singly hast maintain'd 30
Against revolted multitudes the cause
Of truth, in word mightier than they in arms ;
And for the testimony of truth hast borne
poetical : but besides that, as he thought fit to bring it into Heaven, it could
ot be otherwise represented, for obvious reasons. WABBUBTON.
The thought of light and darkness lodging and dislodging by turns, the one
-Miing forth and the other entering, is plainly borrowed from a fine passage
in Hesiod. Theog. 748.
18. See Book of Maccabees vi. 39.
:>. Procinct : Complete preparation for action. Allusion is made to the
girdle which was put on, and drawn closely around the person of the soldier,
before engaging in battle.
29. Jibdiet in Hebrew n. a ans servant of God. Rev. xii. 7, 8< S.
BOOK vi. 249
Universal reproach (far worse to bear
Than violence) ; for this was all thy care 35
To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds
Judged thee perverse : the easier conquest now
11 ('mains thee, aided by this host of friends,
Back on thy foes more glorious to return
Than scorn M thou didst depart, and to subdue 40
By force, who reason for their law refuse,
Right reason for their law, and for their king
Messiah, who by right of merit reigns.
Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince,
And thou in military prowess next, 45
Gabriel, lead forth to battle these my sons
Invincible, lead forth my armed Saints,
By thousands and by millions ranged for fight,
Equal in number to that Godless crew
Rebellious ; them with fire and hostile arms 50
Fearless assault, and to the brow of Heav'n
Pursuing, drive them out from God and bliss
Into their place of punishment, the gulf
Of Tartarus, which ready opens wide
His fiery Chaos to receive their fall. 55
34. Univertal reproach : Another example of this inharmonious measure is
found in 874 : it is not common, but, as Jortin observes, Milton often inserts
harsh verses, when he could easily have altered them, judging, probably,
that they had the same good effect in poetry which occasional discords pro-
duce in music.
44. Go Michael, tfc. : As this battle of the angels is founded principally
on Rev. xii. 7, 8 " There was war in Heaven; Michael and his angels fought
against the Dragon, and the Dragon fought, and his angels, and prevailed not,
neither teas their place found any more in Heaven" Michael is rightly made
by Milton the leader of the heavenly armies, and the name in Hebrew sig-
nifies the power of God. But it may be censured, perhaps, as a piece of bad
conduct in the poem, that the commission here given is not executed. They
are ordered to drive the rebel angels out from God and bliss, but this is
effected at last by the Messiah alone. Some reasons for it are assigned in
the speech of God (680) , and in that of the Messiah (801) . N.
55. His fiery Chaos : Chaos may mean any place of confusion ; but, if we
take it strictly, Tartarus, or Hell, was built in Chaos (II. 1002-, and there-
11*
250 PARADISE LOST.
So spake the sov'reign voice, and clouds began
To darken all the hill, and smoke to roll
In dusky wreaths, reluctant flames, the sign
Of wrath awaked ; nor with less dread the loud
Ethereal trumpet from on high 'gan blow : 60
At which command the powers militant
That stood for Heav'n, in mighty quadrate join'd
Of union irresistible, moved/on
In silence their bright legions, to the sound
Of instrumental harmony, that breath'd 65
Heroic ardour to advent'rous deeds
Under their God-like leaders, in the cause
Of God and his Messiah. On they move
Indissolubly firm : nor obvious hill,
Nor strait'ning vale, nor wood, nor stream divides 70
Their perfect ranks ; for high above the ground
Their march was, and the passive air upbore
Their nimble tread. As when the total kind
Of birds, in orderly array on wing,
Came summon'd over Eden, to receive 75
Their names of thee ; so over many a tract
Of Heav'n they march'd, and many a province wide
lore that part of it, being stored with fire, may not improperly be called a
fiery Chaot. N. Hit is a Hebraistic expression for itt.
56. Compare Exod. xix. 16, &c.
58. Reluctant: As if to arouse to the work of destruction ; but D mister un-
derstands this word in the sense of the most violent exertion of the fire to
resist and break through the smoke.
59. Dread: Terribleness.
62. Quadrate: Square.
69. OMout : Opposing them in front ; lying in their way.
70. Strait'ning: Narrowing.
71. Our author attributes the same kind of motion to the angels, as the
ancients did to their gods, which was gliding through the air without ever
toucfiing the ground with their feet ; or as Milton (VIII. 302) elegantly ex-
presses it tntooth tliding without ttep.
73. Total kind, or race : The phrase is expressive of a great number of
birds.
BOOK VI. 251
Tenfold the length of this terrene. At last,
Far in th' horizon to the north appeared
From skirt to skirt a fiery region, stretch'd 80
In battalions aspect, and nearer view
Bristled with upright beams innumerable
Of rigid spears, and helmets throng'd, and shields
Various, with boastful argument portray 'd
The banded Pow'rs of Satan hasting on 85
With furious expedition ; for they ween'd
That self-same day by fight, or by surprise,
To win the mount of God, and on this throne
To set the envier of his state, the proud
Aspirer, but their thoughts proved fond and vain 90
In the mid-way ; though strange to us it seem'd
At first, that Angel should with Angel war,
And in fierce hosting meet, who wont to meet
So oft in festivals of joy and love
Unanimous, as sons of one great sire 95
Hymning th' Eternal Father ; but the shout
Of battle now began, and rushing sound
Of onset ended soon each milder thought.
High in the midst exalted as a God,
Th' Apostate in his sun-bright chariot sat, 100
Idol of majesty divine, inclosed
78. Terrene: Earthly.
79-83. It appeared a fiery region, indistinctly at first, but, upon nearer
view, it proved to be Satan's rebel army. N.
80. Skirt: Margin.
81. In battalion* atptct : In appearance as an army marshalled for battle.
84. Various, vrith boastful argument portrayed : Shields various, are shield
varied with diverse sculptures and paintings ; an elegant Latinism. This
line seems to be taken from the Phccnissoe of Euripides (1117) . N.
93. Hosting : A word coined by Milton from host, and means encounter.
101. Idol of majesty divine: In line 114, Satan is called resemblance of the
Highest; but how judiciously has Milton culled out the word idol, which,
though it be in its original signification the same as resemblance, yet, by its
common application, always in a bad sense, served much better to express
the present character of Satan. T.
252 PARADISE LOST.
With flaming Cherubim and golden shields;
Then lighted from his gorgeous throne, for now
'Twixt host and host but narrow space was left
(A dreadful interval), and front to front 105
Presented, stood in terrible array,
Of hideous length. Before the cloudy ran,
On the rough edge of battle ere it join'd,
Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanced,
Came tow'ring, arm'd in adamant and gold : 110
Abdiel that sight endured not, where he stood
Among the mightiest, bent on highest deeds,
And thus his own undaunted heart explores :
O Heav'n ! that such resemblance of the High'st
Should yet remain, where faith and realty 115
Remain not ! wherefore should not strength and might
There fail where virtue fails, or weakest prove
Where boldest, though to sight unconquerable ?
106. Stood in terrible array, tfc. : It required great pregnancy of invention,
and strength of imagination, to fill the battle with such circumstances as
should raise and astonish the mind of the reader ; and, at the same time, an
exactness of judgment to avoid everything that might appear light or trivial
Those who look into Homer are surprised to find his battles still rising one
above another, and improving in horror to the conclusion of the Iliad. Mil-
ton's fight of angels is wrought up with the same beauty. It is ushered in
with such signs of wrath as are suitable to Omnipotence incensed.
The first engagement is carried on under a cope of fire, occasioned by the
flight of innumerable burning darts and arrows, which are discharged from
each host The second onset is still more terrible, as it is filled with those
artificial thunders which seem to make the victory doubtful, and produce a
kind of consternation even in the good angels. This is followed by the tear-
iog up of mountains arid promontories ; till, in the last place, Messiah conies
for .a in the fulness of majesty and terror. The pomp of his appearance,
amidst the roarings of his thunders, the flashes of his lightnings, and the
noise of his chariot-wheels, is described with the utmost flights of human
imagination. A.
108. Edge: See I. 276.
113. Such soliloquies are not uncommon in the poets, at the beginning and
even in the midst of battles. They are instances merely of persons thinking
aloud.
115. faulty: Loyalty. 118. To tight : Apparently.
BOOK vi. 253
His puissance, trusting in th' Almighty's aid,
I mean to try, whose reason I have try'd 120
Unsound and false ; nor is it aught but just
That he who in debate of truth hath won
Should win in arms, in both disputes alike
Victor ; though brutish that contest and foul,
When reason hath to deal with force, yet so 125
Most reason is that reason overcome.
So pondering, and from his armed peers
Forth stepping opposite, half-way he met
His daring foe, at this prevention more
Incensed ; and thus securely him defy'd : 130
Proud, art thou met ? Thy hope was to have reach'd
The height of thy aspiring unopposed,
The throne of God unguarded, and his side
Abandon'd at the terror of thy pow'r
Or potent tongue : fool ! not to think how vain 135
Against th' Omnipotent to rise in arms !
Who out of smallest things could without end*
Have raised incessant armies to defeat
Thy folly ! or with solitary hand
Reaching beyond all limit, at one blow, 140
Unaided, could have finish 'd thee, and whelm 'd
Thy legions under darkness ! but thou seest
All are not of thy train : there be who faith
Prefer, and piety to God, though then
To thee not visible, when I alone 145
Seem'd in thy world erroneous to dissent
From all ; my sect thou seest ; now learn, too late,
How few sometimes may know, when thousands err
125-26- Reason : These lines contain a fine play upon this word.
129. Prevention : Coming forward.
139. Solitary: Single.
147. Sect : Division that part of the angels that had not rebelled against
the King of Heaven.
148. That is how sometimes a few may discern rightly, when thousands
err. The good angel said few, though one, and that himself, was particu-
254 PARADISE LOST.
Whom the grand foe, with scornful eye askance,
Thus answcr'd : 111 for thee, but in wLsh'd hour 150
Of my revenge, first sought for thou return 'st
From flight, seditious Angel, to receive
Thy merited reward, the first assay
Of this right hand provoked, since first that tongue,
Inspired with contradiction, durst oppose 155
A third part of the Gods, in synod met
Their deities to assert, who while they feel
Vigour divine within them, can allow
Omnipotence to none. But well thou com'st
Before thy fellows, ambitious to win 160
From me some plume, that thy success may shew
Destruction to the rest. This pause between
(UnanswerM lest thou boast) to let thee know ;
At first I thought that Liberty and Heav'n
To heav'nly souls had been all one ; but now 165
I see that most through sloth had rather serve,
Ministering Spirits, train'd up in feast and song :
Such hast thou arm'd, the minstrelsy of Heav'n,
Servility with freedom to contend,
As both their deeds compared this day shall prove. 170
To whom in brief thus Abdiel stern reply'd :
Apostate, still thou err'st, nor end wilt find
Of erring, from the path of truth remote.
Unjustly thou deprav'st it with the name
Of Servitude to serve whom God ordains, 176
Or Nature ; God and Nature bid the same,
When he who rules is worthiest, and excels
arly intended, thus showing his modesty. It is supposed that Milton, in
this passage, sneers at the loyalists of his time, when they were the many,
and who reproached the opposite, or republican party, as sectaries.
161-62. Shew destruction, tfc. : Lead the other to destruction. The word
tuccen may signify bad or good fortune : here the former.
174. Dcpraveit : Dost vilify.
175. Servitude : Abdiel makes an excellent distinction between servitude
and liberty.
BOOK vi. 255
Them whom he governs. This is servitude,
To serve th' unwise, or him who hath rebell'd
Against his worthier, as thine now serve thee, 180
Thyself not free, but to thyself enthrall'd ;
Yet lewdly dar'st our minist'ring upbraid.
Reign thou in Hell, thy kingdom ; let me servo
In Heav'n God ever blest, and his divine
Behests obey, worthiest to be obey'd ; 185
Yet chains in Hell, not realms expect : meanwhile
From me return'd, as erst thou saidst, from flight,
This greeting on thy impious crest receive.
So say'ng, a noble stroke he lifted high,
Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell 190
On the proud crest of Satan, that no sight,
Nor motion of swift thought, less could his shield,
Such ruin intercept. Ten paces huge
He back recoil'd ; the tenth on bended knee
His massy spear upstay'd, as if on earth 195
Winds under ground, or waters forcing way
Sidelong, had push'd a mountain from his seat,
Half sunk with all his pines. Amazement seized
The rebel Thrones, but greater rage, to see
Thus foil'd their mightiest ; ours joy fill'd and shout, 200
Presage of victory and fierce desire
Of battle ; whereat Michael bid sound
Th' Arch-Angel trumpet : through the vast of Heav'n
It sounded, and the faithful armies rung
Hosannah to the Highest : nor stood at gaze 205
The adverse legions, nor less hideous join'd
The horrid shock. Now storming fury rose,
And clamour such as heard in Heav'n till now
87. Ertt: Before.
.63. In Hell thy kingdom : It was to be so ; the event was certain, as God
n* ordered him to be thrust from Heaven into Hell (52) .
189. While yet speaking he raised his arm, and with amazing swiftness
and power inflicted a stunning blow on the crest of Satan.
195. At if, Sft.: A perfectly magnificent simile is here introduced.
256 PARADISE LOST.
Was never ; arms on armour clashing bray'd
Horrible discord, and the madding wheels 210
Of brazen chariots raged ; dire was the noise
Of conflict ; over head the dismal hiss
Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew,
And flying vaulted either host with fire.
So under fiery cope together rush'd 215
Both battles main, with ruinous assault
And inextinguishable rage. All Heav*n
Resounded ; and had Earth been then, all Earth
Had to her centre shook. What wonder ? when
Millions of fierce encount'ring Angels fought 220
On either side, the least of whom could wield
209-14. Brayed ', fft. : The words brayed horrible discord, brazen, raged,
dire, AIM, and others, are, in their sound, admirably descriptive of the sense.
Here, with great advantage, may be introduced some admirable remarks
of Dr. Charming on the poetic diction of Milton. He says :
u Milton's numbers have the prime charm ot txpreuiventtt. They vary
with, and answer to, the depth, or tenderness, or sublimity of his concep-
tions, and hold intimate alliance with the soul. Lake Michael Angelo, in
whose hands the marble was said to be flexible, he bends our language
which foreigners reproach with hardness into whatever form the subject
demands. All the treasures of sweet and solemn sound are at his com-
mand. This power over language is not to be ascribed to Milton's musical
ear. It belongs to the soul. It is a gift or exercise of genius which has
power to impress itself on whatever it touches ; and finds, or frames, in
sounds, motions, and material forms, correspondences and harmonies with its
own fervid thoughts and feelings.
210. Madding wheel* : What strong and daring figures are here! Every-
thing is alive and animated. The very chariot-wheels are mad and raging.
And how rough and jarring are the verses ! The word bray usually signi-
fies any disagreeable noise. N.
212-14. Bentley objects to some of the language here used, and would
correct it thus : with dismal hiss the fiery darts, tec. Milton's language is,
indeed, quite inaccurate; but, as Dr. Pearce observes, there is a peculiar
fom sometimes in ascribing that to a circumstance of the thing, which more
properly belongs to the thing itself: to the AIM, which belongs to the dartt
Or, the phroe AIM of dartt, is equivalent to hitting dartt.
214. Faulted : Covered with a roof.
216. Battltt main : Armies mighty.
BOOK vi. 257
These elements, and arm him with the force
Of all their regions : how much more of pow'r
Army 'gainst army numberless, to raise
Dreadful combustion warring, and disturb, 225
Though not destroy, their happy native seat ;
Had not th' Eternal King omnipotent
From his strong hold of Heav'n high over-ruled
And limited their might ; though number'd suet
As each divided legion might have seem'd ^30
A num'rous host, in strength each armed hand
A legion, led in fight yet leader seem'd
Each warrior single as in chief, expert
When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway
Of battle, open when, and when to close 235
The ridges of grim war : no thought of flight,
None of retreat, no unbecoming deed
That argued fear : each on himself rely'd,
As only in his arm the moment lay
222. Elements : The old chemists erroneously appliefl this term to fire,
water, earth, and air. The elements of the alchemists are salt, sulphur, and
mercury. The term element is now used as synonymous with simple, or un-
decompounded body ; that is, a substance which we cannot resolve into sim-
pler forms of matter. The number of such, at present, is fifty-four. The
term, as here used by Milton, probably means the various substances of
which the universe is composed.
229. Though number'd, fyc. : Each legion was in number like an army;
each single warrior was in strength like a legion ; and though led in fight
was as expert as a commander-in-chief. So that the angels are celebrated,
first, for their number, then for their strength, and lastly for their expertnest
in war. N.
230. At each : That each.
233. In chief: In the place of chief.
236. The ridges of grim war : A metaphor taken from a ploughed field :
the men answer to the ridges, between whom the intervals of the ranks,
the furrows, are. The ridges of gnm, fierce, frightful-looking, war ; that is,
the ranks of the army, the files are implied. The ranks are the rows of
soldiers from flank to flank, from side to side, from the left to the right : the
files are from front to rear. R.
239. At only, Sfc. : As if upon his single arm had depended the whole
weight of the victory. The moment : The weight that turns the balance, as
258 PARADISE LOST.
Of victory : deeds of eternal fame 240
Were done, but infinite ; for wide was spread
That war, and various ; sometimes on firm ground
A standing fight, then soaring on main wing,
Tormented all the air : all air seem'd then
Conflicting fire. Long time in even scale 245
The battle hung ; till Satan, who that day
Prodigious pow'r had shown, and met in arms
No equal, ranging through the dire attack
Of fighting Seraphim confused, at length
Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and fell'd 250
Squadrons at once : with huge two-handed sway
Brandish 'd aloft the horrid edge came down
Wide wasting : such destruction to withstand
He hasted, and opposed the rocky orb
Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield : 255
A vast circumference. At his approach
The great Arch-Angel from his warlike toil
Surceased, and glad, as hoping here to end
Intestine war in Heav'n, th' arch-foe subdued,
Or captive dragg'd in chains, with hostile frown 260
And visage all inflamed, first thus began :
Author of evil, unknown till thy revolt,
Unnamed in Heav'n, now plenteous, as thou seest
the word signifies in Latin. The metaphor of the scale is employed in 245,
as it is also in Homer, II. xii. 433 ; but Homer taught him to excel Homer. N.
242. The meaning is : The war was sometimes a standing fight on the
ground, and sometimes the war soaring on main (powerful) wing, tormented
all the ir. P.
248. No equal : Though Abdiel had an advantage over Satan in the begin-
uing of the fight, he is not considered by the poet as equal to him in strength.
251. Two-handed sway, ffc. : It was accordant with ideas of chivalry and
romance, to make Michael fight with a two-handed sword.
258. Surceased: Ceased.
262. These speeches, that follow, give breath to the reader after the hurry
of the general battle ; and prepare his mind for the ensuing combat between
Michael and Satan. It is the practice, likewise, of Homer and Virgil, to
make their heroes discourse before they fight : it renders the action more
solemn, and more engages the reader's attention. N.
BOOK vi. 259
These acts of hateful strife, hateful to all,
Though heaviest by just measure on thyself 265
And thy adherents, how hast thou disturb'd
Heav'n's blessed peace, and into nature brought
Misery, uncreated till the crime
Of thy rebellion ? How hast thou instill'd
Thy malice into thousands, once upright 270
And faithful, now proved false ? But think not here
To trouble holy rest ; Heav'n casts thee out
From all her confines. Heav'n, the seat of bliss,
Brooks not the works of violence and war,
Hence then, and evil go with thee along, 275
Thy offspring, to the place of evil, Hell,
Thou and thy wicked crew ; there mingle broils
Ere this avenging sword begin thy doom,
Or some more sudden vengeance wing'd from God
Precipitate thee with augmented pain. 280
So spake the Prince of Angels : to whom thus
The Adversary : Nor think thou with wind
Of aery threats to awe whom yet with deeds
Thou canst not. Hast thou turn'd the least of these
To flight, or if to fall, but that they rise 285
Un vanquish 'd, easier to transact with me
That thou shouldst hope, imperious, and with threats
To chase me hence ? Err not that so shall end
The strife which thou call'st evil, but we style
The strife of glory ; which we mean to win, 290
Or turn this Heav'n itself into the Hell
Thou fablest, here however to dwell free,
If not to reign. Mean while thy utmost force,
And join him named Almighty to thy aid,
I fly not, but have sought thee far and nigh. 295
They ended parle, and both address'd for fight
Unspeakable ; for who, though with the tongue
282. The jldvertary : Satan, of which Hebrew word it is a translation.
288. Err: Mistake.
296. Park: Debate.
260 PAHAD18E LOST.
Of Angels, can relate, or to what things
Liken on earth conspicuous, that may lift
Human imagination to such height 300
Of Godlike pow'r ? for likest Gods they seem'd,
Stood they or moved, in stature, motion, arms,
Fit to decide the empire of great Heav'n.
Now waved their fiery swords, and in the air
Made horrid circles : two broad suns their shields 305
Blazed opposite, while expectation stood
In horror : from each hand with speed retired,
Where erst was thickest fight, th' angelic throng,
And left large field, unsafe within the wind
Of such commotion ; such as, to set forth 310
Great things by small, if Nature's concord broke,
Among the constellations war were sprung,
Two planets rushing from aspect malign
Of fiercest opposition in mid-sky
Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound, 315
Together both with next to almighty arm
Uplifted imminent, one stroke they aim'd
That might determine, and not need repeat,
As not of pow'r at onoe ; nor odds appear'd
In might or swift prevention. But the sword 320
298-9. The sense is : Can relate that fight, or to what things liken it on
earth, so conspicuous as to lift, &c.
302. Stood they or movtd : Whether they stood or moved.
306. Expectation is here personified.
320-25. But the tword, ffc. : Milton, notwithstanding the sublime genius
he was master of, has, in this Book, drawn to his assistance all the helps ha
could meet with among the ancient poets. This passage is a copy of that in
Virgil, wherein the poet tells us that the sword of JEneas, which was given
him by the Deity, broke into pieces the sword of Turnus, which came from
* mortal forge. As the moral in this place is divine, so, by the way, we
may observe, that the bestowing on a man who is favoured by Heaven, such
an allegorical weapon, is very conformable to the old eastern way of think-
ing. Not only Homer has made use of it, but we find the Jewish hero in
the Book of Maccabees, who had fought the battles of the chosen people
with o much glory and success, receiving in his dream a sword from th
hand of the prophet Jeremiah. A. Prevention: Anticipation
BOOK vr. 261
Of Michael from the armoury of God,
Was giv'n him temper'd so, that neither keen
Nor solid might resist that edge. It met
The sword of Satan with steep force to smite
Descending, and in half cut sheer ; nor stay'd, 32o
But with swift wheel reverse, deep ent'ring shared
All his right side : then Satan first knew pain,
And writhed him to and fro convolved ; so sore
The griding sword with discontinuous wound
Pass'd through him : but th' ethereal substance closed, 330
Not long divisible ; and from the gash
A stream of nect'rous humour, issuing, flow'd
Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed,
And all his armour stain 'd ere while so bright.
Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run 335
By angels many and strong, who interposed
Defence, while others bore him on their shields
Back to his chariot, where it stood retired
From off the files of war : there they him laid
Gnashing for anguish, and despite, and shame, 340
To find himself not matchless, and his pride
325-29. In half cut sheer : Cut in two at once and completely. The
pause at the word sheer adds force to the ida conveyed. The passage is an
imitation of the Iliad, iii. 363, and of the JEn. xii. 731, &c. There is a
peculiar adaptation in the words shared, writhed, convolved so sore, griding,
and discontinuous wound, to the end of impressing deeply on the mind of the
reader the pain inflicted upon Satan by Michael's keen sword.
326. Swift wheel reverse : With a swift turn in an opposite direction.
326. Griding: Harshly cutting. Discontinuous: Breaking up the con-
tinuity of the parts.
332. This passage, wherein Satan is described as wounded by the sword
of Michael, is in imitation of Homer, who tells us, in the same manner,
that upon Diomede's wounding the gods, there flowed from the wound an
ichor, or pure kind of blood, which was not bred from mortal viands; and
that though the pain was exquisitely great, the wound soon closed up and
healed in those beings who are vested with immortality. A.
335-36. Was run by angels : A Latin form of expression for angels ran.
340. Dttpitt: Spite.
262 PARADISE LOST.
Humbled by such rebuke, so far beneath
His confidence to equal God in pow'r.
Yet soon he heal'd ; for Spirits that live throughout
Vital in cv'ry part, not as frail man 345
In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,
Cannot but by annihilating die ;
Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound
Receive, no more than can the fluid air.
All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear, 350
All intellect, all sense : and as they please,
They limb themselves : and colour, shape, or size
Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare.
Meanwhile in other parts like deeds deserved
Memorial, where the might of Gabriel fought, 355
And with fierce ensigns pierced the deep array
Of Moloch, furious king ; who him defy'd,
And at his chariot-wheels to drag him bound
Threaten 'd ; nor from the Holy One of Heav'n
Refrain'd his tongue blasphemous ; but anon 360
Down cloven to the waist, with shatter'd arms
And uncouth pain fled bellowing. On each wing
Uriel and Raphael his vaunting foe,
344. For tpiritt that livt, $c. : We see here Milton's notions of angels.
They are vital in every part, can receive no mortal wound, and cannot die
but by annihilation. They are all eye, all ear, all sense and understanding ;
and can assume what kind of bodies they please. These notions, if not true
in divinity, yet, certainly, are very fine in poetry ; but most of them are not
disagreeable to those hints which are left us of these spiritual beings in
Scripture. N.
350. The account which Pliny gives of God is very similar to this.
353. Like*: Suits. Condente: Dense.
355-62. Where the might of Gabriel, tfc. : Milton, in his description of his
furious Moloch, flying from the battle, and bellowing with the wound he had
received, doubtless had his eye on Mars, in the Iliad, who, upon his being
wounded, is represented as retiring out of the fight and making an outcry
louder than that of a whole army when it begins the charge. The reader
will easily observe how Milton has kept all the horror of this image with*
o~A running into the ridiculousness of it A.
The expression " might of Gabriel fought," is imitated from Homer.
363. After Raphael, some critics propose to insert the word each.
BOOK vi. 263
Though huge, and in a rock of diamond arm'd,
Vanquish'd Adraraelech and Asmadai, 365
Two potent thrones, that to be less than Gods
Disdain'd, but meaner thoughts learn'd in their flight,
Mangled with ghastly wounds through plate and mail.
Nor stood unmindful Abdiel to annoy
The atheist crew, but with redoubled blow 370
Ariel and Arioch, and the violence
Of Ramiel scorch'd and blasted overthrew.
I might relate of thousands, and their names
Eternize here on earth ; but those elect
Angels, contented with their fame in Heaven, 375
Seek not the praise of men. The other sort
In might though wondrous, and in acts of war,
Nor of renown less eager, yet by doom
Cancell'd from Heaven and sacred memory,
Nameless in dark oblivion let them dwell. 380
For strength from truth divided and from just,
Illaudable, nought merits but dispraise
And ignominy ; yet to glory aspires
Vain-glorious, and through infamy seeks fame :
Therefore eternal silence be their doom. 385
And now their mightiest quell'd, the battle swerved,
With many an inroad gored ; deformed rout
Enter'd, and foul disorder ; all the ground
With shiver'd armour strewn, and on a heap
Chariot and charioteer lay overturn'd, 390
365. Adramdech : Afterwards one of the idols of Sepharvaim, in Samaria,
2 Kings xvii. 31. Asmadai, the same as Atmodeus, Tobit iii. 8. The name
is, by some, derived from a word signifying to exterminate.
368. Plate and mail : Two sorts of armour, the former consisting of thin
plates of metal laid over one another like the scales of a fish, and sewed
down to a strong linen or leathern jacket ; the other, called chain mail, was
a coat of steel net-work, consisting of iron rings, each having four other
rings inserted in it.
371. Arid is a word meaning ''lion of God," or "lion-like." 2 Sam
xxiii. 20 ; 1 Chron. xi. 22. Arioch is of a similar signification. Ramiel*
one that exalts himself against God.
386. Battle : Army, or the main body of it.
264 PARADISE LOST.
And fiery foaming steeds ; what stood, rccoil'd
Overwearied, through the faint Satanic host
Defensive scarce, or with pale fear surprised,
Then first with fear surprised and sense of pain,
Fled ignominious, to such evil brought
By sin of disobedience, till that hour
Not liable to fear, or flight, or pain.
Far otherwise th' inviolable Saints
In cubic phalanx firm advanced entire,
Invulnerable, impenetrably arm'd: 400
Such high advantages their innocence
Gave them above their foes, not to have sinn'd,
Not to have disobey'd : in fight they stood
Unwearied, unobnoxious to be pain'd 40J
By wound, tho' from their place by violence moved.
Now night her course began, and over Heaven
Inducing darkness, grateful truce imposed,
And silence on the odious din of war.
Under her cloudy covert both retired,
391. What stood is connected as a nominative case with the verbs rtcoiltd
and Jled ; and is put in opposition to what lay overturned, in the preceding
line. Part of the Satanic host lay overturned ; and that part which was not
overturned, but kept on their feet, and ttood, either gave way, and recoiled
overwearied, or ir/A pale fear turprited. fled ignominious. N.
393. Defensive tcarcc : Scarcely in a posture to defend.
393. Till that hour : It seems a very extraordinary circumstance attending
a battle, that not only none of the warriors on either side were capable of
death by wound, but, on one side, none were capable of wound or even
of pain. This was a very great advantage on the side of the good angels,
but we must suppose that the rebel angels did not know their own weak-
ness till thit hour. N.
399. Cubic : This is not to be interpreted in its strictest sense, but in the
sense of tquare. having so much of the property of a cube as to be equal in
length on each of its four sides.
405. Though, 4r. : This circumstance is judiciously added to prepare the
reader for what happens in the next fight. N.
407. Inducing : Bringing on. The expression was probably taken from
Horace, Sat. i. 5 : 9 :
" Jam nox \7\duetrt ttrrii
Umbrai, et co-lo diffundere iigna parabat"
BOOK vi. 265
Victor and vanquish'd, on the foughten field 410
Michael and his angels prevalent
Encamping, placed in guard their watches round,
Cherubic waving fires. On th' other part
Satan with his rebellious disappear'd,
Far in the dark dislodged ; and void of rest, 415
His potentates to council call'd by night ;
And in the midst thus undismay'd began :
now in danger try'd, now known in arms,
Not to be overpow'r'd, Companions dear,
Found worthy not of liberty alone, 420
Too mean pretence, but what we more affect,
Honour, dominion, glory, and renown ;
Who have sustain'd one day in doubtful fight
(And if one day, why not eternal days ?)
What Heaven's Lord had pow'rfullest to send 425
Against us from about his throne, and judged
Sufficient to subdue us to his will,
But proves not so : then fallible, it seems,
Of future we may deem him, though till now
Omniscient thought. True is, less firmly arm'd, 430
Some disadvantage we endured and pain,
413. Cherubic waving fires : Their watches were cherubic waving fir tt
that is, Cherubim like fires waving ; the Cherubim being described by our
author, agreeably to Scripture, as of a fiery substance and nature. N.
415. Dislodged: Removed.
418. OA, now in danger, fyc. : This speech of Satan is very artful. He
flatters their pride and vanity, and avails himself of the only comfort that
could be drawn from this day's engagement (though it was a false comfort) ,
that God was neither so powerful nor wise as he was taken to be. He was
forced to acknowledge that they had suffered some loss and pain, but endea
vouis to lessen it as much as he can, and attributes it not to the true cause,
but to their want of better arms and armour, which he therefore proposes
that they should provide themselves withal, to defend themselves, and annoy
their enemies. N.
421. Too mean pretence : Too small a claim.
430. True is : True it is.
431-32. So Prometheus, in like manner, comforts and confirms himself
gainst Jupiter's threats. ^Eschyl. Prom. Vinct. 932. N.
12
266 PARADISE LOST.
Till now not known ; but known, as soon contemn'd ;
Since now we find this our empyreal form
Incapable of mortal injury,
Imperishable, and though pierced with wound, 439
Soon closing, and by native vigour hcal'd.
Of evil then so small, as easy think
The remedy ; perhaps more valid arms,
Weapons more violent, when next we meet,
May serve to better us, and worse our foes ; 440
Or equal what between us made the odds,
In nature none. If other hidden cause
Left them superior, while we can preserve
Unhurt our minds and understanding sound,
Due search and consultation will disclose. 445
He sat ; and in th' assembly next upstood
Nisroch, of principalities the prime.
As one he stood escaped from cruel fight,
Sore toil'd, his riven arms to havoc hewn,
And cloudy in aspect thus answ'ring spake : 460
Deliverer from new Lords, leader to free
Enjoyment of our right as Gods : yet hard
For Gods, and too unequal work we find,
Against unequal arms to fight in pain,
Against unpain'd, impassive ; from which evil 455
Ruin must needs ensue ; for what avails
Valour or strength, though matchless, quell'd with pain
Which all subdues, and makes remiss the hands
Of mightiest ? Sense of pleasure we may well
Spare out of life perhaps, and not repine, 460
But live content, which is the calmest life :
But pain is perfect misery, the worst
440. Wortt : Put to disadvantage.
447. Nitroch : An idol of the Ninevites, 2 Kings ziz. 37 ; Isaiah xxzvii
38. In his temple Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was slain.
455. Impattivt : Incapable of pain.
462. The wortt of evil*, Spc. : Nisroch is made to talk agreeably to th
sentiments of Hieronymus, and those philosophers who maintained that pain
is the greatest of evils there might be a possibility of living without plea-
BOOK vi. 267
Of evils, and excessive, overturns
All patience. He who therefore can invent
With what more forcible we may offend 465
Our yet unwounded enemies, or arm
Ourselves with like defence, to me deserves
No less than for deliverance what we owe.
Whereto, with look composed, Satan reply'd:
Not uninvented that, which thou aright 470
Believ'st so main to our success, I bring.
Which of us who beholds the bright surface
Of this ethereous mould whereon we stand,
This continent of spacious Heav'n, adorn'd
With plant, fruit, flow'r ambrosial, gems, and gold ; 475
Whose eye so superficially surveys
These things, as not to mind from whence they grow
Deep under ground, materials dark and crude,
Of spirituous and fiery spume, till touch'd
With Heaven's ray, and temper'd, they shoot forth 480
So bounteous, op'ning to the ambient light ?
These in their dark nativity the deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame ;
Which into hollow engines, long and round,
Thick ramm'd, at th' other bore with touch of fire 485
Dilated and infuriate, shall send forth
From far, with thund'ring noise among our foes,
Such implements of mischief, as shall dash
rare, but there was no living in pain a notion suitable enough to a deity of
the effeminate Assyrians.
467. To me : That is, to my apprehension, or in my judgment.
f
471. Main: Important.
472. The construction is, which sf us who beholds, &c., is there whose eyt
to superficially, &c.
479. Spume : Frothy matter.
481. Jlinbicnt : Encompassing.
482. Deep : The deep ground, or soil.
483. Infernal flame : Flame such as Hell furnishes.
488. Implements of mischief : The second day's engagement is apt to startle
an imagination which has not been raiwd and qualified for such a dKcrip-
PARADISE LOST.
To pieces, and ov'rwhelm whatever stands
Adverse, that they shall fear we have disarm 'd 490
The Thund'rer of his only dreaded bolt.
Nor long shall be our labour ; yet ere dawn,
Effect shall end our wish. Mean while revive ;
Abandon fear ; to strength and council join'd
Think nothing hard, much less to be despair'd. 495
He ended, and his words their drooping cheer
Enlighten 'd, and their languish 'd hope revived.
Th' invention all admired, and each, how he
To be th' inventor miss'd ; so easy it seem'd
Once found, which yet unfound most would have thought 500
Impossible ; yet haply of thy race
In future days, if malice should abound,
Some one intent on mischief, or inspired
With dev'lish machination, might devise
Like instrument to plague the sons of men 505
For sin, on war and mutual slaughter bent.
tion by the reading of the ancient poets, and of Homer in particular. It
was certainly a very bold thought in our au hor to ascribe the first use of
artillery to the rebel angels. But as such a pernicious invention may be
well supposed to have proceeded from such authors, so it enters very pro-
perly into the thoughts of that being who is all along described as aspiring
to the majesty of the Maker. Such engines were the only instruments he
could have made use of to imitate those thunders which, in all poetry, sacred
and profane, are represented as the arms of the Almighty. The tearing up
the hills (544) was not altogether so daring a thought as the former. We
are, in some measure, prepared for such an incident by the description of the
giants' war, which we meet with among the ancient poets. What still made
this circumstance the more proper for the poet's use, is the opinion of many
learned men, that the fable of the giants' war, which makes so great a noise
in antiquity, and gave Birth to the sublimest description in Hesiod's works,
was an al.egory founded upon this very tradition of a fight between the good
and bad angels. A.
406. Cheer: Cheerfulness.
408-99. So eaty, tfc. : How natural, and how conformed to experience, is
this remark. Johnson applies it to fine writing.
502. In future day*, 6fc. : This speaking in the spirit of prophecy adds
great dignity to poetry, and very properly comes from the mouth of an
N.
BOOK vi. 269
Forthwith from council to the work they flew ;
None arguing stood ; innumerable hands
Were ready ; in a moment up they turn'd
Wide the celestial soil, and saw beneath 510
Th' originals of nature in their crude
Conception ; sulphurous and nitrous foam
They found, they mingled, and with subtle art,
Concocted and adusted they reduced
To blackest grain, and into store convey'd. 515
Part hidden veins digg'd up (nor hath this earth
Entrails unlike) of mineral and stone,
Whereof to found their engines and their balls
Of missive ruin ; part incentive reed
Provide, pernicious with one touch to fire. 520
So all ere day-spring, under conscious night,
Secret they finish'd, and in order set,
With silent circumspection unespy'd.
Now when fair morn orient in Heav'n appear'd,
Up rose the victor Angels, and to arms 525
The matin-trumpet sung. In arms they stood
Of golden panoply, refulgent host,
Soon banded : others from the dawning hills
511-12. Crude conception: Unformed or uncompounded state
514. Concocted : Purified, ddusted : Dried by heat.
517. Stone : This may have been that which was used for ball$, or that
which, in the mine, surrounded the metallic substance of which they con-
structed their engines and balls.
519. Incentive: Inflaming, inflammable.
520. Pernicious: Swift.
521. Conscious night : Night is here personified, and described as acquain.
ed with their operations. Ovid, Met. xiii. 15, has a similar expression :
" quorum nox conicia sola cvt."
526. The matin-trumpet sung : A classical expression, Virg. JEn. v. 113
527. Panoply : Complete armour for the whole person.
528. Dawning hills : This epithet is usually applied to the light, but her
very poetically, to the Ai//, the dawn first appearing over them, and the/
seeming to bring the rising day ; as the evening star is said likewise first to
appear on his hill-top, VIII. 520. N.
270 PARADISE LOST.
Look'd round, and scouts each coast, light-armed scour,
Each quarter, to descry the distant foe, 530
Where lodged, or whither fled, or if for fight,
In motion or in halt. Him soon they met
Under spread ensigns moving nigh, in slow
But firm battalion. Back with speediest sail
Zophiel, of Cherubim the swiftest wing, 535
Came flying, and in mid-air aloud thus cry'd :
Ann, Warriors, arm for fight ; the foe at hand,
Whom fled we thought, will save us long pursuit
This day. Fear not his flight ; so thick a cloud
He comes, and settled in his face I see 540
Sad resolution and secure. Let each
His adamantine coat gird well, and each
Fit well his helm, gripe fast his orbed shield,
Borne ev'n or high ; for this day will pour down,
If I conjecture aught, no drizzling show'r, 545
But rattling storm of arrows barb'd with fire.
So warn'd he them, aware themselves, and soon
In order, quit of all impediment :
Instant without disturb they took alarm,
And onward moved embattled ; when behold, 550
Not distant far with heavy pace the foe
533. Slow but firm : Slow in drawing their cannon ; firm in order to con-
ceal it, 551. N.
535. Zophiel: Spy of God.
541. Sad: Sullen.
542. Coat: Hor. Ode L 6 : 13 :
" Martem tunica tectum adamant ina."
T.
545. Aught : Fenton suggests in place of this, the word " right."
546. Rattling, $c. : The reader should notice the prevalence of the letter
r in this sentence, found in almost every word ; and observe the great ex-
pression which its rolling sound gives to the sense. Barbed with fire:
headed, or bearded with fire.
548. Impediment: Baggage.
549 Ditturb: Disturbance.
BOOK VI.
271
Approaching gross and huge, in hollow cube
Training his devilish engin'ry, impaled
On ev'ry side with shadowing squadrons deep.
To hide the fraud. At interview both stood 555
A while ; but suddenly at head appear'd
Satan, and thus was heard commanding loud :
Vanguard, to right and left the front unfold,
That all may see who hate us, how we seek
Peace and composure, and with open breast 560
Stand ready to receive them, if they like
Our overture, and turn not back perverse ;
But that I doubt. However witness Heaven,
Heav'n witness thou anon, while we discharge
Freely our part ; ye who appointed stand, 565
Do as ye have in charge, 'and briefly touch
What we propound, and loud that all may hear.
So scoffing in ambiguous words, he scarce
552. Cube : The use of this term, if strictly interpreted (and not loosely
as in 399) implies that the army was moving in the air. See lines 69-76.
553. Training: Drawing in train. Impaled: Surrounded as with pali-
sades or stakes.
557. Thus was heard, fyc. : The speech that follows is full of wit and
humour. The words, open breast, overture, discharge, touch, loud, are to be
emphasized.
568. So scoffing, fyc. : We cannot pretend entirely to justify this punning
scene ; but we should consider that there is very little of this kind of wit
any where in the poem but in this place ; and in this we may suppose Mil-
ton to have sacrificed to the taste of his times when puns were better relish-
ed than they are at present in the learned world ; and I know not whether
we are not grown too delicate and fastidious in this particular. It is certain
that the ancients practised them more both in their conversation and in their
writings; and Aristotle recommends them in his book of Rhetoric, and
likewise Cicero in his Treatise of Oratory ; and if we should condemn them
absolutely, we must condemn half of the good saying of the greatest wits
of Greece and Rome. They are less proper indeed in serious works, and
not at all becoming the majesty of an epic poem ; but our author seems to
have been betrayed into this excess, in great measure, by his love and ad-
miration of Homer ; for this account of the angels jesting and insulting one
another, is not unlike some passages in the 16th book of the Iliad ; and, as
Mr. Thyer observes, Milton is the less to be blamed for this punning scene,
272 PARADISE LOST.
Had ended ; when to right and left the front
Divided, and to either flank retir'd : 570
Which to our eyes discovered, new and strange,
A triple mounted row of pillars laid
On wheels (for like to pillars most they seem'd,
Or hollow'd bodies made of oak or fir,
With branches lopt, in wood or mountain fell'd) 575
Brass, iron, stony mold, had not their mouths
With hideous orifice gaped on us wide,
Portending hollow truce. At each, behind,
A Seraph stood, and in his hand, a reed
Stood waving, tipt with fire : while we suspense 580
Collected stood within our thoughts amused,
Not long, for sudden all at once their reeds
Put forth, and to a narrow vent apply'd
With nicest touch. Immediate in a flame,
But soon obscured with smoke, all Heav'n appear'd, 585
From those deep- throated engines belch 'd, whose roar
Embowcl'd with outrageous noise the air,
when one considers the characters of the speakers, such kind of insulting
wit being most peculiar to proud, contemptuous spirits. N.
570. Divided : Nothing can be more distinct, picturesque, and grand, than
this advance of Satan's army with his masked artillery. E. B.
576. Mold bears the sense of substance ; and, although Dr. Bentley would
change the text, and read cast in mold, in order to rid the poem of ttone can-
non, as he expresses it, it is unnecessary, for such cannon were to be seen a
century ago at Delft, in Holland. It is probable that Milton had seen them
in his travels on the continent, and was thus led to introduce them as part
of the artillery of Satan ; though it cannot be doubted that cannon of such
material would not be very lasting.
578. Portending hollow truce : Showing a deceitful suspension of fight.
There is a play upon the word hollow, which should be noticed.
580. Stood waving in his hand a reed tipt with fire. Sutpente : In sus-
pense.
586. Deep-throated engine* : Shakspeare, in Othello. Act Ui., had used the
name expression :
" And oh, you mortal enginei whine rude threat*
Th' immortal Jove'i dread clamours counterfeit'
967. EmbowcTd, ire. Filled, or penetrated, the air with outrageous noise.
BOOK vi. 273
And all her entrails tore, disgorging foul
Their dev'lish glut, chain'd thunderbolts and hail
Of iron globes ; which on the victor host 590
Levell'd with such impetuous fury smote,
That whom they hit, none on their feet might stand,
Though standing else as rocks, but down they fell
By thousands, Angel on Arch-Angel roll'd ;
The sooner for their arms ; unarm'd they might 595
Have easily as Spirits evaded swift
By quick contraction or remove ; but now
Foul dissipation follow'd aad forced rout ;
Nor served it to relax their serried files.
What should they do ? If on they rush'd, repulse 600
Repeated, and indecent overthrow
Doubled, would render them yet more despised,
And to their foes a laughter ; for in view
Stood rank'd of Seraphim another row,
In posture to displode their second tire 605
Of thunder ; back defeated to return
They worse abhorr'd. Satan beheld their plight,
And to his mates thus in derision call'd :
Friends, why come not on these victors proud ?
Ere while they fierce were coming ; and when we CIO
To entertain them fan- with open front
And breast (what could we more?) propounded terms
Of composition, straight they changed their minds,
Flew off, and into strange vagaries fell,
As they would dance ; yet for a dance they seem'd 615
The roar is said to do what in fact the cannon did ; the property of a thing
by a common figure, being put for the thing itself. See also II. 65*4, ib
another example, ^iris here personified, and viewed as an animal.
589. Glut: What they had swallowed, viz., chained thunderbolts and
hail of iron globes.
597. Remove: Removal. 598. Dissipation: Dispersion.
599. Nor served : Nor did it accomplish any good purpose to open their
compact files.
604. Rank'd: In idnks. 605. Tire: Tier, row.
608. In derision called : Another humorous speech here followi.
12* R
274 PARADISE LOST.
Somewhat extravagant and wild, perhaps
For joy of offer'd peace. But I suppose,
If our proposals once again were heard,
We should compel them to a quick result.
To whom thus Belial, in like gamesome mood : 620
Leader, the terms we sent were terms of weight,
Of hard contents, and full of force urged home,
Such as we might perceive amused them all,
And stumbled many ; who receives them right,
Had need from head to foot well understand ; 625
Not understood, this gift they have besides,
They shew us when our foes walk not upright.
So they among themselves in pleasant vein,
Stood scoffing, hcighten'd in their thoughts beyond
All doubt of victory ; Eternal Might 630
To match with their inventions they presumed
So easy, and of his thunder made a scorn,
And all his host derided, while they stood
A while in trouble : but they stood not long ;
Rage prompted them at length, and found them arms 635
Against such hellish mischief fit to oppose
Forthwith (behold the excellence, the pow'r,
Which God hath in his mighty Angels placed !)
Their arms away they threw, and to the hills
(For earth hath this variety from Heav'n 640
Of pleasure situate in hill and dale)
Light as the lightning glimpse they ran, they flew ;
From their foundations loosening to and fro,
620. Like gamesome mood: The pun is remarkably well illustrated in
Belial's speech. Notice the words, terms of weight, hard contents, force urged
home, understand, understood. This language came more appropriately from
Belial than it would have done from any other of the fallen angels.
6'J->. Understand : Be well fortified as to his position. The same equivo-
cation is used by Shakspeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona : " My staff under-
stands me."
35. Rage: Indignation.
' Furor anna miniitrat."
Virg. JEn. I. 160.
BOOK vi. 275
They pluck'd the seated hills with all their load,
Rocks, waters, woods, and, by the shaggy tops 645
Uplifting, bore them in their hands. Amaze,
Be sure, and terror seized the rebel host,
When coming towards them so dread they saw
The bottom of the mountains upward turn'd ;
Till on those cursed engines triple-row 650
They saw them whelm'd, and all their confidence
Under the weight of mountains buried deep ;
Themselves invaded next, and on their heads
Main promontories flung, which in the air
Came shadowing, and oppress'd whole legions arm'd. 655
Their armour hclp'd their harm, crush'd in and bruis'd
Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain
Implacable, and many a dolorous groan
Long struggling underneath, ere they could wind
Out of such pris'n, though Spirits of purest light ; 660
Purest at first, now gross by sinning grown.
The rest in imitation to like arms
Betook them, and the neighb'ring hills up tore :
So hills amid the air encounter'd hills,
Hurl'd to and fro with jaculation dire, 665
That under ground they fought in dismal shade ;
644. They pltictfd the seated hills, Sfc. : It may, perhaps, be worth while to
consider with what judgment Milton, in this narration, has avoided every-
thing that is mean or trivial in the description of the Latin and Greek poets ;
and, at the same time, improved every great hint which he met with in
their works upon this subject. A.
646. Amaze : Amazement. 648. Dread: Dreadful. 654. Main: Vast.
661. The degrading tendency of sin is here well exhibited; also in line!
690-91.
662. The rest : The evil angels.
666. Under ground, Sfc. ' One of the Spartans at the battle of Thermo-
pylae, when told that the arrows of the Persians would be so numerous as to
obscure the sun, bravely replied, " No matter, we shall have the advantage
of fighting in the shade ;' ; but these lines reveal to us a more surprising
shade, and more impenetrable that of hills hurled against each other, and
meeting in mid air. See Book IF. 539.
276 PARADISE LOST.
Infernal noise ? War seotn'd a civil game
To this uproar : horrid confusion heap'd
Upon confusion rose : and now all Hcav'n
Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread, 670
Had not th' Almighty Father, where he sits
Shrined in his sanctuary of Heav'n secure,
Consulting on the sum of things, foreseen
This tumult, and permitted all, advised :
That his great purpose he might so fulfil, 67A
To honour his anointed Son avenged
Upon his enemies, and to declare
All pow'r on him transferr'd : whence to his Son
Th' Assessor of his throne, he thus began :
Effulgence of my glory, Son beloved, G80
Son in whose face invisible is beheld
Visibly what by Deity I am,
And in whose hand what by decree I do,
Second Omnipotence, two days are past,
Two days, as we compute the days of Heav'n, 68ft
Since Michael and his Pow'rs went forth to tame
These disobedient. Sore hath been their fight,
As likeliest was, whon two such foes met arm'd ;
For to themselves I left them, and thou know'st
Equal in their creation they were form'd, 690
Save what sin hath impair'd, which yet hath wrought
Insensibly, for I suspend their doom ;
Whence in perpetual fight they needs must last
Endless, and no solution will be found.
War wearied hath performed what war can do, 695
1087. CivU: Gentle.
670. Had gone to wrack : Milton's battles resemble thost* of Homer in one
property that of rising in intensity and horror one above another.
673. The turn of things: All things.
674. jidviied: Advisedly ; in a deliberate manner.
681. Invisible: That which is invisible. Visibly: plainly.
69). Save what. tfc. : Before these words must be understood, "and equal
.hey are still," or words equivalent. Intentibly : By slow degrees.
694. Solution : Release, separation
BOOK vi. 277
And to disorder'd rage let loose the reins,
With mountains as with weapons arm'd, which makes
Wild work in Heav'n, and dang'rous to the main.
Two days are therefore past, the third is thine ;
For thee I have ordain'd it, and thus far 700
Have suffer'd, that the glory may be thine
Of ending this great war, since none but Thou
Can end it. Into Thee such virtue and grace
Immense, I have transfused, that all may know
In Heav'n and Hell thy pow'r above compare ; 705
And this perverse commotion govern'd thus,
To manifest thee worthiest to be Heir
Of all things ; to be Heir and to be King
By sacred unction, thy deserved right.
Go then, thou Mightiest in thy father's might, 710
Ascend my chariot, guide the rapid wheels
That shake Heav'n's basis, bring forth all my war,
My bow and thunder ; my almighty arms
Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant thigh :
Pursue these sons of darkness, drive them out 715
From all Heav'n's bounds into the utter deep ;
695. What war can do : Within the compass of this one Book, we have
all the variety of battles that can well be conceived : a single combat, and a
general engagement ; a fight with darts, in imitation of the ancients ; a fight
with artillery, in imitation of the moderns ; but the images in both are
raised greatly, to correspond to the superior nature of the combatants here
engaged.
698. Main : The greater part.
705. Compare: Comparison.
710-18. Go then, thou migktirtt. tyc.: Milton has raised his description in .
this Book with many images taken out of the poetical parts of Scripture. k
The Messiah's chariot is formed upon a vision of Ezekiel, who, as Grotius
observes, has very much in him of Homer's spirit, in the poetical parts of
his prophecy. The lines here mentioned, in that glorious commission
which is given the Messiah to extirpate the host of rebel angels, is drawn
from a sublime passage in the 45th Psalm. The reader will easily discover
other strokes of the same nature. A.
712. War: Implements of war.
714. Puiuanl : Mighty.
278 PARADISE LOST.
There lut them learn, as likes them, to despise
God and Messiah his anointed King.
He said, and on his Son with rays direct
Shone full ; he all hi* Father full express'd 720
Ineffably into his face received ;
And thus the filial Godhead answering spake :
Father, Supreme of Heav'nly Thrones,
First, Highest, Holiest, Best, thou always seck'st
To glorify thy Son ; I always thee, 725
As is most just ; this I my glory account,
My exaltation, and my whole delight,
That thou in me well pleased, declar'st thy will
Fulfilled ; which to fulfil is all my bliss.
Sceptre and pow'r, thy giving, I assume, 730
And gladlier shall resign, when in the end
Thou .-halt be All in AH, and I in thee
For ever, and in me all whom thou lov'st :
But whom thou hat'st, I hate, and can put on
Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on, 735
Image of thee in all things ; and shall soon,
Arm'd with thy might, rid Heav'n of these rebell'd,
To their prepared ill mansion driv'n down,
To chains of darkness, and the undying worm,
That from thy just obedience could revolt, 740
Whom to obey is happiness entire.
Then shall thy Saints unmix'd, and from th' impure
Far separate, circling thy holy mount,
Unfeigned Hallelujahs to thee sing,
Hymns of high praise : and I among them Chief. 745
So said, he o'er his sceptre bowing, rose
From the right hand of glory where he sat ;
And the third sacred morn began to shine,
Dawning through Heav'n. Forth rush'd with whirlwind sound
717. At like* than : As it pleases them.
732. 1 Cor. xv. 24, 28 ; John xvii. 21, 23.
737. Rtbtird: Rebellious.
749, &c. The coming forth of the Messiah to destroy his foes, is the most
ublime passage in the poem. It is a u torrent rapture" of fire. Its words
BOOK vi. 279
The chariot of paternal Deity, 750
Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,
Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoy'd
By four Cherubic shapes ; four faces each
Had wondrous ; as with stars their bodies all
And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels 755
Of beryl, and careering fires between ;
Over their heads a crystal firmament,
Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
Amber, and colours of the show'ry arch.
He in celestial panoply all arm'd 760
Of radiant Urirn, work divinely wrought,
Ascended. At his right hand victory
Sat eagle-winged ; beside him hung his bow
And quiver with three-bolted thunder stored ;
Jo not run but rush, as if hurrying from the chariot of the Son. Suggested
partly by Hesiod's " War of the Giants," and partly by Achilles' coming
forth upon the Trojans, it is superior to both indeed to anything in the com-
pass of poetry. As the Messiah, in his progress, snatched up his fallen foes,
and drove them before him like leaves on the blast, Milton, in the whirl-
wind of his inspirations, snatches up words, allusions, images, from Homer,
Hesiod, and the Book of God, and bears them, in terror and in triumph,
on. As soon call a tornado the plagiarist of the boughs, rafters, houses, and
woods, which it tears up, and carries forward in the fury of its power, as
Milton, in a mood like this. GILFILLAN.
751. Undrawn: Not drawn by external force. See Ezekiel i. 4, &c. ; Is.
bcvi. 15.
752. Spirit : Energy or activity.
756. Beryl : Beryl, a precious mineral of a bluish green colour. It is the
same as the emerald, except that the latter has a richer green colour. Cn-
rtering fires : Rapidly moving fires, or lightnings.
757. Crystal firmament : See Ezek. i. 22, 26-28.
761. Urim: The word means light, and hence the epithet radiant is pro-
perly applied. It denotes a certain part of the dress, which, on certain great
occasions, was worn by the Jewish High Priest. It is by Bishop Newton
supposed to denote, in connection with Thummim, which signifies perfection,
the clearness and certainty of the divine answers which were obtained by
the High Priest when he consulted God with his breastplate on, in contra-
distinction to the obscure, enigmatical, uncertain, and imperfect answers of
(he Heathen oracles.
280 PARADISE LOST.
And from about him fierce effusion roll'd 765
Of smoke and biek'ring flame and sparkles dire :
Attended with ten thousand thousand Saints,
He onward came ; far off his coming shone ;
And twenty thousand (I their number heard)
Chariots of God, half on each hand were seen. 770
He on the wings of Cherub rode sublime
On the crystalline sky, in sapphire throned,
Illustrious far and wide, but by his own
First seen ; them unexpected joy surprised,
When the great ensign of Messiah blazed 775
Aloft, by Angels borno, his sign in Heav'n ;
Under whose conduct Michael soon reduced
His army, circumfused on either wing.
Under their Head embody'd all in one.
Before him pow'r divine his way prepared : 780
At his command th' uprooted hills retired
Each to his place ; they heard his voice, and went
Obsequious ; Heav'n his wonted face renew'd,
And with fresh flow'rets hill and valley smiled.
This saw his hapless foes, but stood obdured, 785
And to rebellious fight rallied their Pow'rs
Insensate, hope conceiving from despair.
In Heav'nly Spirits coujd such perverseness dwell ?
But to convince the proud what signs avail,
765. A furious tempest pouring forth smoke and destructive Same around
him. Bickering : Fighting, and thence destroying, from the Welsh 6ic, a
combat. Compare Ps. xviii. 8 ; 1. 3. H.
767. See Jude 14. It is worthy of remark, how greatly indebted to
sacred Scripture is the poet for the sublimest passages of his production.
777. Reduced: Arranged. 778. Circumfuted: Spread round.
781. Uprooted hittf, tfc.: A happy thought in Milton to restore the beautv
of the celestial landscape.
785. Obdured : Obstinate in their sinful purpose.
787. Hope: Virg. JEn. ii. 354:
I'm Mini rietli. nullam ipermre itlutem."
And Quint us Curtius
' . . . . iJBp* detperatio tpi c*uit tit"
BOOK VI. 281
I
Or wonders move th' obdurate to relent ? 790
They, harden'd more by what might most reclaim,
Grieving to see his glory, at the sight
Took envy ; and aspiring" to his bight,
Stood re-irnbattled fierce, by force or fraud
Weening to prosper, and at length prevail 795
Against God and Messiah, or to fall
In universal ruin last ; and now
To final battle drew, disdaining flight
Or faint retreat ; when the great Son of God
To all his host on either hand thus spake : 800
Stand still in bright array, ye Saints ; here stand
Ye Angels arm'd, this day from battle rest :
Faithful hath been your warfare, and of God
Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause ;
And as ye have received, so have ye done 805
Invincibly ; but of this cursed crew
The punishment to other hand belongs :
Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints ;
Number to this day's work is not ordain'd,
Nor multitude ; stand only and behold. 810
God's indignation on these Godless pour'd
By me ; not you, but me, they have despised,
Yet envy'd. Against me is all their rage,
Because the Father, t' whom in Heav'n supreme
Kingdom, and pow'r, and glory appertains, 815
Hath honour'd me according to his will.
Therefore to me their doom he hath assign 'd ;
That they may have their wish, to try with me
In battle which the stronger proves ; they all,
Or I alone against them, since by strength 820
They measure all, of other excellence
Not emulous, nor care who them excels ;
Nor other strife with them do I vouchsafe.
797. Latt : At last. Newton and Bentley suggest, as a better reading,
lost.
808. Consult Deut. xxxii. 35; Rorn. xii. 19.
282 PARADISE LOST.
So spake the Son, and into terror changed
His count' nauce, too severe to be beheld, 825
And full of wrath bent on his enemies.
At once the Four spread out their starry wings
With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs
Of his fierce chariot roll'd, as with the sound
Of torrent floods, or of a num'rous host. 830
He on his impious foes right onward drove,
Gloomy as night : under his burning wheels
The steadfast empyrean shook throughout,
All but the throne itself of God. Full soon
Among them he arrived ; in his right hand 835
Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent
Before him, such as in their souls infixed
824. Into terror, tfc. : Into that which was terrible changed his counte-
nance, too severe to be beheld, and bent full of wrath on his enemies. Bent
is a participle, and refers to countenance.
827. Spread out, Sfc. : Their wings joined together made a dreadful shade,
and Ezekiel says (i. 9) , u Their wing* were joined one to another." See also
Ezek. i. 19, 24. N.
828. Orb*: Wheels.
832. Gloomy at night : An image found in Homer's Iliad, xii. 482, and
which Pope has translated into Milton's exact words
Now rushing in, the furious chief appears.
Gloomy ai night."
Compare with Odyssey xi. 805, for a similar phrase, which Broome has trans-
lated also by these same words of Milton. Burning wheel* : Daniel vii. 9,
w his wheels as burning fire."
832-64. Under hi* burning wheel*, t$c. : As Homer has introduced into his
battle of the gods everything that is great and terrible in nature, Milton has
filled his fight of good and bad angels with all the like circumstances of
horror. The shout of armies, the rattling of brazen chariots, the hurling of
rocks and mountains, the earthquake, the fire, the thunder, are all of them
employed to lift up the reader's imagination, and give him a suitable idea of
so great an action.
In how sublime and just a manner does he describe the whole heaven
shaking under the wheels of the Messiah's chariot, with the exception of
the throne of God. A.
834. Jill but the throne, $r. : This exception greatly enhances the majesty
and sublimity of the description.
BOOK vi. 283
Plagues. They astonish'd, all resistance lost,
All courage ; down their idle weapons dropt ;
O'er shields and helms and helmed heads he rode 840
Of Thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate,
That wish'd the mountains now might be again
Thrown on them, as a shelter from his ire.
Nor less on either side tempestuous fell
His arrows, from the fourfold-visaged Four, 845
Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels
Distinct alike with multitude of eyes ;
One Spirit in them ruled, and ev'ry eye
Glared lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire
Among th' accursed, that wither'd all their strength, 850
And of their wonted vigour left them drained,
Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall'n :
Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd
His thunder in mid volley ; for he meant
Not to destroy, but root them out of Heav'n. 855
The overthrown he raised, and, as a herd
Of goats or tim'rous flock together throng'd,
838. Plagues : The pause resting so upon the first syllable of the Hue,
makes this word very emphatical. The same beauty is seen in IV. 351.
N.
841. Prottrdte: Accent on the last syllable.
842. That wished, fyc. : From Rev. vi. 16. The mountains, or hills, flying
over their heads or falling upon them (G55) were terrible ; but, in compari-
son with the ten thousand thunders of Messiah (836) , are now regarded and
desired at a thelter from his indignation.
845. Fourfold vitage : Ezek. i.
853-55. Yet half hit ttrength, STC. : Notwithstanding the Messiah appears
clothed with so much terror and majesty, the poet, in these lines, has still
found means to make his readers conceive an idea of him beyond what h
himself is able to describe.
Milton's genius, which was so great in itself, and so strengthened by all
the helps of learning, appears in this Book every way equal to his subject,
which is the most sublime that could enter into the thoughts of a poet. As
he knew all the arts of affecting the mind, he has given it certain resting-
places and opportunities of recovering itself from time to time; several
speeches, reflections, similitudes, and the like reliefs being interspersed to
diversify his narration, and ease the attention of the reader. A.
284 PARADISE LOST.
Drove them before him thunder-struck, pursued
With terrors and with furies to the bounds
And crystal wall of Heav'n ; which opening wide, 860
Roll'd inward, and a spacious gap disclosed
Into the wasteful deep. The monstrous sight
Struck them with horror backward, but far worse
Urged them behind ; headlong themselves they threw
Down from the verge of Heav'n ; eternal wrath 865
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit.
Hell heard th' unsuffcrable noise : Hell saw
Heav'n ruining from Heav'n, and would have fled
Affrighted ; but strict Fate had cast too deep
Her dark foundations, and too fast had bound. 870
Nine days they fell : confounded Chaos roar'd,
And felt tenfold confusion in their fall
Through his wild anarchy, so huge a rout
Incumber'd him with ruin. Hell at last,
Yawning, received them whole, and on them closed : 875
Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire
Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain.
859. Terron and furiet may have been drawn from Job. vi. 4 ; la. li. 20,
and indicate the alarmed and frightfully disordered state of mind in which
the rebel angels were hurried on tor the abyss. The word furia is some-
times employed in this sense by Virgil, Georg. iii. 511 ; JEn. i. 41; iv. 376,
174.
866. The uncommon measure of this verse, with only one Iambic foot in
it, and that the last, is admirably contrived to express the idea. The beauty
of it arises from the Pyrrhic in the third, and the Trochee in the fourth
place:
u Burnt aAer them to the bottomless pit."
N.
68. Heav'n ruining : Heaven's subjects falling into ruin, rushing head-
long.
869. Fate: Destiny, determination or plan of God.
871. Nine dayi, $c. : So in Book I. 50. In the first Iliad, the plague con-
tinues nine days ; and upon all occasions the jiocts are fond of the numbers
nine and three. They have three Graces and nine Muses. N.
874. Incnmbertd : Confounded and em harassed.
875. Yawning : The sentiment is found in Is v 14.
BOOK vi. 285
" Oisburden'd Heav'n rejoiced, and soon repair'd
Her mural breach, returning whence it roll'd.
Sole victor from th' expulsion of his foes, 880
Messiah his triumphal chariot turn'd :
To meet him, all his saints, who silent stood
Eye-witnesses of his almighty acts,
With jubilee advanced ; and as they went,
Shaded with branching palm, each order bright, 885
Sung triumph, and him sung victorious King,
Son, Heir, and Lord, to him dominion given,
Worthiest to reign. He celebrated rode
Triumphant through mid Heav'n, into the courts
And temple of his Mighty Father throned 890
On high ; who into glory him received ;
Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss.
Thus measuring things in Heav'n by things on Earth,
At thy request, and that thou may'st beware
879. Her mural breach: The opening in her wall. Returning (that is, tro
wall returning) whence it rolled. Mural is from the Latin muralis, and this
from mums, a wall.
884. Jubilee : The blast of a trumpet. An allusion is made to the great
season of national festivity and happy changes among the Jews on every
fiftieth year, called the year of Jubilee, described in Leviticus xxv. It was
announced and introduced by the animating sound of trumpets ; and signal-
ized by the liberation of slaves, and the reverting of property, that had been
alienated, to the original proprietors.
888. Worthiest to reign: Rev. iv. 11.
893. Thut measuring, fye. : The same apology was made in the beginning
of the narration which is here made at the close. See v. 573, &c. :
By likening spiritual to corporeal forms," &c. ;
and it is, indeed, the best defence that can be made for the bold fictions in
this Book, which, though some cold readers may blame, yet the coldest, I
conceive, cannot but admire. It is remarkable, too, with what art and
beauty the poet, from the height and sublimity of the rest of this Book, de-
scends here, at the close of it, like the lark from her loftiest notes in the
clouds, to the most prosaic simplicity of language and numbers ; a sim-
plicity which not only gives it variety, but the greatest majesty, as Milton
himself seems to have thought, by always choosing to give the speeches of
God and the Messiah in that style. N.
286 PARADISE LOST.
By what is past, to thee I have re veal 'd 895
What might have else to human race been hid ;
The discord which befel, and war in Heav'n
Among th' Angelio Pow'rs, and the deep fall
Of those too high aspiring, who rebell'd
With Satan ; he who envies now thy state, 900
Who now is plotting how he may seduce
Thee also from obedience, that with him
Bereav'd of happiness thou may'et partake
His punishment, eternal misery :
Which would be all his solace and revenge, 905
As a despite done against the Most High,
Thee once to gain companion of his woe.
But listen not to his temptations, warn
Thy weaker ; let it profit thee to have heard,
By terrible example, the reward 910
Of disobedience. Firm they might have stood,
Yet fell. Remember, and fear to transgress.
900. He trAo, <$<" He (it is) who, &c.
909. Thy weaJeer: Thy weaker " vessel," 1 Pet. iii. 7, thy weaker friend,
Ere.
BOOK VII.
THE ARGUMENT.
RAPHAEL, at the request of Adam, relates how and wherefore this world
was first created ; that God, after the expelling of Satan and his Angels out
of Heaven, declared his pleasure to create another world and other creatures
to dwell therein ; sends his Son with glory and attendance of Angels to per.
form the work of creation in six days ; the Angels celebrate with hymns the
performance thereof, and his reascension into Heaven.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THE Seventh Book is nothing but delight; all beauty, and hope, and
smiles. It has little of the awful sublimity of the preceding books, and it
has much less of that grand invention which sometimes astonishes with a
painful emotion, but which IB the first power of the poet : at the same time
there is poetical invention in filling up the details.
In every description Milton has seized the most picturesque feature, and
found the most expressive and poetical words for it. On the mirror of his
mind all creation was delineated in the clearest and moat brilliant forms and
colours ; and he has reflected them with such harmony and enchantment of
language, as has never been equalled.
Here is to be found everything which in descriptive poetry has the greatest
spell ; all majesty or grace of forms, animate or inanimate ; all variety of
mountains, and valleys, and forests, and plains, and seas, and lakes, and
rivers; the vicissitudes of suns and of darkness; the dame and the snow;
the murmur of the breeze ; the roar of the tempest.
One great business of poetry is, to teach men to see, and feel, and think
upon the beauties of the creation, and to have gratitude and devotion to
their Maker : this can best be effected by a poet's eye and a poet's tongue.
Poets can present things in lights which can warm the coldest heart : he
who can himself create, can best represent what is already created. . B.
The author, in this Book, appears in a kind of composed and sedate
majesty ; and though the sentiments do not produce such intense emotions
as those in the preceding Book, they abound with as magnificent ideas. The
Sixth Book, like a troubled ocean, represents greatness in confusion ; the
Seventh affects the imagination like the ocean in a calm, and fills the mind
of the reader, without producing in it anything like tumult or agitation.
In this Book which gives us an account of the six days' works, the poet
received but very few assistances from heathen writers, who are strangers
to the wonders of creation. But as there are many glorious strokes of
poetry upon this subject in Holy Writ, the author has numberless allusions
to it through the whole course of this Book. A.
BOOK VII.
DESCEND from Heav'n, Urania, by that name
If rightly thou art call'd, whose voice divine
Following, above th' Olympian hill I soar,
Above the flight of Pegasean wing.
1. Urania: An allusion to one of the heathen Muses, the goddess of as-
tronomy. But under this name (5) the poet addresses another personage
a heavenly personage ( Urania means heavenly) , and not a fiction ( 39 ) . He
represents her as existing prior to the creation of the world ( 8 ) , as the
sister of that Eternal Wisdom, whom Solomon celebrates, in the eighth
chapter of his Book of Proverbs, as assisting at the formation of the heaven-
ly bodies and of the earth. To her Solomon gives the name of Prudence,
Prov. viii. 12. The poet (40) denotes her a goddess, merely in accommo-
dation to classical poetic usage. She is introduced, though an imaginary
being, to give variety to the narrative. Wisdom, in the eighth chapter of the
Book of Proverbs, is a bold and happy personification of the divine attribute
of that name.
3. Olympian hill: A mountain in Thessaly, which the heathen poet*
fabled to be the residence of the gods, because its top, rising above th
clouds, was always serene.
3-4. The plain import of these lines is, that he entertained his readers
with subjects of thought far more elevated than those which were exhibited
by heathen poets in their loftiest excursions.
4. Pegatean wing : Pegasus, in heathen mythology, was a winged horse,
which threw Bellerophon, its owner, when attempting to lly to Heaven
Pegasus afterwards ascended to a place among the stars. The fall of Beller-
ophon u alluded to by Milton, below (17-19) .
8
290 PARADISE LOST.
The meaning, not the name I call ; for thou 6
Nor of the Muses nine, nor on the top
Of old Olympus dwell'st, but heav'nly born :
Before the hills appear'd, or fountain flow'd,
Thou with eternal Wisdom didst converse,
Wisdom thy sister, and with her didst play 10
In presence of th' Almighty Father, pleased
With thy celestial song. Up led by thee
Into the Heav'n of Heav'ns I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air,
Thy tempering. W T ith like safety guided down, 15
Return me to my native element ;
Lest from this flying steed, unrein M (as once
Bellerophon, though from a lower clime),
Dismounted, on th' Aleian field I fall
Erroneous there to wander and forlorn. 20
Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound
Within the visible diurnal sphere ;
10. Didit play : From the Latin Vulgate translation, Indent cor am to, &c.
In our translation it is " rejoicing."
15. Thy tempering: This is said in allusion to the difficulty of respiration
on high mountains. This empyreal air was too pure and fine for him ; but
the heavenly muse (Urania) tempered and qualified it so as to make him
capable of breathing in it ; which is a modest and beautiful way of bespeak-
ing his reader to make favourable allowances for any failings he may have
been guilty of in treating so sublime a subject. N.
17. Lett from thit flying tteed : He speaks here figuratively of his own
flying steed, in distinction from the common Pegasus ( 4 ) .
19. Meian field : A tract in Cilicia Campestris (in Asia Minor) where,
according to the poets, Bellerophon, after be was thrown from the horse
Pegasus, wandered and perished. The story is related by Homer, in the
Iliad, vi. 200, &c.
20. JErroneout : Out of the way. Forlorn: And be forlorn or wretched.
21. Half: Half of the episode, not of the entire poem. The episode has
Iwo principal parts, the war in Heaven, and the new creation ; the one was
sung, but the other remained unsung, and he i* now entering upon it.
Bound, like uneung, is a i>articiplc. The part remaining unsung is not rapt
o inucii into the invisible wurld as the former part : it is confined in iiar
rower co,i.pass, and bound within the visible sphere of a !ay.--N.
Narrower : More narrowly.
BOOK VII. 291
Standing on earth, nor rapt above the pole,
More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged
To hoarse or mute, though fall'n on evil days, 25
24-5. With mortal voice, unchanged to hoarse or mute, Sfc. : Edward Everett,
in one of his addresses, thus beautifully illustrates this passage : In Paradise
Lost we feel as if we were admitted to the outer court of the Infinite. In
that all-glorious temple of genius inspired by truth, we catch the full diapa-
son of the heavenly organ. With its first choral swell, the soul is lifted
from the earth. In the Divina Commedia (of Dante) , the man, the Floren-
tine, the exiled Ghibbeline, stands out, from first to Jast, breathing defiance
and revenge. Milton, in some of his prose works, betrays the partisan also ;
but in his poetry, we see him in the white robes of the minstrel, with up-
turned, though sightless eyes, rapt in meditation at the feet of the heavenly
muse. Dante, in his dark vision, descends to the depths of the world of
perdition, and, homeless fugitive that he is, drags his proud and prosperous
enemies down with him, and buries them, doubly destroyed, in the flaming
sepulchres of the lowest Hell (Dell' Inferno, Cantos ix.. x.) Milton, on the
other hand, seems almost to have purged off the dross of humanity. Blind,
poor, friendless, in solitude and sorrow, with quite as much reason as his
Italian rival to repine at his fortune, and war against mankind, how calm
and unimpassioned is he, in all that concerns his own personality ! He
deemed too highly of his divine gift to make it the instrument of immor-
talizing his hatreds. One cry, alone, of sorrow at his blindness (Book III.
40-50), one pathetic lamentation on the "evil days" on which he had
"fallen" (VII. 25-27), burst from his full heart. There is not a flash of
human wrath in all his pictures of woe. Hating nothing but evil spirits, in
the child-like simplicity of his heart, his pure hands undented with the
pitch of the political intrigues in which he had lived, he breathes forth his
inexpressibly majestic strains, the poetry not so much of earth as of heaven.
25. Evil days: Reference is here male to the profligate and dangerous
times of Charles the Second, upon w"iose restoration to the throne, Milton,
having been the Latin Secretary ot Cromwell, and an opponent of the royal
party, apprehended, in the first place, the loss of his life from the royal ven-
geance, and when free from that danger upon receiving pardon, his appre-
hensions next arose from exposure to the malice and resentment of private
individuals. Richardson says that Milton, at this time of life, was always
in fear, much alone, and slept ill; that, when restless, being blind, he would
ring foi the person who wrote for him (his daughter generally', to write
what he had composed, which would sometimes flow with great ease.
Macaulay, has thus characterised the "evil days" af which Milton speaks:
Then came those days, never to be recalled without a blush the days of ser-
vitude without loyalty, and sensuality without love of dwarfish talents and
gigantic vices the golden age of the coward, the bigot, and the slave. The
king cringed to hi* rival, that ho might trample on hi* (xtople: sunk into a
PARADISE LOST.
On evil days though fall'n, and evil tongues ;
In darkness, and with dangers coinpass'd round
And solitude ; yet not alone, while thou
Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
Purples the east : still govern thou my song, 30
Urania, and fit audience find, though few ;
But drive far off the barb'rous dissonance
viceroy of France, and pocketed, with complacent infamy, her degrading in-
sults and her more degrading gold. The caresses of harlots, and the jests of
buffoons, regulated the measures of the government, which had just ability
enough to deceive, and just religion enough to persecute. In every high
place, worship was paid to Charles and James Belial and Moloch ; and
England propitiated those obscene and cruel idols with the blood of her best
and bravest children.
25-26. Though fallen on evil dayt : The repetition, and change in the order
of these words, are remarkably beautiful.
26. Evil tonguet : As an illustration of this may be adduced the cruel alle-
gation of his political enemies, referred to in a former note, that his blind-
ness was to be regarded as a punishment of his " execrable" writings on
state affairs. In one of his replies, he makes known to us incidentally hit
ardour in the cause of human freedom, and opposition to tyranny, as the promi-
nent cause of his total blindness the occasion, at least, of rapidly hastening
that sad event. He says : " As for what I wrote at any time (since royalists
think I suffer on that account, and triumph over me) , I call God to witness
that I did not write anything but what I then thought, and am still per-
suaded to be, right and true, and acceptable to God ; nor led by any sort of
ambition, profit, or vain-glory, but have done all from a sense of duty and
honour, or out of piety to my country, and for the liberty of church and state
On the contrary, when the task of answering the king's defense was enjoin-
ed me by public authority, being both in an ill state of health, and the sight
of one eye almost gone already, the physicians openly predicting the lass of
both if I undertook this labour, yet, nothing terrified by their premonition, I
did not long balance whether my duty should be preferred to my eyes."
The subject is further illustrated in a beautiful sonnet, which he iilJrjMMJ
to Cyriac Skinner.
31. Fit audience, though fete : This sentiment well accords with that of
Horace, Sat. i. 10 : 73-74:
' nequo. te ut miretur tnrbm. Uborci,
Cootentui fount lectoribui."
Readers of poetry, in Milton's days, were few, especially those whose
taste was sufficiently cultivated, and whose learning was sufficiently various
and profound, to appreciate what he was writing
BOOK vii. 293
Of Bacchus and his revellers, the race
Of that wild rout that tore the Thracian bard
In Rhodope, where woods and rocks had ears 35
To rapture, till the savage clamour drown'd
Both harp and voice ; nor could the Muse defend
Her son. So fail not thou, who thee implores ;
For thou art heav'nly, she an empty dream.
Say, Goddess, what ensued when Raphael, 40
The affable Arch-Angel, had forwarn'd
Adam, by dire example, to beware
Apostasy, by what befel in Heav'n
To those apostates, lest the like befal
In Paradise to Adam or his race, 45
Charged not to touch the interdicted tree,
If they transgress, and slight that sole command,
So easily obey'd amid the choice
Of all tastes else to please their appetite,
Though wand'ring. He with his consorted Eve 50
The story heard attentive, and was fill'd
With admiration and deep muse, to hear
Of things so high and strange, things to their thought
So unimaginable as hate in Heav'n,
And war so near the peace of God in bliss 55
With such confusion ; but the evil soon
33. Of Bacchus and hit revellers : It is not improbable that the poet in-
tended this as an oblique satire upon the dissoluteness of Charles the Second
and his court ; from whom he seems to apprehend the fate of Orpheus, a
famous poet of Thrace, who, though he is said to have charmed woods and
rocks with his divine songs, yet was torn to pieces by the Bacchanalian
women of Rhodope, a^ mountain of Thrace, nor could the muse Calliope, his
mother, defend him; "so fail not thou, who thee implores." Nor was his
wish ineffectual, for the government suffered him to live and die unmolested
N.
35. Eart, $c. : See Hor. Ode. i. 12 : 11 :
" auritas fidibus canoris,
Ducere quercvs."
T
38. Who : (Him) who, &c.
52. Mute: Thought.
294 PARADISE LOST.
Driven back, redounded as a flood on those
From whom it sprang, impossible to mix
"With blessedness. Whence Adam soon repeal'd
The doubts that in his heart arose : and now 60
Led on, jet sinless, with desire to know
What nearer might concern him ; how this world
Of Heav'n and Earth conspicuous, first began ;
When, and whereof created ; for what cause
What within Eden or without was done 65
Before his memory, as one whose drouth
Yet scarce allay'd, still eyes the current stream,
Whose liquid murmur heard new thirst excites,
Proceeded thus to ask his heav'nly guest :
Great things, and full of wonder in our ears, 70
Far differing from this world, thou hast reveal'd
Divine interpreter, by favour sent
Down from the empyrean, to forewarn
Us timely of what might else have been our loss,
Unknown, which human knowledge could not reach : 75
For which to th' infinitely Good we owe
Immortal thanks, and his admonishment
Receive with solemn purpose, to observe
Immutably his sovereign will , the end
Of what we are. But since thou hast vouchsafed 80
Gently for our instruction to impart
Things above earthly thought, which yet concern'd
60. Doubtt: See Book V. 554. Repealed: Dismissed, banished from his
mind.
69. Proceeded, tfc. : Its nominative is in 59. Adam, with desire to know,
&c., proceeded thut to atk hit heavenly guest.
70. Great things, tfc. : Adam's speech to the angel, wherein he desires an
account of what had passed without the regions of nature before the crea-
tion, is very great and solemn. The lines (98-108> in which he tells him
that the day is not too far spent for him to enter upon such a subject, are
exquisite of their kind. A.
72. Divine interpreter: Virgil gives the same title to Mercury, iv. 378:
u Interpres Divum."
79. The end of what we are : The design of making us what we are : Rev.
Jr. 11.
BOOK VH. 295
Our knowing, as to highest wisdom seem'd,
Deign to descend now lower, and relate
"What may no less perhaps avail us known : 85
How first began this Heav'n which we behold
Distant so high, with moving fires adorn'd
Innumerable, and this which yields or fills
All space, the ambient air wide interfused
Embracing round this florid Earth : what cause 90
Moved the Creator in his holy rest
Through all eternity so late to build
In Chaos, and the work begun, how soon
Absolved, if unforbid thou may'st unfold
What we, not to explore the secrets, ask 95
Of his eternal empire, but the more
To magnify his works, the more we know.
And the great light of day yet wants to run
88-90. This which yields, <rc. : Yields space to all bodies, and again fills up
the deserted space, so as to be subservient to motion. R.
Jlmbient interfused, denotes the air not only surrounding the earth, but
flowing into, and spun out between, all bodies. H.
92. So late to build : It is a question that has been often asked, Why God
did not create the world sooner ? But the same question might be asked if
the world had been created at any time ; for still there were infinite ageg
before that time ; and that can never be a just exception against this time,
which holds equally against all time. It must be resolved into the good will
and pleasure of Almighty God ; but there is a farther reason, according to
Milton's hypothesis, which is, that God, after the expelling of Satan and
his angels out of Heaven, declared his pleasure to supply their place by
creating another world, and other creatures to dwell therein. N.
93. Chaot : A part of the universe represented as not yet reduced to order,
form, and use.
94. Absolved: Accomplished.
97. The true and noblest end of the study of natural science is here
brought to view.
98. And the great light, Sfc. : Mr. Thyer is of opinion that there is not a
better instance oj' our author's exquisite skill in the art of poetry, than this
and the following lines. There is nothing more really To be expressed than
Adam's telling Raphael his desire to hear the continuance of his relation ;
and yet the poet, by a series of strong and noble figures, has worked it up
into half a score of as fine lines as any in the whole poem. Lord Shaftes-
bury has observed, that Milton's beauties generally depend upon solid
296 PARADISE LOST
Much of his race, though steep ; suspense in Heavhi,
Held by thy voice, thy potent voice, he hears, 100
And longer will delay to hear thee tell
His generation, and the rising birth
Of nature from the unapparent deep ;
Or if the star of ev'uing and the moon
Haste to thy audience, night with her will bring IOC
Silence, and sleep listening to thee will watch ;
Or we can bid his absence, till thy song
End, and dismiss thee ere the morning shine.
Thus Adam his illustrious guest besought ;
And thus the God-like Angel answer'd mild : 110
This also thy request with caution u.-kM
Obtain ; though to recount almighty works,
What words or tongue of Seraph can suffice,
Or heart of man suffice to comprehend ?
Yet what thou canst attain, which best may serve 115
To glorify the Maker, and infer
thought, strong reasoning, noble passion, and a continued thread of moral
doctrine ; but in this place he has shown what an exalted fancy, and the
mere force of poetry, can do. N.
99. Sutpemt in Heaven : Suspended. Held by thy voice, thy potent voice,
suspended in Heaven, he hears, &c. He delays, to hear thy voice.
The poets, as Newton remarks, often feign the rivers to stop their course,
and other inanimate objects of nature to hear the songs of Orpheus and the
like ; nay, they represent charms and verses as capable of bringing the moon
down from Heaven (Virg. EC. viii. 4, 69), and well, therefore, may Milton
suppose the sun to delay, tuspended in Heaven, to hear the angel tell hit gene-
ration, and especially since we read that the sun did stand still at the voice
of Joshua.
The same idea is conveyed by Ovid, who seems to have been a great
favourite with Milton :
et cmitem mulu loqnendo
Delinuit fermone diem.''
103. Unapparent : Not visible on account of the darkness ; darknett vat
upon the fact of the deep, Gen. i. 2.
115. The angel's encouraging our first parents in a modest pursuit after
knowledge, with the causes which he assigns for the creation of the world,
are very just and beautiful. A.
116. Infer: Render; but Newton interprets it, " And by inference make
thee also happier."
BOOK vii. 297
Thee also happier, shall not be withheld
Thy hearing ; such commission from above
I have received, to answer thy desire
Of knowledge within bounds ; beyond abstain 120
To ask, nor let thine own inventions hope
Things not reveal'd, which th' invisible King,
Only omniscient, hath suppress'd in night ;
To none communicable in Earth or Heav'n :
Enough is left besides to search and know : 125
But knowledge is as food, and needs no less
Her temp'rance over appetite, to know
In measure what the mind may well contain ;
Oppresses else with surfeit, and soon turns
Wisdom to folly, as nourishment to wind. 130
Know then, that after Lucifer from Heav'n
(So call him, brighter once amidst the host
Of Angels than that star the stars among)
Fell with his flaming legions through the deep
Into his place, and the great Son return'd 135
Victorious with his saints, th' Omnipotent
Eternal Father from his throne beheld
Their multitude, and to his Son thus spake :
At least our envious foe hath fail'd, who thought
All like himself rebellious : by whose aid 140
This inaccessible high strength, the seat
Of Deity supreme, us dtspossess'd,
He trusted to have seized, and into fraud
121. Invention* : An allusion to Eccl. vii. 29 ; Ps. cvi. 29. It has the sens*
of reasoning.
123. Night . Hor. Od. iii. 29 : 29 :
' Prudens futuri tcmporis exitum
Cnliginosa nocte premit Dens."
Milton (122-23) has given almost an exact translation of those lines of
Horace.
135. Hit place: As Judas is said (Acts i. 25) to go to hit own place an
appropriate place, a place of merited punishment.
137. At Uatt : Probably should be " at last."
143. Into fraud : This word commonly means deceit, or deception, but
298 PARADISE LOST.
Drew many, whom their place knows here no more ;
Yet far the greater part have kept, I see, 145
Their station ; Heav'n yet populous retains
Number sufficient to possess her realms
Though wide, and this high temple to frequent
With ministeries due and solemn rites :
But lest his heart exalt him in the harm 150
Already done, to have dispeopled Heav'n,
My damage fondly deem'd, I can repair
That detriment, if such it be to lose
Self-lost, and in a momAt will create
Another world ; out of one man a race 155
Of men innumerable, there to dwell,
Not here, till by degrees of merit raised,
They open to themselves at length the way
Up hither, under long obedience try'd,
And Earth be changed to Heav'n, and Heav'n to Earth, 160
One kingdom, joy and union without end.
Mean while inhabit lax, ye Pow'rs of Heav'n ;
And thou, my Word, begotten Son, by thee
sometimes denotes mischief, injury, misfortune. Newton remarks that Mil-
ton, who so constantly makes Latin or Greek of English, does it here, and
extends the idea to the miser} 1 , the punishment consequent upon ths deceit,
as well as the deceit itself. Compare V. 709, and I. 609. R.
144. Their place knows, tfc. : A scriptural phrase. Job vii. 10; Ps. ciii. 16.
151. To have ditpeopled Heaven : This phrase is to be taken not in its usual
and widest sense, but as meaning, to have deprived Heaven of some inhabi-
tants.
154. And in a moment : Our author seems to favour the opinion of some
divines, that God's creation was instantaneous, but the effects of it were
made visible, and appeared during six days, in condescension to the capacities
of angels ; and is so related by Moses in condescension to the capacities of
men. N.
160. Changed to Heaven, iff. : Become like Heaven in the character and
enjoyments of its inhabitants ; and Heaven changed to Earth, by receiving such
obedient creatures from earth. The holy angels would also pass from one to
the other.
162. Inhabit lax : Dwell at ease, unoccupied with war, the apostate angels
being vanquished.
BOOK vii. 299
This I perform ; speak thou and be it done.
My overshadowing Spirit and might with thee 165
I send along ; ride forth, and bid the deep
Within appointed bounds be Heav'n and Earth,
Boundless the deep, because I am who fill
Infinitude, nor vacuous the space.
Though I uncircumscribed myself retire 170
And put not forth my goodness which is free
To act or not, necessity and chance
Approach not me ; and what I will is fate.
So spake th' Almighty, and to what he spake,
His Word, the filial Godhead, gave effect. 175
Immediate are the acts of God, more swift
Than time or motion ; but to human ears
Cannot without process of speech be told ;
So told as earthly notion can receive.
Great triumph and rejoicing was in Heav'n, 180
When such was heard declared th' Almighty's will.
Glory they sung to the Most High, good-will
To future men, and in their dwellings peace :
Glory to him, whose just avenging ire
Had driven out th' ungodly from his sight 185
165. Overshadowing Spirit: We learn from Gen. i. 2, that the Spirit of
God moved (or brooded) upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God co-
operated in the creation, and, therefore is said to be sent along with the Son.
N.
168. Boundless, fyc. : The sense is : The deep is boundless, but the space
contained in it is not vacuous or empty, because there is an infinitude, and I
fill it. Though I, who am myself uncircumscribed, set bounds to my good-
ness, and do not exert it everywhere, yet neither necessity nor chance influ
ences my actions, &c. P.
173. Fate : That which is certain to take place.
179. Notion: Understanding.
182. Glory, fyc. : The angels are very properly made to sing the same
divine song to usher in the creation that they did to usher in the second
creation by Jesus Christ, Luke ii. 14. We approve of Dr. Bentley's emen-
dation, to God Most High, as it improves the verse, is more opposed to men
immediately following, and agrees better with the words of Luke. N
300 PARADISE LOST.
And th' habitations of the just : to him
Glory and praise, whose wisdom had ordain'd
Good out of evil to create, instead
Of Spirits malign, a better race to bring
Into their vacant room, and thence diffuse 190
His good to worlds and ages infinite.
So sang the Hierarchies : Mean while the Son
On his great expedition now appeared,
Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crown'd
Of majesty divine ; sapience and love 195
Immense, and all his Father in him shone.
About his chariot numberless were pour'd
Cherub and Seraph, Potentates and Thrones,
And Virtues, winged Spirits, and chariots wing'd
From th' armoury of God, where stand of old 200
Myriads between two braz-n mountains lodged
Against a solemn day, harn^ssM at hand,
Celestial equipage : and now came forth
Spontaneous, for within them Spirit lived,
Attendant on their Lord : Hoav'n open'd wide 205
Her ever-doling gates, harmonious sound
On golden hinges moving, to let forth
185-87. To him glory, $c. : Remark here the t'irn of the words employed
in 184. Great beauty and emphasis are given to words and phrases repealed
in this manner.
195. Sapienet: Wisdom.
197-207. About hit chariot, tfc. : The Messiah, by whom, as we are told in
Scripture, the heavens were made, goes forth in the power of his Father,
surrounded with a Lost of angels, and clothed with such a majesty as be-
comes his entering upon a work which, according to our conception?, appears
to be the utmost exertion of Omnipotence. What a beautiful description
has our author raised upon that hint in one of the prophets : " And behold
there came four chariots out from between two mountains ; and the moun-
tains were mountains of brass." A.
Were poured : An expression that shows the readiness and forwardness of
the angels to attend the Messiah's expedition. They were so earnest as not
to stay to form themselves into regular order, but \ctre poured nunJxrlcst
nbout hit chariot. So in Virg. JEn. i. 214, " Fusi per AwAom." P.
906-7. Harmoniou* : On golden hinges moving harmonious sound. Mac-
BOOK VII. 301
The King of Glory in his pow'rful Word
And Spirit coming to create new worlds.
On heav'nly ground they stood, and from the shoro 210
They view'd the vast immeasurable abyss
Outrageous as a sea, dark, wasteful, wild,
Up from the bottom turn'd by furious winds
And surging waves, as mountains, to assault
Heaven's height, and with the centre mix the pole. 215
Silence, ye troubled waves, and thou deep, peace,
ing has the sense of producing, as in III. 37 : '' Thoughts move harmonious
numbers.' 11 The infernal doors gave out a very different music (II. 881) :
<; and jarring sound
The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harsh thunder," &c.
209. To create, $c. : In the first verse of Genesis we are assured of this
grand truth, unknown to ages and to generations, that the visible heavens
and the earth did not exist from all eternity, nor arose from accidental com-
binations of pre-existing matter, but had their beginning from God. When-
ever that beginning was in time, or whatever it was in form, that beginning
was God's creative act. The material of the world was not eternal, as
some had dreamed, but was, in its beginning, however remote, the work of
God. The object of this revelation, then, being simply to record, for man's
instruction, how the earth assumed its present goodly frame, and acquired its
present inhabitants, nothing is said of its intermediate condition, in which it
may have lain during long ages ; but the inspired writer goes on to state
that, previous to its existing organization, it lay, and had probably for a long
time lain, " without form and void," a dark and empty confusion, and that
this was of a watery nature. K.
Milton introduces many antiquated notions, especially that of a universal
Chaos. Compare notes on lines 894, 905, 906, 1029, Book II.
210-31. On heavenly ground, Sfc.: I do not know anything in the whole
poem more sublime than the description which follows, where the Messiah
b represented at the head of his angels, as looking down into the Chaos,
calming its confusion, riding into the midst of it, and drawing the fiist out-
line of the creation. A.
215. Jlnd with the centre mix the pole : In Chaos was neither centre, nor
pole, nor mountains (1214) ; the angel does not say there were ; he tells Adam
there was such confusion in Chaos, as if on earth the sea. in mountainous waves,
should rise from its very bottom to assault Heaven, and mix the centre of
the globe with the extremities of it. R.
216. Silence, ye troubled, Sfc. : How much does the brevity of the command
add to the sublimity and majesty of it ! It is the tame kind of beauty that
302 PARADISE LOST.
Said then th' omnific Word ; your discord end !
Nor stay'd, but on the wings of Cherubim
Uplifted, in paternal glory rode
Far into Chaos, and the world unborn ; 220
For Chaos heard his voice : him all his train
Follow'd in bright procession, to behold
Creation, and the wonders of his might.
Then stay'd the fervid wheels, and in his hand
He took the golden compasses, prepared 225
In God's eternal store, to circumscribe
This universe, and all created things.
One foot he center'd, and the other turn'd
Round through the vast profundity obscure,
ind said, Thus far extend, thus far thy bounds, 230
This be thy just circumference, world !
inu3 mlmires in the Mosaic history of the creation. It is of the
strain with the &ame omnific Wortfi calming the tempest, in the Gospel, when
he Mid to tne raging sea, u Peace, be /i//." Mark iv. 39. And how elegantly
has he turneo. the commanding words tilence and ptace, making one the first
and the other the lasi in the sentence, and thereby giving the greater force
and emphasis to botn ; and how nobly has he concluded the line with a
ipondee, or foot of two long syllables, which is not a common measure in
this place, but when used it necessarily occasions a slower pronunciation,
and thereby fixes more the attention of the reader. N.
217. Omnific: All-creating.
220. Chaos : Regions of Chaos.
224. Fervid: HOT. Od. i. 1 : 4:
'* Metafile jtrridii
Kvitata rota."
225. Golden compattet : The thought yf the golden compasses is conceived
altogether in Homer's spirit, and is a very noble incident in this wonderful
description. Homer, when he speaks ot the gods, ascribes to them several
arms and instruments, with the same greatness of imagination. Let the
reader only peruse the description of Minerva's :rgis or buckler, in the Fifth
Book, with her spear, which would overturn whole squadrons, and her hel-
met that was sufficient to cover an army drawn out of a hundred cities. The
golden compasses, in the above-mentioned passage, appear a very natural in-
strument in the hand of him whom Plato somewhere calls the Divine
Geometrician. As poetry delights in clothing abstract ideas in allegories and
sensible images, we find a magnificent description of the creation, formed
after the came manner, in the Hebrew Scriptures. A.
BOOK VII.
303
Thus God the Heav'n created, thus the Earth,
Matter unform'd and void. Darkness profound
Cover'd th' abyss ; but on the wat'ry calm
His brooding wings the Spirit of God outspread, 235
And vital virtue infused and vital warmth
Throughout the fluid mass, but downward purged
The black tartareous cold infernal dregs
Adverse to life : then founded, then conglobed
Like things to like, the rest to sev'ral place 240
Disparted, and between spun out the air ;
And Earth, self-balanced, on her centre hung.
Let there be light, said God : and forthwith light
232. The reader will naturally remark how exactly Milton copies Moses
in his account of the creation. This Seventh Book may be called a sort ol
paraphrase upon the first chapter of Genesis. Milton not only observes the
same series and order, but preserves, as far as he can, the very words, as we
may see in this and other instances. N.
233. Unformed and void : Gen. i. 2.
235. Milton here follows the original Hebrew more closely than the com-
mon translation does.
239. Founded: Moulded. Conglobed: United
240. Like things, $c. :
'' Diflugere inde loci paries cocpere, parcsque
Cum paribus jungi res," &c.
Lucret. v. 438.
243. Let there be light : Milton endeavours to give some account how light
was created the first day, when the sun was not formed till the fourth day.
He says that it was " sphered in a radiant cloud," and so journeyed round the
earth in a cloudy tabernacle ; and herein he is justified by the authority of
some commentators ; though others think this light was the light of the sun,
which shone as yet very imperfectly, and did not appear in full lustre till
the fourth day. N.
The changes of day and night, which are described as existing before th
fourth day. could not have existed without the sun, seeing that they depend
on the earth's relation to that luminary. Geology concurs with Scripture in
declaring the existence of the watery chaos previously to the era in which
man, and his contemporary animals, received their being. The earth then
existed as the wreck of an anterior creation, with all its previous and
interim arrangements and fossil remains; but strangely convulsed and frac-
tured, submerged in water, and enshrouded in darkness. Thus it lay, pro-
bably for an immense period ; life was extinct ; but matter continued subject
304
PARADISE LOST.
Ethereal first of things, quintessence pure,
Sprung from the deep, and from her native cast 245
To journey through the aery gloom began,
Sphered in a radiant cloud ; for yet the sun
Was not : she in a cloudy tabernacle
Sojourn 'd the while. God saw the light was good ;
And light from darkness by the hemisphere 250
Divided : light the Day, and darkness Night
He named. Thus was the first day ev'n and morn
Nor past uncelebrated, nor unsung
By the celestial choirs, when orient light
to the same laws with which it had been originally endowed. The same
attraction, the same repulsion, the same combination of forces, which, by
the will of God, have ever been inherent in it, still existed. The sun, then,
acting by its usual laws upon so vast a body of waters, gradually, in the
continuous lapse of ages, drew up a prodigious mass of dense and dark
vapours, which, held suspended in the atmosphere, threw a pall of blackest
night around the globe. All things beneath it became invisible, and no ray
of light could pierce the thick canopy of darkness. Layer upon layer, in
almost infinite succession of closely-packed and darkling clouds, filled the
atmosphere, and absorbed every particle of light long before it could reach
the surface of earth ; and in the fullest extent was the language of Scrip-
ture justified, that "darkness was upon the face of the deep."
But when God saw fit, in the fulness of time, to commence the new
creation, and prepare the desolate earth for the abode of man, this dense
barrier which shut out the light, began, at his high word, to disperse, pre-
cipitate, or break up, and to let in light upon the waters. It was not likely
to le, nor was it necessary to be, a sudden change from the depth of utter
darkness to the blaze of sunny day, but the letting in of light without sun-
shine the source of this light, the body of the sun, not becoming visible
until the fourth day, when its full glory was disclosed, and when once more
its beams shone through the purged atmosphere, upon mountains and valleys,
and upon seas and rivers, as of old. K.
246. Journey the aery gloom : Pass through the obscure air.
253. Nor patt : Passed. The beauties of description lie so very thick,
that it is almost impossible to enumerate them. The poet has employed on
them the whole energy of our tongue. The several great scenes of the
creatiqn rise up to view one after another, in such a manner that the reader
seems to be present at this wonderful work, and to assist among the choirs
of angels who are the spectators of it. How glorious is the conclusion of
the fin* day ! A.
BO"K VII.
Exhaling first from darkness they beheld : 25o
Birth-day of Heav'n and Earth : with joy and shout
The hollow universal orb they fillM,
And touch'd their golden harps, and hymning praised
God and his works ; Creator him they sung,
Both when first ev'ning was, and when first morn. 260
Again, God said, let there be firmament
255. Exhaling : Rising as vapour.
256. Hollow universal orb : Orb of the universe, concave, and without in-
habitant. Compare 267.
261. Jlgain, God said : The Mosaic account of the creation (which Mil-
ton copies) is strictly anthropopathic, or in harmony with the feelings, views,
and popular modes of expression which prevail in an early state of society,
and which are always best adapted for universal use. Hence the collo-
quial or dramatic style of the account. For example : And God said not
that there was any vocal utterance, where, as yet, there was no ear to hear
(each of which would imply a corporeal structure) let there be light let there
be a firmament let the earth bring forth ; by which we are to understand that
these effects were produced just as if such a fiat had been, in each instance,
vocally uttered, and such a formula actually employed. The bare volitions
of the Infinite Mind are deeds.
In order to interpret the Mosaic cosmogony aright, another fact to be borne
in mind is, that every visible object is spoken of. not according to its scien-
tific character, but optically, or according to its appearance ; just as, with all
our knowledge of the solar system, we speak, even in scientific works, of
the sun as rising and setting. For example Had there been an unscientific
human spectator of the creative process, the atmosphere would have ap-
peared to his eye as it does still to every untutored eye a firm and solid
expanse, sustaining the waters above. The sun and the moon would have
appeared to be " two great lights" of nearly equal magnitude, compared with
which all the astral systems deserved only that which is allotted to them
a passing word. The describer is supposed to occupy an earthly position,
himself the centre of the universe. The earth is said to have brought forth
grass, and the waters to have produced living creatures, though we are to
believe that no creative power was delegated to the elements to produc
them, but, that they were made in full perfection by the simple volition of
Omnipotence ; but then, to a human looker-on, they would so appear to
have been produced. And the fiat is said to have been issued, "Let the dry
land appear, 1 " when there was no human eye to see it ; but had there been a
spectator, it would have risen to his view as if such a command had been
literally given. And if to this optical mode of description it be objected
that as there was no human spectator, the account can only be received and
'interpreted as an allegorical representation, we reply that it is the verv
T
306 PARADISE LOST.
Amid the waters, and let it divide
The waters from the waters. And God made
The firmament, expanse of liquid, pare,
Transparent, elemental air, diffused 265
In circuit to the uttermost convex
Of this great round : partition firm and sure,
The waters underneath from those above
Dividing : for as earth, so he the world
Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide 270
method for answering its great design that of being popularly intelligible ;
and that the way in which it becomes both intelligible and vividly graphic,
is by placing the reader, in imagination, in the position of a spectator.
HARRIS on u Man Primeval," 11. 12.
Firmament: Kitto properly observes that the primary meaning of the
Hebrew word (Gen. i. 7) thus translated is, expansion, outstretching, attenua-
tion, elasticity, which are the very properties of our atmosphere ; but the
word used by the Greek translators, together with the long-prevalent notion,
that the material heavens formed a solid hemispheric arch, shining and pel-
lucid, in which the stars were set, led subsequent translators to render the
word by firmament. This word is, however, admissable, if by solidity is
meant no more than that the fluid atmosphere has density or consistence
sufficient to sustain the waters above it.
It is, perhaps, not correct to say, as some do, that our atmosphere now
first existed. The dense vapour which is supposed to have previously in-
vested the earth, implies the existence of an atmosphere. But it now first,
at this time, existed as a separating expanse ; and now divested of the gross
murky particles with which it was charged, it became transparent and re-
spirable the medium of light and of life to the surface of the earth.
The expanse is described as separating the water* from the water*. The
historian speaks as things would have appeared to a spectator at the time of
the creation. A portion of the heavy, watery vapour had flown into the
upper regions, and rested there in dense clouds, which still obscured the
sun ; while below, the whole earth was still covered with water, for the
dry land had not yet appeared. Thus we see the exquisite propriety with
which the firmament is said to have divided " the waters from the waters."
K.
266. Convex: Convexity. Round : Orb (227) .
269. World : By this word is here meant the entire organized universe, as
explained, Book II. 1029, in a note. This universal orb is represented as
being surrounded by a crystalline ocean, which served the purpose of sepa-
rating it from the disturbing forces of Chaos.
BOOK VII. 307
Crystalline ocean, and the loud misrule
Of Chaos far removed, lest fierce extremes
Contiguous might distemper the whole frame ;
And Heav'n he named the Firmament. So ev'n
And morning chorus sung the second day. 275
The earth was form'd, but in the womb as yet
Of waters, embryon immature involved,
Appear'd not. Over all the face of th' earth
Main ocean flow'd, not idle, but with warm
Prolific humour soft'ning all her globe, 280
Fermented the great mother to conceive,
Satiate with genial moisture, when God said,
Be gather'd now, ye waters under Heav'n,
Into one place, and let dry land appear.
Immediately the mountains huge appear 285
Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave
Into the clouds ; their tops ascend the sky :
So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low
Down sunk a hollow bottom broad and deep,
Capacious bed of waters : thither they 290
Hasted with glad precipitance, uproll'd
As drops on dust conglobing from the dry ;
Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct,
For haste : such flight the great command impress'd
277. Embryon immature : The earth, that is, the land, had not yet been
brought to light: it was still enwrapped in the ocean of waters. To use the
figure here employed, it was not yet born.
281. Fermented: Excited.
284. This act of creative power must, to be thus immediate, have been
attended by a tremendous convulsion of the exterior portions of the globe,
upheaving certain portions of the land, and, of course, depressing others,
thereby leaving vast hollows, into which the waters, diffused over the
earth's surface, receded, and within which they were confined. Most sub-
limely does Milton describe, in the following lines, the immediate effect of
the Divine command, which the tliird day heard. K.
Newton has called attention to the beautiful numbers in the following lines,
and finely observed, that they seem to rise with the rising mountains, and to
sink again with the falling waters.
292. Conglobing : Forming themselves into spherical masses
308 ' PARADISE LOST.
On the swift floods. As armies at the call 295
Of trumpet (for of armies tbou hast heard)
Troop to their standard, so the wat'ry throng,
Wave rolling after wave, where way they found ;
If steep, with torrent rapture ; if through plain,
Soft-ebbing ; nor withstood them rock or hill, 300
But they, or under ground, or circuit wide
With serpent error, wand'ring found their way,
And on the washy ooze deep channels wore ;
Easy, ere God had bid the ground be dry,
All but within those banks, where rivers now 305
Stream, and perpetual draw their humid train.
The dry land, Earth, and the great receptacle
Of congregated waters he call'd Seas :
And saw that it was good, and said, Let th' earth
Put forth the verdant grass, herb yielding seed, 310
And fruit-tree yielding fruit after her kind,
299. Rapture : Rapidity and violence.
303. Washy ooze : Watery, soft mud.
306. Draw, ffc. : The rivers are imagined as persons of quality drawing
the train of their robot after them.
310-27. Put forth the verdant graft, tfc. : The rising of the whole vege-
table world is here described ; the description being filled .with all the
graces that other poets have lavished on their descriptions of the spring, and
leading the reader's imagination into a theatre equally surprising and beau-
tiful. A.
311. Fruit-tree yielding fruit : Not only is the language of the Mosaic
cosmogony popular, and that of a supposed witness (see note on 261) ; it re-
lates specifically to the race of man. Besides being prepared for man, it
concerns itself chiefly, if not exclusively, with what belongs to him. Of
the creation of angels nothing is said. Respecting the starry heavens a
brief clause is employed ; for what are they all to man, in his present state,
compared with the sun, which makes his day, the moon which rules his
night, and the earth on which he dwells ? In the account of the vegetable
creation, no mention is made of timber-trees, the giants of the botanical
kingdom ; the history is confined to the production of grasses, or food foi
cattle ; to herbs, or grain and leguminous plants for his own use, and to
fruit-bearing trees; all relating, directly or indirectly, to the wants and con-
veniences of mankind. Nor does the account of the animal creation contain
a hint in reference to the production of stationary beings, or of microscopic
animalcules, though these form numerically the vast majority of animal ex-
BOOK VII. 309
Whose seed is in herself upon the earth.
He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then
Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorn'd,
Brought forth the tender grass, whose verdure clad 315
Her universal face with pleasant green ;
Then herbs of every leaf, that sudden flow'r'd
Opening their various colours, and made gay
Her bosom smelling sweet : and these scarce blown,
Forth flourish'd thick the clust'ring vine, forth crept 320
The smelling gourd, upstood the corny reed
Embattled in her field, and th' humble shrub,
And bush with frizzled hair implicit. Last
Rose, as in dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches, hung with copious fruit, or gemm'd 325
Their blossoms : with high woods the hills were crown'd,
With tufts the valleys, and each fountain side,
With borders long the rivers : that earth now
Seeni'd like to Heav'n, a seat where Gods might dwell,
istences. The history relates to the familiarly known, the visible, and the
useful among animals. Man himself is described as created last ; plainly in-
timating that all which had gone before was only a means of which he was
to be the subordinate end. If the creation itself, then, be thus designed to
subserve his welfare, it is only in harmony with this fact, that the account
of the creation should be given in a style so familiar as to be easily under-
stood by him, in a manner so graphic as to make him present, and to paint
it to his eye ; and that il should confine itself chiefly to that which more
immediately concerns him. HARRIS, " Man Primeval," 13, 14.
317. Herbs : (Brought forth) herbs.
321. Smelting gourd: Bentley and Newton prefer to read it twilling
gourd.
Corny : Strong and stiff like a horn, Virg. ^n. iii. 22 :
" Quo cornea summo
Virgnlta. et densii hastilitms horrida myrtus "
322. Embattled : Arranged as for battle.
323. Implicit : Infolded, intangled.
325. Gemm'd: Put forth. 328. That: So that.
329. In this, as in other parts of his description of the work oi creation,
Milton owes much to Du Bartas. whose curious work, in the excellent trans-
lation of John Sylvester (time of James I.\ scarcely deserves the neglet.l
into which it baa fallen. But Milton's hand turns to gold whatever t
310
PARADISE LOST.
Or wander with delight, and love to haunt 330
Her sacred shades. Though God had yet not rain'd
Upon the earth, and man to till tin- irrnuinl
None was, but from the earth a dewy mi.-t
W<-nt up and watcr'd all the ground, and each
Plant of the field, which, ere it was in th' earth 330
God made, and ev'ry herb, before it grew
On the green stem : God saw that it was good :
So ev'n and morn recorded the third day.
Again the Almighty spake, Let there be Lights
High in the expanse of Heaven, to divide 340
The day from night : and let them be for signs,
For seasons, and for days, and circling years ;
And let them be for lights, as I ordain
Their office in the firmament of Heav'n,
To give light on the earth : and it was so. 145
And God made two great lights, great for their use
touches ; and here we have set before us, with wonderful skill, the . .-nee
of many pages of Du Bartas. K.
338. Recorded : Registered, announced.
3-15. To give light, tgr. : It is a very strong argument against the tb'jory
which assigns long ages to the "days" of Scripture, that the rays ot the
sun did not shine upon the earth until the fourth day ; for if each day were
a thousand or six thousand years, as some suppose, the vegetation ot the
world would have been left without that direct light and heat of the sun,
which is essential to most of the forms of vegetable existence. It is clear
that the plants to which the voice of God had given life, could not have ma-
tured their products, or maintained their being, had not the solar action beeu
very shortly after produced. We have, in this, indeed, a reason for the ad-
uiis.vion of the solar influence next after the creation of the green herb. K.
3-16. Made two great light* : God made them, not in the senate of then
creating them, but he made them answer the purpose immediately specified,
namely, to rule by day and by night. In the Hebrew, the word which is
thus translated, is a difleitMit word from that translated by the word
"created." It signifies, as in many other passages of Scripture, to appoint,
or prepare, for a particular use. The objection to this view has been, that it
really assigns no specific work of creation to the fourth day, but simply the
work of clearing away the tnist, clouds, and vapours, and thus rendering the
sun and moon visible ; but the same objection would lie against the work oi
the mcond day, an we have explained it, and to a considerable part of th
BOOK VII. 311
To Man ; the greater to have rule by day,
The less by night altern ; and made the stars
And set them in the firmament of Heav'n
T' illuminate the earth, and rule the day 350
In their vicissitude, and rule the night,
And light from darkness to divide. God saw,
Surveying his great work, that it was good :
For, of celestial bodies, first the sun,
A mighty sphere, he framed, unlightsome first, 355
Though of ethereal mould : then form'd the moon
Globose, and ev'ry magnitude of stars,
And sow'd with stars the Heav'u thick as a field :
Of light by far the greater part he took,
Transplanted from her cloudy shrine, and placed 360
In the sun's orb, made porous to receive
And drink the liquid light, firm to retain
Her gather'd beams, great palace now of light.
Hither, as to their fountain, other stars
work of the third day. Kitto has remarked upon this subject, that the sun
and moon appearing for the first time, and, of course, as new creations, they
would be described as such, in the same phraseology that has before been
used ; and that it is by no means necessary to understand the sacred writer
as asserting the creation of the heavenly bodies on that day, but only their
development on that day as adapted to the purposes intended, the creation
of them having previously taken place. Milton's theory (359-366) , is very
different quite poetical, indeed, but destitute of the countenance and support
of modern science.
347. As the days are reckoned from evening to evening, the moon must
first have shone, and subsequently the sun. If man had then existed on the
earth (says Kitto) the appearance of the '' pale regent of the night" would
have prepared his mind and his eye for the glory of that " greater light"
which the day was to disclose.
348. Jlltem : Alternate, in succession.
360. Shrine : Case, or enclosure.
3G1-62. Porous, yet firm: Milton seems to have taken this thought from
what is said of the Bologna stone, which, being placed in the light, will im-
bibe, and for some time, retain it, so as to illuminate a dark place. R.
362. Liquid : Lucret. v. 282 :
" Largui item li</uuli font luminii ethereun col."
384. Othir ttari : Th planets are meant. Their coming to th* sun at a
312 PARADISE LOST.
Repairing, in their golden urns draw HgLt, 365
And hence the morning planet gilds her horns ;
By tincture or reflection they augment
Their small peculiar, though for human sight
So far remote, with diminution seen.
First in his east the glorious lamp was seen, 370
Regent of day, and all th' horizon round
Invested with bright rays jocund to run
His longitude through Heav'n's high road. The grey
Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced,
Shedding sweet influence. Less bright the moon, 375
But opposite in levell'd west was set
fountain for their light, is a highly poetical idea, and not to be literally un-
derstood as conveying a philosophical explanation of the matter.
368. Peculiar : Exclusive or independent property.
370-84. Firtt in hit */, $r. : The several glories of the heavens make
their appearance on the fourth day. One would wonder how the poet could
be so concise in his description of the six days' work, as to comprehend
them within the bounds of an episode, and, at the same time, so particular
as to give us a lively idea of them. This is still more remarkable in his
account of the fifth and sixth days, in which he has drawn out to our view
the whole animal creation, from the reptile to the Behemoth. The sixth
day concludes with the formation of man, upon which the angel takes occa-
sion, as he did after the battle in Heaven, to remind Adam of his obedience,
which was the principal design of this visit. A.
372. Longitude : Degrees of longitude ; the sun's course from east to west,
III. 576; Ps. xix. 5.
373. The gray dawn, ifc. : These are beautiful images, and very much re-
semble the famous picture of the morning by Guido, where the Sun is repre-
sented in his chariot, with the Aurora flying before him shedding flowers,
nd seven beautiful nymph-like figures dancing before and about his chariot,
which are commonly taken for the Hours, but possibly may be the Pleiades.
as they are seven in number, and it is not easy to assign a reason why the
Hours should be signified by that number particularly.
The Pleiades are seven stars in the neck of the constellation Taurus, which
rise about the time of the vernal equinox. In saying, therefore, that the
Pleiades danced before the sun at his creation, the poet intimates very
plainly that the creation was in the spring, according to the common opinion,
Virg. Georg. ii. 338, &c. See also Job xxxviii. 31, for the origin of u shed-
ding sweet influence." N.
376. Level? d uxit : Western horizon.
BOOK VII. SIS
His mirror, with full face borrowing her light
From him, for other light she needed none
7 O
In that aspect ; and still that distance keeps
Till night, then in the east her turn she shines, 380
Revolved on Heav'n's great axle ; and her reign
With thousand lesser lights dividual holds,
With thousand thousand stars, that then appear'd
Spangling the hemisphere. Then first adorn'd
With her bright luminaries that set and rose, 385
Glad ev'ning arid glad morn crown'd the fourth day.
And God said, Let the waters generate
Reptile with spawn abundant, living soul :
And let fowl fly above the earth, with wings
Display'd on th' open firmament of Heav'n. 390
And God created the great whales, and each
Soul living, each that crept, which plenteously
The waters generated by their kinds,
And ev'ry bird of wing after his kind ;
And saw that it was good, and blessM them, saying, 395
Be fruitful, multiply, and in the seas,
And lakes, and running streams, the waters fill;
And let the fowl be multiply'd on th' earth.
Forthwith the sounds and seas, each creek and bay
With fry innumerable swarm, and shoals 400
377. Hit mirror : The moon is here beautifully described as the mirror of
the sun.
379. Aspect : Relation, position
383. Dividual: Divided.
387-88. Let the waters generate, 4r. : Milton scarcely anywhere, in so nar-
row a compass, indicates his profound knowledge of biblical lore, as in this
version he has given of the first clause of the Divine mandate uttered on
the fifth day of creation. He knew that the word translated ''moving crea-
ture," was not " moving" or " creeping" (as elsewhere rendered) , but
rapidly multiplying, or " swarming creatures ;" in short, it is applied to all
kinds of living creatures, inhabiting the waters, which are oviparous, and re-
markable for fecundity, as we know is eminently the case with the finny
tiibes. In other passages of Scripture it is applied even to the smaller land
arimals and reptiles noted for their swarming abundance. K.
388-92. Soul: Creature.
14
314 PARADISE LOST.
Of fish that with their fins and shining scales
Glide under the green wave, in sculls that oft
Bank the mid-sea : part single or with mate
Graze the sea-weed their pasture, and through groves
Of coral stray or sporting with quick glance, 405
Shew to the sun their waved coats dropt with gold,
Or in their pearly shells at ease, attend
Moist nutriment, or under rocks their food
In jointed armour watch. On smooth the seal,
And bended dolphins play : part huge of bulk 410
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean ; there leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep
Stretch'd like a promontory, sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land, and at his gills 415
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.
Meanwhile the tepid caves, and fens, and shores
Their brood as num'rous hatch, from th' egg that soon
Bursting with kindly rupture forth disclosed
Their callow young, but feather'd soon and fledge 420
402-3. Scull* that oft bank, tfc. : Multitudes that often appear like banks
iu mid-sea.
404. Groves of coral : It was an opinion, in Milton's time, that coral was
a marine plant ; hence the expression here quoted : but it is now known to
be the production of marine animalcule, and holds a place in the mineral
kingdom among the most beautiful of its objects.
408. Attend: Wait for.
409. On smooth the teal, ffc. : The teal, or sea-calf, and the dolphin are
observed to sport on imooth seas in calm weather. The dolphin is called
bended, simply because he forms an arch by leaping out of the water, and in-
stantly dropping into it again with his head foremost. Ovid therefore de-
scribes him tcrgo delphino recurvo. and his sportive nature is alluded to by
Virgil, JEu. v. 394. N.
410-416. Part huge of bulk, tfc. : In this passage the language finely im-
itates in sound the ideas which are expressed hugeness of size and difficulty
of motion. The imitation arises from the want of harmony in the numbers.
C.
412. Tempett : A most expressive word, from the Italian tempettarr.
420. Callow: Naked. Fledge: Able to fly.
BOOK VII 315
They summ'd their pens, and soaring the air sublime,
With clang despised the ground, under a cloud
In prospect : there the eagle and the stork
On cliffs and cedar tops their eyries build :
Part loosely wing the region, part more wise 425
In common, ranged in figure, wedge their way,
Intelligent of seasons, and set forth
Their aery caravan high over seas
Flying, and over lands, with mutual wing,
Easing their flight ; so steers the prudent crane 430
Her annual voyage, borne on winds ; the air
Floats as they pass, fann'd with unnumber'd plumes.
From branch to branch the smaller birds with song
Solaced the woods, and spread their painted wings
Till ev'n, nor then the solemn nightingale 435
421. Summ'd their pent : Had their quills matured, or full-grown.
423. Under a cloud in prospect : The ground, to the eye appeared under a
cloud, being shaded by the multitude of birds.
424. Eyrie* : Nests ; Job xxxix. 27, 28.
425. Loosely: Scatteringly.
426. Wedge their way : The author of Spectacle de la Nature, says, " As to
wild ducks and cranes they fly, at the approach of winter, in quest of more
favourable climates. They all assemble at a certain day, like swallows and
quails. They decamp at the same time, and it is very agreeable to observe
their flight. They generally range themselves in a long column like an I,
or in two lines united in a point like a >. reversed. And so as Milton here
says:
" ranged in figure wedge their way."
The duck or quail that forms the point, cuts the air, and facilitates a pas-
sage to those which follow. He does this for a short time, then falls back
n the rear, and another takes his post. And thus, as Milton says,
" with mutual wiog
Easing their flight."
429. With mutual wing : With each other's wing.
431. Jtir : Compare JEsch. Prom. V. 125.
434. Solaced the woods : A poetic idea. The woods are personified. See
Virg. JEa. vii. 32 :
" .Kthern mu'cebunt cantu."
T.
4.J.I. The tolrmn niglitingalt : Milton's fondness for this little bird in very
316 PARADISE LOST.
Ceased warbling, but all night tuned her soft lays :
Others on silver lakes and rivers bathed
Their downy breast. The swan with arched neck
Between her white wings mantling proudly rows
Her state with oary feet ; yet oft they quit 440
The dank, and rising on stiff pennons tow'r
The mid aerial sky : others on ground
Walk'd firm ; the crested cock, whose clarion sounds
The silent hours, and th j other whose gay train
AdoVns him, coloured with the florid hue 445
Of rainbows and starry eyes. The waters thus
With fish replenish'd, and the air with fowl
Ev'ning and morn solemnized the fifth day.
The sixth, and of creation last, arose
With ev'ning harps and matin, when God said, 450
Let th' earth bring forth soul living in her kind,
Cattle and creeping things, and beast of th 1 earth,
Each in their kind. The earth obey'd ; and straight
Opening her fertile womb, teem'd at a birth
Innum'rous living creatures, perfect forms, 455
Limb'd and full grown. Out of the ground up rose
As from his lair the wild beast, where he wons
In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den ;
Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walk'd :
remarkable, being expressed on every proper occasion. He compares (111.
37) his own making verses in his blindness, to the nightingale singing in the
dark. In IV. 593, a charming account is given of her music. She is intro-
duced in IV. 539, 771 ; V. 38 ; VIII. 519. So in II Penseroso, a more par-
ticular description is furnished ; the first of his sonnets is addressed to this
favourite bird.
438. Jlrehed neck: This beauty of the swan has been overlooked by the
ancient poets in their frequent descriptions of the swan. Mantling : Hei
wings are raised and spread as a mantle, with apparent pride. Her ttate .
Her majesty, her stately form.
441. Dank: Wet.
450. Matin: Morning.
451. Soul living: This is a more literal translation of the Hebrew thar
in our English Bible, which reads lit ing creature.
457. Wont: Dwell*.
BOOK VII. 317
The cattle in the fields and meadows green : 460
Those rare and solitary, these in flocks,
Pasturing at once, and in broad herds upsprung.
The grassy clods now calv'd ; now half appear'd
The tawny lion, pawing to get free
His hinder parts, then springs as broke from bonds, 465
And rampant shakes his brinded mane : the ounce,
The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole
Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw
In hillocks : the swift stag from under ground
Bore up his branching head ; scarce from his mould 470
Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved
His vastness ; fleeced the flocks and bleating rose,
461. Thote rare, $c. : Those refers to the wild beasts (457) ; these to the
tame the cattle ; and it is a very signal act of Providence, that there are
so few of the former sort, and so many of the latter, for the service of
man. N.
463. Calved : Brought forth animals, not those of the cow kind only. In
Job xxxix. 1, hinds are said to calve, also in Ps. xxix. 9. Milton supposes
the beasts to rise out of the earth in perfect forms, limb'd, and full-grown,
as Raphael had painted this subject before in the Vatican ; and he describes
their manner of rising in figures and attitudes, and in numbers too, suited to
their various natures. N.
466. Rampant : Rearing upon the hinder feet. Brinded mane : Mane of
various colours, spotted.
467. Libbard: Leopard.
472. His vastness : The numbers are excellent, and admirably express the
heaviness and unwieldiness of the elephant, which Milton plainly means.
Brhtmoth and leviathan are two creatures described in the Book of Job, sup-
posed by critics to be the river-horse and the crocodile, though Milton, with
the concurrence of many earlier interpreters, considered them to indicate the
elephant and the whale. Behemoth, biggest born : The alliteration is re
markable, all the words beginning with the same letter. Another instance
of alliteration we had (286), in the production of the mountains:
" and their broad bare backs upheave
Into the clouds."
The labour of the lines containing these alliterations, appears greater in
contrast with the ease of the following measures which describe the lesser
animals springing as lightly and as thick as plants :
" fleec'd the flocks and bleating rose,
A* plant*."
PARADISE LOUT.
As plants : ambiguous between sea and land
The river-horse and scaly crocodile.
At once came forth whatever creeps the ground, 475
Insect or worm : those waved their limber tans
For wings, and smallest lineaments exact
In all the liveries deck'd of summer's pride,
With spots of gold and purple, azure and green :
These as a line their long dimension drew, 4SO
Streaking the ground with sinuous trace ; not all
Minims of nature ; some of serpent kind,
Wondrous in length and corpulence, involved
Their snaky folds, and added wings. First crept
The parsimonious emmet, provident 485
Of future, in small room large heart inclosed,
Pattern of just equality perhaps
Hereafter, join'd in her popular tribes
Of commonalty : swarming next appear'd
The female bee, that feeds her husband drone 490
An example of the same kind of beauty is found in Virg. JEn. i. 61. N.
ft is to be observed that the flocks rose from the ground fleeced, furnished
with a fleece, and bleating ; were created in full perfection, as the plants
were before them.
474. River-horse, or hippopotamus, from its dwelling in rivers.
478. Decked : A verb. And deck'd their tmaUett lineament*, &c.
482. Minims of nature : The smallest beings of nature. It is supposed to
be an allusion to the Latin Vulgate translation of Prov. xxx. 24, u Quatuor
istm sunt minima terra."
484. Snaky fold* : This is not tautology, as Bentley objects, because serpent
(482) is a term more generic and comprehensive than snake, including all the
creeping kind, of course many that are not snakes. Added wing* : Had wings
added to them. By a common poetic license, a creature is often said to do
what strictly, is done to it or for it. The serpent proper, that which more
specially and eminently receives the name, is again mentioned (495) , and
with particular exactness, on account, probably, of the important instrumen-
tality it was destined to exert, in altering for the worse man's character, con-
dition, and prospects.
485. Provident: Hor. Sat. L 1 : 35.
486. Large heart : Virg. Georg. iv. 83. N.
490. That feed* her husband drone, tfc. : Of bees there are three sexual
modifications, the prolific females, or queens ; the imperfect or unprolific fe-
BOOK VII. 319
Delieiously, and builds her waxen cells
With honey stored. The rest are numberless,
And thou their natures know'st, and gav'st them names
Needless to thee repeated ; nor unknown
The serpent, subtlest beast of all the field, 495
Of huge extent sometimes, with brazen eyes
And hairy mane terrific, though to thee
Not noxious, but obedient at thy call.
Now Heav'n in all her glory shone, and roll'd
Her motions, as the great first Mover's hand 500
First wheel'd their course ; earth in her rich attire
Consummate lovely smiled ; air, water, earth,
By fowl, fish, beast, was flown, was swum, was walk'd
Frequent ; and of the sixth day yet remain'd ;
There wanted yet the master-work, the end 505
Of all yet done ; a creature who not prone
And brute as other creatures, but endued
With sanctity of reason, might erect
His stature, and upright with front serene
Govern the rest, self-knowing, and from thence 510
Magnanimous to correspond with Heav'n,
males, the workers ; and the males or drones. The swarm consists in general
of about six thousand bees, of which about two hundred are males, the rest
females, and of these one only, for the most part, is prolific., and she is called
the queen. It is said that she condescends to wait upon the drones, her hus-
bands, and to bring them honey, an idea which Milton has expressed.
497. Hairy mane : Virgil, in like manner, attributes a mane to serpents
JEn. ii. 206 :
' . . .jubaquc
Sanguines: exiuperant undas."
N.
505. There wanted yet, $c. : The author here remembered and copied, as
Newton supposes, Ovid, Met. i. 76.
"Sanctius his animal, mentisque capacius altae
Deerat adhuc, et quod dominari in caetera posset
Finxit in effigiem moilorantum cuncta Deorum.
Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terrain,
Os homini sublime dedit ; crelumque tueri
Jait. ct erectos ad sidera tollere vultus."
505. The end : That for which all previous acts of creation had been per-
formed.
320 PARADISE LOST.
But grateful to acknowledge whence his good
Descends ; thither with heart, and voice, and eyes
Directed in devotion, to adore
And worship God supreme, who made him chief 615
Of all his works. Therefore th' Omnipotent
Eternal Father (for where is not he
Present ?) thus to his Son audibly spake :
Let us make now Man in our image, Man
In our similitude, and let them rule 520
Over the fish and fowl of sea and air,
Beast of the field, and over all the earth,
And ev'ry creeping thing that creeps the ground.
This said, he form'd thee, Adam, thee, Man,
Dust of the ground, and in thy nostrils breathed 525
The breath of life : in his own image he
Created thee, in the image of God
Express ; and thou becam'st a living soul.
Male he created thee, but thy consort
Female for race ; then bless M mankind, and said, 530
Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth,
Subdue it, and throughout dominion hold
Over fish of the sea, and fowl of th' air,
And ev'ry living thing that moves on th' earth.
Wherever thus created, for no place 535
524-25. Adam, thee, man. dutt of the ground : The physiological truth is,
that the human body is composed of the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitro-
gen, the lime and sulphur, iron, phosphorus, and some other substances, of the
mineral kingdom. And although this fact could not have been known scien-
tifically until modern chemistry disclosed it, the Mosaic history announced
with unfaltering accent " And the Lord God formed the man dust from the
ground ;" aphar dust, denoting the sand, clay, lime, and common constituents
of the general soil. And the same fact is commemorated in the name by
which the father of mankind is known, for the verse just quoted is, literally
rendered a Jehovah Elohim formed the adorn (or man) dust from the
adamafi, or ground," the name being derived from the material of which the
body was composed. And hence man is amenable to the laws of gravitation,
mechanical force, chemical action, electricity, and light ; and much of his
practical wisdom through life consists in conforming to them. HARRIS,
4> Man Primeval," 22.
535. On comparing Gen. ii. 8 with Gen. ii. 15, it appears that man wac
BOOK VII. 321
Is yet distinct by name, thence, as them know'st
He brought thee into this delicious grove,
This garden, planted with the trees of God,
Delectable both to behold and taste ;
And freely all their pleasant fruit for food 540
Gave thee ; all sorts are here that all th' earth yields,
Variety without end ; but of the tree,
Which, tasted, works knowledge of good and evil,
Thou may'st not ; in the day thou eat'st, thou dy'st ;
Death is the penalty imposed ; beware, 545
And govern well thy appetite, lest Sin
Surprise thee, and her black attendant Death.
Here fimsh'd he, and all that he had made
View'd, and behold all was entirely good ;
So even and morn accomplish'd the sixth day : 550
Yet not till the Creator from his work
Desisting, though unweary'd, up return'd,
Up to the Heav'n of Heav'ns, his high abode,
Thence to behold this new-created world,
Th' addition of his empire, how it shew'd 555
In prospect from his throne, how good, how fair,
Answ'ring his great idea. Up he rode,
not created in the garden, but placed in it after his creation ; in correspondence
with this fact, Milton says :
" Wherever thus created," &c.
< 48. Viev?d : The pause which occurs after this word is in fine taste ; as
it . ves to impress upon us the idea of the Creator's surveying with intense
interest the wonders of creation, now completed.
552-64. Up : This word frequently occurs, and with good effect in these
lines.
In some cases, says Dugald Stewart, it may perhaps be doubted, whethe
MiLx>n has not forced on the mind the image of literal height, somewhat more
trongly than accords perfectly with the overwhelming sublimity which his
subject derives from so many other sources. At the same time, who would
venture to touch, with a profane hand, the verses now referred to, 552-64 ?
Is it not probable that the impression produced by this association, strong
as it still is, was yet stronger in ancient times ? The discovery of the earth's
sphericity, and of the general theory of gravitation, has taught us that the
words above and below have only a relative import. STEWART'S Works,
vol. iv. 279-81, &c.
14* U
322 PARADISE LOST.
Follow'd with acclamation, and the sound
Symphonious of ten thousand harps, that tuned
Angelic harmonies. The earth, the air 560
Resounded (thou remember'st, for thou heard 'si) ;
The Hcav'ns, and all the constellations rung ;
The planets in their station list'ning stood,
While the bright pomp ascended jubilant.
Open, ye everlasting gates, they sung ; 565
Open, ye Heav'ns, your living doors : let in
The great Creator from his work return 'd
Magnificent, his six days' work, a world ;
Open, and henceforth oft ; for God will deign
To visit oft the dwellings of just men 570
Delighted, and with frequent intercourse
Thither will send his winged messengers
On errands of supernal grace. So sung
The glorious train ascending. He through Heav'n,
That open'd wide her blazing portals, led 575
To God's eternal house direct the way :
A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold,
And pavement stars, as stars to thee appear,
Seen in the galaxy, that milky way,
Which nightly as a circling zone thou seest 580
Powder'd with stars. And now on earth the seventh
Ev'ning arose in Eden, for the sun
Was set, and twilight from the east came on,
Forerunning night ; when at the holy mount
Of Heav'n's high-seated top, th' imperial throne 585
Of Godhead, fix'd for ever firm and sure,
The Filial Pow'r arrived, and sat him down
With his great Father (for he also went
Invisible) yet stay'd (such privilege
563. Station: Position. It does not here, as Newton statw. seem to be
tmployed, in its technical sense, for that place in their orbits where they
eem to go neither forwards nor backwards, but to remain stationary.
565. This language is copied from the twenty-fourth Psalm, which was
wng when the ark was carried into the temple on Mount Zion.
BOOK VII.
323
Hath Omnipresence) and the work ordain'd 590
Author and End of all things, and from work
Now resting, bless'd and hallow'd the sev'nth day,
As resting on that day from all his work,
But not in silence holy kept : the harp
Had work and rested not, the solemn pipe, 595
And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop,
All sounds on fret by string or golden wire,
Temper'd soft tunings, intermix'd with voico
Choral or unison : of incense clouds
Fuming from golden censers hid the mount. 600
Creation and the six days' acts they sung :
Great are thy works, Jehovah ! infinite
Thy pow'r ! What thought can measure thee, or tongue
Relate thee ! Greater now in thy return
Than from the giant Angels ! thee that day 605
Thy thunders magnify'd ! but to create,
Is greater than created to destroy.
Who can impair thee, mighty King, or bound
Thy empire ! Easily the proud attempt
Of Spirits apostate and their counsels vain 610
Thou hast repell'd, while impiously they thought
Thee to diminish, and from thee withdraw
The number of thy worshippers. Who seeks
To lessen thee, against his purpose serves
597. Fret : A division, a cross, a finger-board, of the bass viol for exam
pie ; contrivance for varying sounds.
598. Temper'd soft tunings : Produced soft sounds.
599. Unison : Separate or solitary.
602. Milton is generally truly orthodox. In this hymn the angels in
timate the unity of the Son with the Father, singing to both as one God,
Jehovah. X.
605. Giant angels : This epithet does not, as Dr. Pierce supposes, mean
fierce and aspiring in temper, but is used in allusion to Hesiod's Giant War,
and was probably designed, as Mr. Thyer supposes, to intimate the opinion
of Milton, that the fictions of the Greek poets owed their rise to some un-
certain clouded tradition of this real event, and that their giants were, if
they had understood the story right, the fallen angels.
324 PARADISE LOST.
To manifest the more thy might : his evil 615
Thou usest, and from thence creat'st more good.
Witness this new-made world, another Heav'n
From Heav'n-gate not far, founded in view
On the clear Hyaline, the glassy sea :
Of amplitude almost immense, with stars 620
Num'rous, and ev'ry star perhaps a world
Of destined habitation ; but thou know'st
Their seasons : among these the seat of Men,
Earth with her nether ocean circumfused,
Their pleasant dwelling-place. Thrice happy Men, 625
And sons of Men, whom God hath thus advanced,
Created in his image, there to dwell
And worship him, and in reward to rule
Over his works, on earth, in sea, or air,
And multiply a race of worshippers 630
Holy and just ! thrice happy if they know
Their happiness, and persevere upright !
So sung they, and the empyrean rung
With Halleluiahs. Thus was Sabbath kept.
And thy request think now fulfillM, that ask'd 635
How first this world and face of things began,
And what before thy memory was done
From the beginning, that posterity
Inform 'd by thee might know ; if else thou seek'st
Aught, not surpassing human measure, say. 640
619. Hyaline: Interpreted by the words that follow; Rev. iv. 6.
621. Perhapt a world, (fc. : Milton was not willing to make the angel
assert positively that every star is a world designed to be inhabited, and
therefore adds, ptrhapt, this notion of the plurality of worlds being not M>
well established in those days as in these. N.
624. Nether: Lower ocean, in distinction from the waters in the atmos-
phere, or " above the firmament."
631. Thrict happy, (fc. : Virg. Georg. ii. 458:
'* O fortunate* minium, sua ii bona nftrint."
BOOK VIII.
THE ARGUMENT.
ADAM inquires concerning celestial motions ; is doubtfully answered, and
exhorted to search rather things more worthy of knowledge ; Adam assents ;
and, still desirous to retain Raphael, relates to him what he remembered
since his own creation ; his placing in Paradise ; his talk with God concern-
ing solitude and fit society ; his first meeting and nuptials with Eve ; his
discourse with the Angel thereupon ; who, after admonitions repeated, de-
parts.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
Nc praise can be deemed too high for this Eighth Book of Paradise Lost.
We are filled with the most delightful astonishment when we read Milton's
picture of the creation of Adam and Eve ; the beauty, the glow, the enthu-
siasm, the rapture running through all the senses and all the veins ; the un-
alloyed grandeur of the man, the celestial grace of the woman ; the majesty
of his movements, the delicacy of hers ; the inconceivable happiness of
thoughts and words with which their admiration of each other is expressed ;
the breaks, the turns of language, the inspired brilliance and flow of the
strains, yet the inimitable chastity and transparence of the whole style, nil
a sensitive reader with an unfeigned wonder and exaltation, which it would
be vain to attempt adequately to record.
The argumentative parts of the poem are as profound and excellent as
those in the former Books. They are not, as Dryden has hinted, flat and
unprofitable, but the reverse. They are exalted, closely argued, nakedly but
Vigorously expressed, sagacious, moral, instructive, comprehensive, deep in
the knowledge of life, consolatory, and fortifying. Whoever supposes them
unpoetical, has a narrow, mean conception of poetry : they are never out of
place, but result from the leading characters of the poem ; they are quite
as essential to it, even as its grand, or beautiful, and breathing imagery.
E. B.
Of Adam and Eve it has been said, that the ordinary reader can feel little
interest in them, because they have none of the passions, pursuits, or even
relations of human life, except that of husband and wife, the least interest-
ing of all others, if not to the parties concerned, at least to all by-standers.
It is true there is little action in this part of Milton's poem ; but there is
much repose and more enjoyment. There are none of the every-day occur-
rences, contentions, disputes, wars, feuds, jealousies, trades, professions, and
common handicrafts of life ; ' : no kind of traffic ; letters are not known ; no
<of of service, of riches, poverty, contract, &c. ; no treason, felony, (word,
BOOK vin. 327
pike, knife, gun, nor need of any engine." So much the better : thank
Heaven, all these were yet to come. But still in them our doom was
sealed.
In their first false step we trace all our future woe, with loss of Eden,
but there was a short and precious interval between, like the first blush of
morning before the day is overcast with tempest, the dawn of the world,
the birth of nature, with its first dews and freshness on its cheek breathing
odours. Theirs was the first delicious taste of life, and on them depended
all that was to come of it. In them hung trembling all our hopes and fears.
They were as yet alone in the world, in the eye of nature, wondering at
their new being, full of enjoyment, and enraptured with one another, with
the voice of their Maker walking in the garden, and ministering angels at-
tendant on their steps, winged messengers from Heaven, like rosy clouds, de-
scending in their sight. Was there nothing in this scene, which God and
Nature alone witnessed, to interest a modern critic ? What need was there
of action, where the heart was full of bliss and innocence without it ?
They stood awhile perfect, but they afterwards fell, and were driven out
of Paradise, tasting the first fruits of bitterness as they had done of bliss.
But their tears were " such as angels weep." The pathos is of that mila con-
templative kind which arises from regret for the loss of unspeakable hap-
piness, and resignation to inevitable fate. They had received their unlook-
ed-for happiness as a free gift from their Creator's hands, and they submitted
to its loss, not without sorrow, but without impious and stubborn repining.
HAZUTT.
BOOK VIII.
THE Angel ended, and in Adam's ear
So charming left his voice, that he awhile
Thought him still speaking, still stood fix'd to hear ;
Then, as new waked, thus gratefully reply 'd:
What thanks sufficient, or what recompense 6
Equal have I to render thee, divine
Historian, who thus largely hast allay'd
The thirst I had of knowledge, and vouchsafed
This friendly condescension to relate
Things else by me unsearchable, now heard 10
With wonder, but delight, and, as is due,
2. So charming, fyc. : Imitated probably from Apollonius, i. 512, who ele-
gantly describes the effect which the harp and voice of Orpheus had upon
the Argonauts. When Orpheus had ended his song, they, says the poet, in-
tent and bending towards him, still listened, and imagined him speaking.
JOKTIH.
3. St-ill ttood, Sfc. : Stood from ttara (Italian) remained, continued ; not
that Adam was in a standing posture probably he sat as at dinner, V. 433.
His great attention, and not his attitude, is described. R.
5. What thank*, ffc. : The accounts which Raphael gives of the battle of
the angels and the creation of the world, have in them those qualifications
which the critics judge requisite to an episode : they are nearly related to
the principal action, and have a just connection with the fable.
This Book opens with a beautiful description of the impression which this
discourse of the archangel made on our first parents Adam afterwards, by
a very natural curiosity, inquires concerning the motions of those celestial
bodies which make the most glorious appearance among the six days- work
A
BOOK viu. 329
With glory attributed to the High
Creator ? Something yet of doubt remains,
Which only thy solution can resolve.
When I behold this goodly frame, this world, 15
Of Heav'n and Earth consisting, and compute
Their magnitudes ; this earth, a spot, a grain,
An atom, with the firmament compared
And all her number'd stars, that seem to roll
Spaces incomprehensible (for such 20
Their distance argues, and their swift return
Diurnal) merely to officiate light
Round this opacous earth, this punctual spot,
One day and night, in all their vast survey
Useless besides ; reasoning I oft admire 25
How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit
Such disproportions, with superfluous hand
So many nobler bodies to create,
Greater, so manifold to this one use,
12. Attributed : Accent the third syllable.
13. Doubt : Uncertainty or difficulty.
15. Milton, after having given so noble an idea of the creation of thl
uew world, takes a most proper occasion to show the two great systems,
usually called the Ptolemaic and the Copemican one making the earth, the
other the sun, to be the centre ; and this he does by introducing Adam pro-
posing very judiciously the difficulties that occur in the first, and which was
the system most obvious to him. The reply of the angel touches on the
expedients which the Ptolemaics invented to solve those difficulties and to
patch up their system, and withal the noble improvements of the new philo
sophy ; not, however, determining for one or the other, but, on the contrary,
he exhorts our progenitor to apply his thoughts rather to what /more nearly
concerns him, and is within his reach. R.
1 9. Numbered : By the Creator only, Ps. cxlvii. 4. The word may here
mean numerous ; VIII. 620, "With stars numerous."
20. Spaces: (Through) spaces.
22. Diurnal : Notions borrowed from the appearance.
23. Punctual tpot : A spot no larger than a point, when compared with
the fixed stars.
28. So many nobler, ffc. : As if he had said, so many nobler, so many greater;
but he turns the order of the words : so many nobler, greater so many, the
word manifold being used instead of many, for the sake of the verse. N
330 PARADISE LOST.
For aught appears, and on their orbs impose 30
Such restless revolution, day by day
Repeated, while the sedentary earth,
That better might with far less compass move,
Served by more noble than herself, attains
Her end without least motion, and receives 35
As tribute, such a sumless journey brought
Of incorporeal speed, her warmth and light ;
Speed, to describe whose swiftness number fails.
So spake our sire, and by his countenance seemM
Knt 'ring on studious thoughts abstruse ; which Eve 40
Perceiving where she sat retired in sight,
With lowliness majestic from her seat,
And grace that won who saw to wish her stay,
Rose, and went forth among her fruits and flow'rs,
To visit how they prosper'd, bud and bloom, 45
Her nursery : they at her coming sprung,
And, touch'd by her fair tendence, gladlier grew.
Yet went she not, as not with such discourse
Delighted, or not capable her ear
Of what was high : such pleasure she reserved, 50
Adam relating, she sole auditress ;
Her husband, the relator, she preferr'd
Before the Angel, and of him to ask
Chose rather. He, she knew, would intermix
Grateful digressions, and solve high dispute 55
37. Of incorporeal tpeed : Not that it was truly so. It signifies very
great speed, such as spirits might use. Speed almost spiritual, as he ex-
presses it (110) . N.
41. Retir'd in tight, Ifc. : The poet here, with a great deal of art, repre-
sents Eve as withdrawing from this part of their conversation, to amuse-
ments more suitable to her sex. He well knew that the episode in this
Book, which is filled with Adam's account of his passion and esteem for
Eve, would have been improper for her hearing, and has therefore devised
very just and beautiful reasons for her retiring. A.
45. To vitit : To go to see.
53. To ask : The poet is supported by the instructions of Paul, 1 Cor. xiv.
35, &c. : " And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at
Home," &c
BOOK VIII. 331
With conjugal caresses ; from his lip
Not words alone pleased her. O ! when meet no\r
Such pairs, in love and mutual honour join'd ?
With Goddess-like demeanour forth she went,
Not unattended, for on her, as queen, 60
A pomp of winning graces waited still,
And from about her shot darts of desire
Into all eyes to wish her still in sight.
And Raphael, now to Adam's doubt proposed,
Benevolent and facile, thus reply'd : 65
To ask or search I blame thee not ; for Heav'n
Is as the book of God before thee set,
Wherein to read his wondrous works, and learn
His seasons, hours, or days, or months, or years.
This to attain, whether Heav'n move or Earth, 70
Imports not, if thou reckon right : the rest
From Man or Angel the Great Architect
Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge
His secrets, to be scann'd by them who ought
Rather admire : or if they list to try 75
Conjecture, he his fabric of the Heav'na
65. Facile: Affable.
70. This to attain, is to be referred to what precedes, and not to what fol-
lows ; and hence there is only a colon before these words in Milton's own
editions. This to attain that is, to attain the knowledge of seasons, hours,
kc. It imports not: It makes no difference whether Heaven move or
Earth that is, it matters not whether the Ptolemaic or the Copernican
system be true. This knowledge we may on either hypothesis attain. The
rest : Other more curious points of inquiry concerning heavenly bodies, God
hath wisely concealed. N.
Whether Heaven move or Earth, Sfc. : The angel's returning a doubtful an-
swer to Adam's inquiries, was not only proper for the moral reason which
the poet assigns, but because it would have been highly absurd to give the
sanction of an archangel to any particular system of philosophy. The chief
points in the Ptolemaic and Copernican hypotheses are described with great
conciseness and perspicuity, and, at the same time, dressed in very pleasing
and poetical images. A.
76. He his fabric, fyc. : u Mundum tradidit disputationi eorum, ut non lu-
reniafrhomo opus quod operatus est Deus, ab initio usque ad finem." Vulg.
[.at. Eccles. iii. 11. HEYLIN.
332 PARADISE LOST.
Hath left to their disputes, perhaps to move
His laughter at their quaint opinions wide
Hereafter, when they come to model Heav'n
And calculate the stars, how they will wield 80
The mighty frame, how build, unbuild, contrive
To save appearances, how gird the sphere
With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er,
79. Model Heav'n : Form a model or plan of the solar system.
80. And calculate the Hart : Form a judgment of the stars by computing
their motions, distance, situation, &c. P.
82. How gird the sphere, Sfc. : The Ptolemaic hypothesis is here alluded to,
which has in part been described in a note on 48'2, Book III.
83. Centric (or concentric) is a term applied to hollow sphere* that re-
volve about a common centre here, that of the earth. Eccentric are those
which revolve about a different centre.
Cycle is an imaginary orb or circle in the heavens. Epicycle is a circle
upon'a circle, and will be more fully explained below.
These terms are employed in the explanation of the Ptolemaic tyttem, the
author of which flourished at Alexandria in the second century after Christ,
and nearly three centuries after Hipparchus, who was the founder of Grecian
astronomy, and whose principal discoveries have been transmitted in the
works of Ptolemy, which was the universal text-book on astronomy, until
the time of Copernicus, in the fifteenth century.
According to the Ptolemaic system, which was digested by him chiefly
from materials furnished by earlier writers and discoverers, the earth occupies
the centre of the universe, and all the celestial bodies revolve around it from
east to west It explains the apparent motions of the sun, moon, and planets,
according to a hypothesis invented by a great geometer, Apollonius of Perga,
some centuries before, and which consists in supposing each of these bodies
to be carried by a uniform motion round the circumference of a circle called
the epicycle, the centre of which is carried uniformly forward in the circum-
ference of another circle called the deferent. This second circle may be the
epicycle of a third, and so on as long as inequalities remain to be explained ;
the earth occupying a position near, but not at, the centre of the last circle
This hypothesis is utterly demolished by a few accurate observations of the
present day; but in the time of Ptolemy it served to explain all the devia-
tions from circular motion then known, particularly the phenomena of the
stations, and retrogradations of the planets (from west to east) ; and it was
even of service to astronomy, by offering a means of reducing the apparent
irregularities of the planetary motions to arithmetical calculation.
It is the system to which almost all theological writers, even of the
eventeenth century, uniformly refer, when they have occasion to speak of
the celestial phenomena. See Brando's Diet.
BOOK vin. 333
*
Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb.
Already by thy reasoning this I guess, 85
Who art to lead thy offspring, and supposest
That bodies bright and greater should not serve
The less not bright, nor Heav'n such journeys run,
Earth sitting still, when she alone receives
The benefit. Consider first, that great 90
Or bright infers not excellence : the earth,
Though, in comparison of Heav'n, so small,
Nor glist'ring, may of solid good contain
More plenty than the sun that barren shines,
Whose virtue on itself works no effect, 9fi
But in the fruitful earth ; there first received
His beams, unactive else, their vigour find.
Yet not to earth are those bright luminaries
Officious, but to thee earth's habitant.
And for the Heav'n's wide circuit, let it speak 100
The Maker's high magnificence, who built
So spacious, and his line stretch'd out so far,
That man may know he dwells not in his own :
An edifice too large for him to fill,
Lodged in a small partition, and the rest 106
Ordain 'd for uses to his Lord best known.
The swiftness of those circles, attribute,
Though numberless, to his omnipotence,
That to corporeal substances could add
Speed almost spiritual. Me thou think'st not slow, 110
Who since the morning-hour set out from' Heav'n,
Where God resides, and ere mid-day arrived
In Eden, distance inexpressible
100. That man may know, (fc. : A fine reflection, and confirmed by the
authority of the greatest philosophers, who seem to attribute the first no-
tions of religion in man to his observing the grandeur of the univeise.
Cicero Tusc. Disp. lib. i. sect. 28, and De Nat. Deor. lib. ii. sect 6.
LINfJFLEET.
105. Partition : Separate part.
107. Jittribute: Accent the last syllable.
108. Though numlwltti : Rfara to circles.
334 PARADISE LOST.
By numbers that have name. But this I urge,
Admitting motion iu the Heav'ns, to shew 115
Invalid that which thee to doubt it moved ;
Not that I so affirm, though so it seem
To thee who hast thy dwelling here on earth.
God, to remove his ways from human sense,
Placed Heav'n from Earth so far, that earthly sight, 120
If it presume, might err in things too high,
And no advantage gain. What if the sun
Be centre to the world, and other stars,
By his attractive virtue and their own
Incited, dance about him various rounds ? 125
Their wand'ring course now high, now low, then hid,
Progressive, retrograde, or standing still,
In six thou seest, and what if sev'nth to these
The planet earth, so steadfast though she seem,
Insensibly three difFrent motions move? 130
128. In tix thou teat: In the moon, and the five other wandering firti, as
they are called, V. 177. Their motions are evident , and what if the Earth
should be a seventh planet, and more three different motions, though to thee in-
sensiMe 1 The three different motions which the Copernicans attribute to the
Earth are the diurnal, round her own axis ; the annual, round the sun ; and
the motion of nitration, as it is called, whereby the Earth so proceeds in
her orbit, as that her axis is constantly parallel to the axis of the world.
(131.) Which else to several spheres thou mutt ascribe, Sfc. : You must either as-
cribe these motions to several spheres crossing and thwarting one another
with crooked and indirect turnings and windings, or you must attribute them
to the Earth, and (133) save the sun his labour, and the primum mobile too,
that swift nocturnal and diurnal rhomb. When Milton uses a Greek word, he
frequently subjoins the English rf it, as he does here (135) , the whed of day
and night : so he calls the primum mobile ; and this primum mobile in the
ancient astronomy was an imaginary sphere above those of the planets and
fixed stars, and therefore said by our author to be supposed and invisible above
all start. This was supposed to be the first mover, and to carry all the
lower spheres round along with it ; by its rapidity communicating to them
a motion whereby they revolved in twenty-four hour*. (136.) Which needs
not thy belief if, tfc. : But there is no need to believe this, if the earth, by re-
volving on her own axis from west to east in twenty-four hours (travelling
east, 138), enjoys day in that half of her globe which is turned towards the
sun, and is covered with night in the other half which is turned away from
the sun- N.
BOOK VIII.
335
Which else to sev'ral spheres thou must ascribe,
Moved contrary with thwart obliquities,
Or save the sun his labour, and that swift
Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb, supposed,
Invisible else above all stars, the wheel 135
Of day and night ; which needs not thy belief,
If earth industrious of herself fetch day
Travelling east, and with her part averse
From the sun's beam meet night, her other part
Still luminous by his ray. What if that light, 140
Sent from her through the wide transpicuous air,
To the terrestrial moon, be as a star
Enlight'ning her by day, as she by night
This earth ? reciprocal, if land be there,
Fields and inhabitants. Her spots thou seest 145
As clouds, and clouds may rain, and rain produce
Fruits in her soften'd soil, for some to eat
Allotted there ; and other suns perhaps
With their attendant moons thou wilt descry,
Communicating male and female light, 150
Which two great sexes animate the world,
Stored in each orb perhaps with some that live.
For such vast room in nature unpossess'd
134. Rhomb : Revolution ; the u wheel of day and night" mentioned in the
next line.
141. Transpicuous: Transparent.
143. Enlightening Aer, 6fc. : A singular supposition.
150. Male and female light: A distinction unknown to science a mere
poetic fancy and odd conceit. The sun was supposed to communicate male,
and the moon female light.
153-58. The subject here introduced, namely, the peopling of other worlds
besides our own with intelligent and sensitive beings, has been discussed with
great minuteness of detail and ability by Dr. Thomas Dick in his ' : Celestial
Scenery," and in a more recent work on the ' Sidereal Heavens ;" also, with
an unrivalled splendour of eloquence, by Dr. Thomas Chalmers, in his dis-
course on the Modern Astronomy.
As a specimen of Dr. Chalmers's noble argument on this interesting topic,
the following paragraph will be read with pleasure :
" Shall we say, then, of these vast luminaries, that they were created in
6 PARADISE LOST.
By living soul, desert and desolate,
Only to shine, yet scarce to contribute 155
Each orb a glimpse of light, convey'd so far
Down to this habitable, which returns
Light back to them, is obvious to dispute.
But whether thus these things, or whether not ;
Whether the sun predominant in Heav'n 160
Rise on the earth, or earth rise on the sun,
He from the cast his flaming road begin,
Or she from west her silent course advance
vain ? Were they called into existence for no other purpose than to throw
a tide of useless splendour over the solitudes of immensity ? Our sun is only
one of these luminaries, and we know that he has worlds in his train. Why
should we strip the rest of this princely attendance ? Why may not each of
them be the centre of his own system, and give light to his own worlds ? It
is true that we see them not ; but could the eye of man take its flight into
those distant regions, it would lose sight of our little world before it reached
the outer limits of our system ; the greater planets would disappear in their
turn before it had described a small portion of that abyss which separates us
from the fixed stars ; the sun would decline into a little spot, and all its splen-
did retinue of worlds be lost in the obscurity of distance ; he would, at last,
shrink into a small indivisible atom ; and all that could be seen of this mag-
nificent system would be reduced to the glimmering of a little star. Why
-esist any longer the grand and interesting conclusion ? Each of these stars
may be the token of a system as vast and as splendid as the one which we
.'nhabit. Worlds roll in these distant regions, and these worlds must be
the mansions of life and intelligence. In yon gilded canopy of heaven we
see the broad aspect of the universe, where each shining point presents us
with a sun, and each sun with a system of worlds, where the Divinity reigns
in all the grandeur of his attributes, where he peoples immensity with his
wonders, and travels in the greatness of his strength through the dominions
of one vast and unlimited monarchy."
155. Contribute : Accent the last syllable.
157. Thi* habitable is a Greek form of expression, earth being understood.
A similar omission of the noun is seen in VI. 78, thi* terrene.
159. But whether, ffc. : The angel is now recapitulating the whole. He
had argued upon the supposition of the truth of the Ptolemaic system, to 122.
Then he proposes the Copernican, and argues upon that supposition. Now
he sums up the whole : whether the one system or the other be true, whether
Heaven move or Earth, solicit not thyself about these matters, fear God and
do thy duty (167-68). N.
BOOK via. 337
With inoffensive pace that spinning sleeps
On her soft axle, while she paces even, 165
And bears thee soft with the smooth air along,
Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid ;
Leave them to God above ; him serve and fear !
Of other creatures, as him pleases best,
Wherever placed, let him dispose : joy thou 170
In what he gives to thee, this Paradise
And thy fair Eve. Heav'n is for thee too high
To know what passes there. Be lowly wise :
Think only what concerns thee and thy being ;
Dream not of other worlds, what creatures there 175
Live, in what state, condition, or degree,
Contented that thus far hath been reveal'd
Not of Earth only, but of highest Heav'n.
To whom thus Adam, clear'd of doubt, reply'd :
How fully hast thou satisfy'd me, pure 180
Intelligence of Heav'n, Angel serene,
And freed from intricacies, taught to live,
The easiest way ; nor with perplexing thoughts
To interrupt the sweet of life, from which
God hath bid dwell far off all anxious care?, 185
And not molest us, unless we ourselves
Seek them with wand'ring thoughts, and notions vain.
But apt the mind or fancy is to rove
Uncheck'd, and of her roving is no end ;
Till warn'd, or by experience taught, she learn, 190
That not to know at large of things remote
From use, obscure and subtle, but to know
That which before us lies in daily life,
164. That tpinning sleeps, (yc. : Metaphors taken from a top, of whic
Virgil makes a whole simile, JEn. vii. 378. It is an objection to the Coper-
nican system, that if the Earth moved round on her axle in twenty-four
hours, we should be sensible of the rapidity and violence of the motion ; and
therefore to obviate this objection it is not only said that she advances her si-
lent course with inoffensive pace, that spinning sleeps on Her soft axle, but it it
further added, to explain it still more, ichile she paces even, and bears the* soft
with the smooth air along ; for the air, the atmosphere, moves as well as the
earth. N.
15 V
338 PARADISE LOST.
IB the prime wisdom ; what is more is fume,
Or emptiness, or fond impertinence, 195
And renders us in things that most concern
Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek.
Therefore from this high pitch let us descend
A lower flight, and speak of things at hand
Useful, whence haply mention may arise 200
Of something not unseasonable to ask
By sufPrance, and thy wonted favour deign'd.
Thee I hare heard relating what was done
Ere my remembrance : now hear me relate
My story, which perhaps thou hast not heard : 205
And day is yet not spent ; till then thou seest
How subtly to detain thee I devise,
Inviting thee to hear while I relate,
Fond, were it not in hope of thy reply :
For while I sit with thee, I seem in Heav'n ; 210
And sweeter thy discourse is to my ear
Than fruits of palm-tree plcasantcst to thirst
And hunger both, from labour, at the hour
Of sweet repast : they satiate and soon fill,
Though pleasant, but thy words, with grace divine 215
Imbued, bring to their sweetness no satiety.
To whom thus Raphael answer'd heav'nly meek :
Nor are thy lips ungraceful, Sire of men,
194. I* the prime wisdom, tfe. : An excellent piece of satire this, and a fine
reproof of those men who have all sense but common sense, and whose folly
is truly represented in the story of the philosopher, who while he was gazing
at the stars fell into the ditch. Our author in these lines, as Mr. Thyer
imagines, might probably have in his eye the character of Socrates, who first
attempted to divert his countrymen from their airy and chimerical notions
about the origin of things, and turn their attention to that jtntme wisdom, the
consideration of moral duties, and their conduct in social life. N.
194. Fume: Smoke. 209. Fond: Foolish.
210-16. For while 7ir, tfc. : A striking passage, in which Adam gives an
account of the pleasure he took in conversing with the angel, which con'ftius
a very noble moral. A.
212. fruits of palm-tree: Dates, which are juicy and refreshing.
BOOK via. 339
Nor tongue ineloquent ; for \>Dd on thee
Abundantly his gifts hath also pour'd 320
Inward and outward both, his image fair :
Speaking or mute, all comeliness and grace
Attends thee, and each word, each motion forms :
Nor less think we in Heav'n of thee on Earth
Than of our fellow-servant, and inquire 225
Gladly into the ways of God with Man :
For God, we see, hath honour'd thee, and set
On Man his equal love : say therefore on ;
For I that day was absent, as befel,
Bound on a voyage uncouth and obscure, 230
Far on excursion tow'rd the gates of Hell ;
Squared in full legion (such command we had)
To see that none thence issued forth a spy,
Or enemy, while God was in his work,
Lest he, incensed at such eruption bold, 235
Destruction with creation might have mix'd.
Not that they durst without his leave attempt,
But us he sends upon his high behests
For state, as Sov'reign King, and to inure
Our prompt obedience. Fast we found, fast shut 240
The dismal gates, and barricado'd strong ;
But long ere our approaching, heard within
Noise, other than the sound of dance or song ;
Torment, and loud lament, and furious rage.
Glad we return 'd up to the coasts of light 245
Ere Sabbath ev'ning : so we had in charge.
But thy relation now ; for I attend,
Pleased with thy words, no less than thou with mine.
230. Uncouth: Unusual. 232. Squared: Formed.
233. To see that none^ Sfc. : As man was to be the principal work of God
in this lower world, and (according to Milton's hypothesis) a creature to
supply the loss of the fallen angels, so particular care is taken at his creation
The angels on that day keep watch and guard at the gates of Hell, that none
may issue forth to interrupt the sacred work. At the same time that this
was a very good reason for the angel's absence, it is doing honour to the man
with whom he was conversing. N.
310 PARADISE LOST.
So spake the God-like Pow'r, and thus our sire :
For Man to tell how human life began 250
Is hard ; for who himself beginning knew ?
Desire with thee still longer to converse
Induced me. As new waked from soundest sleep,
Soft on the flowery herb I found me laid
In balmy sweat, which with his beams the sun 255
Soon dry'd, and on the reeking moisture fed.
Straight toward Heav'n my wond'ring eyes I turn'd,
And gazed a while the ample sky, till raised
By quick instinctive motion, up I sprung,
As thitherward endeav'ring, and upright 260
Stood on my feet. About me round I saw
Hill, dale, and shady woods, and sunny plains,
And liquid lapse of murm'ring streams : by these,
Creatures that lived, and moved, and walk'd, or flew :
Birds on the branches warbling : all things smiled ; 265
With fragrance and with joy my heart o'erflow'd.
249. And thus our tire, iff. : Adam, to detain the angel, enters here upon
his own history, and relates to him the circumstances in which he found him-
self upon his creation ; as also his conversation with his Maker, and his
meeting with Eve. There is no part of the poem more apt to raise the at-
tention of the reader, than this discourse of our great ancestor, as nothing can
be more surprising and delightful to us than to bear the sentiments that arose
in the first man, while he was yet new and fresh from the hands of his
Creator. The poet has interwoven everything which is delivered upon this
subject in holy writ with so many beautiful imaginations of his own, that
nothing can be conceived more just and more natural than this whole episode.
A.
253-82. When we read, for the first time, says Dr. Thomas Brown, the
account which Adam gives to the angel of his feelings when, with faculties
Mich as we have supposed, and everything new before him, he found himself
in existence, in that happy scene of Paradise which Milton has described,
\\-,. are apt to think that the poet has represented him as beginning too toon
to reason with respect to the Power to which he must have owed his exist-
ence ; and yet, if we deduct the influence of long familiarity, and suppose
even a mind less vigorous than that of Adam, but with faculties such as exist
now only in mature lift, to be placed, in the first moment of existence, in such
a scene, we shall find, the more we reflect on the situation, that the individual
scarcely could fail to philosophize in the same manner. See Brown's Phi-
losophy, vol. ii. 427-2'*.
BOOK VIII. 341
Myself I then perused, and limb by limb
Survcy'd, and sometimes went, and sometimes ran
With supple joints, as lively vigour led :
But who I was, or where, or from what cause, 270
Knew not. To speak I tried, and forthwith spake ;
My tongue obey'd, and readily could name
Whate'er I saw. Thou Sun, said I, fair light,
And thou enlighten'd earth, so fresh and gay ;
Ye Hills and Dales, ye Rivers, Woods, and Plains, 275
And ye that live and move, fair Creatures, tell,
Tell if ye saw, how came I thus ? how here ?
Not of myself : by some great Maker then,
In goodness and in pow'r pre-eminent !
Tell me, how may I know him, how adore, 280
From whom I have that thus I move and live,
And feel that I am happier than I know.
While thus I call'd, and stray'd I knew not whither,
From where I first drew air, and first beheld
This happy light, when answer none return'd, 286
On a green shady bank profuse of flow'rs,
Pensive I sat me down ; there gentle sleep
First found me, and with soft oppression seized
My drowsed sense, untroubled, though I thought
I then was passing to my former state 290
Insensible, and forthwith to dissolve :
When suddenly stood at my head a dream,
Whose inward apparition gently moved
My fancy to believe I yet had being,
And lived. One came, methought, of shape divine, 295
And said, Thy mansion wants thee, Adam ; rise,
First man, of men innumerable ordain'd
First Father ; call'd by thee, I come thy guide
To the garden of bliss, thy seat prepared.
290-92. / then was passing, $c. : The sentiment here expressed, when,
upon his first going to sleep, he fancies himself losing his existence and fall-
ing away into nothing, can never be sufficiently admired.
His dream, in which he still preserves the consciousness of his existence,
together with his removal into the garden which was prepared for his recep
3-'? PARADISE LOST.
So saying, by the hand he took me raised, 300
And over fields and waters, as in air
Smooth sliding without step, last led me up
A woody mountain, whose high top was plain ;
A circuit wide, inclosed, with goodliest trees
Planted, with walks and bow'rs, that what I saw 305
Of earth before scarce pleasant seem'd. Each tree
Louden with fairest fruit, that hung to th' eye
Tempting, stirr'd in me sudden appetite
To pluck and eat ; whereat I waked, and found
Before mine eyes all real, as the dream 310
Had lively shadow'd. Here had new begun
My wand 'ring, had not he who was my guide
Up hither, from among the trees appear'd,
Presence divine. Rejoicing, but with awe,
In adoration at his feet I fell 315
Submiss : he rear'd me, and Whom thou sought'st I am,
Said mildly ; Author of all this thou seest
Above, or round about thee, or beneath.
This Paradise I give thee : count it thine
To till and keep, and of the fruit to eat, 320
Of every tree that in the garden grows
Eat freely with glad heart ; fear here no dearth ;
tion, are also circumstances finely imagined, and grounded upon what is de-
livered in sacred story. These and the like wonderful incidents in this part
of the work, have in them all the beauties of novelty, at the same time that
they have all the graces of nature. They are such as none but a great genius
could have thought of; though, upon the perusal of them, they seem to rise
of themselves from the subject of which he treats. In a word, though they
are natural they are not obvious, which is the true character of all fine writ-
ing. A.
300-303. It will be noticed that the poet represents Adam as having been
made, not in Paradise, but in some adjacent region, whence he was conveyed
in a most agreeable manner to his destined abode in the beautiful garden fitted
up for his use.
320. To till, $c. : Milton seems here to have approved the opinion of Fa-
gius (a favourite annotator of his) , who, in his note on Gen. ii. 9, thinks that
Adam was to have ploughed and sowed in Paradise, if he had continued there.
Milton here follows Ainsworth's translation of Gen. ii. 15, to till it and to keep
it, which is more exact than that of our common Bible. P.
BOOK VIH. 343
But of the tree whose operation brings
Knowledge of good and ill, which I have set
The pledge of thy obedience and thy faith, 325
Amid the garden, by the tree of life,
Remember what I warn thee : Shun to taste,
And shun. the bitter consequence ; for know,
The day thou eat'st thereof, iny sole command
Transgress'd, inevitably thou shalt die ; 330
From that day mortal, and this happy state
Shalt lose ; expell'd from hence into a world
Of woe and sorrow. Sternly he pronounced
The rigid interdiction, which resounds
Yet dreadful in mine ear, though in my choice 335
Not to incur ; but soon his clear aspect
Return'd, and gracious purpose thus renew'd :
Not only these fair bounds, but all the earth
To thee and to thy race I give : as lords
Possess it, and all things that therein live, 340
Or live in sea, or air ; beast, fish, and fowl.
In sign whereof each bird and beast behold
After their kinds : I bring them to receive
323. But of the tree, fa. : This being the great hinge on which the whole
poem turns, Milton has marked it strongly. '' But of the tree" " remember
what I warn thee." He dwells, expatiates upon it, from 323 to 336, repeal-
ing, enforcing, fixing every word : it is all nerve and energy. R.
324. Of good and ill : Gen. ii.
330. The expression, "Thou shalt die," is well explained in the next line.
343. To receive their names : In the progress of the Mosaic narrator, we
are told that God said that it was " not good for man to be alone," and de-
clared his intention of making a suitable companion, or "help meet for
him ;" but instead of proceeding with the account of this creation, the re-
cord proceeds to a very different matter. " And out of the ground, the Lord
God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought
them unto Adam, to see what he would call them ; and whatsoever Adam
called every living creature, that was the name thereof." What has this to
do with the providing of an " help meet" for the first of men ? The narra-
tive proceeds : " And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the
mir, and to every beast of the field ; but" and here comes the secret " for
Adaoi there was not found an help meet for him." It was, therefore, evi-
344 , PARADISE LOST.
From thcc their names, and pay thee fealty
With low subjection. Understand the same 345
Of fish within their wat'ry residence,
Not hither summoned since they cannot change
Their element to draw the thinner air.
As thus he spake, each bird and beast behold
Approaching two and two ; these cow'ring low 350
ilently the design of the benevolent Creator, to enhance, in the view of the
man, the value of the gift he was about to bestow upon him, by showing
him that the existing races of animated nature, abounding as they did in
elegant and beautiful species, did not afford any creature suited to be his
companion, or to satisfy the yearning of his heart for the fellowship of an
equal being. Nothing was better calculated to realize this impression, than
to bring the various animal existences under the notice of Adam, and, at the
same time, to endow him with the perception of their several qualities and
natures, as is implied in his being able to give them distinctive and appro-
priate names. It is very possible that, being as yet ignorant of the Divine
intention, Adam considered that he was expected to find out for himself a
meet companion among these creatures. So Milton understood it (369-377) ,
in a very remarkable passage in which he seems to ascribe the power of
reasoning to brutes. K.
349. Each bird and btatt behold, fyc. : The impression which the interdiction
of the tree of life left on the mind of our first parent, is described with great
strength and judgment; as the image of the several beasts and birds pass-
ing here in review before him, is very beautiful and lively. A.
350. Of course, modern rationalizing philosophy has found something in
this remarkable statement on which to hang its cavils. It has been ascer-
tained, it is urged, that animals are exclusively adapted to the regions which
they inhabit, and that it would be contrary to their nature, and zoologically
impossible, for them to leave their own climates, and to assemble in one
place. It is certain that, if this did take place, as assumed, it was a super-
natural impulse which urged them to travel to one point ; and we should
think that no believer in the existence and power of God can doubt the
possibility of such an impulse being given, whether he believes that it wot
given or not. But again, how did we know that various climates did exist
before the deluge ? There is good reason to think, that before then the tem-
perature of the earth was through all parts more equal than it has been
since ; and hence the animals would have no difficulty in passing from one
jwrt of the world to any other.
But, again, was there any necessity for this migration of the animals of
different climates to Eden ? On what ground is it assumed thus quietly that
animals were created in their different climates? Why might they not bt
BOOK VIII.
- 346
With blandishment, each bird stoop'd on his wing.
I named them as they pass'd, and understood
Their nature ; with such knowledge God indued
My sudden apprehension : but in these
created in the same locality in which man received his existence, afterward*
dispersing themselves, as our race did, to the several parts of the earth ?
Or the sacred text may be understood to refer to the animals in or near
Eden, the word " all" being often equivalent to " many," or to " a large
part ;" and that it is here used in a limited sense is evident, from the fishes
not being specified. Farther, it was unnecessary that the attention of Adam
should be engaged by animals he was not likely to see again, and which
had no suitableness to the purpose immediately in view.
As these various creatures, doubtless, presented themselves to the notice
of Adam in pairs, he must the more deeply have been convinced of his own
isolated condition. All these creatures had suitable companions, and he had
none : each of them was already provided with a mate, and could be no
" help meet" for him. K.
35354. Indued my sudden apprehension : In previously describing the
naming of the cattle, Milton takes the same view as we do, that the know-
ledge involved in that act was conveyed by instant and supernatural enlight-
enment K.
The account given by Moses is embraced in Gen. ii. 19, 20 ; yet from this
short record what a splendid episode has Milton here produced, and what an
admirable dialogue from the latter part only of that account !
Much has been inquired regarding the condition of Main in reaped of
knowledge. All accounts necessarily assign to him the utmost physical per-
fection of man's nature ; but in the view of some he was merely a naked
savage, who had all things to acquire by experience. This is not from any
intended disrespect to the father of mankind ; but because it was an old
theory that knowledge, intelligence, and the arts of civilization, were pro-
gressively acquired in the first ages ; and it was therefore necessary that the
progenitor of the rare should be in a state of ignorance, as it could not bu'
be supposed that he would impart such knowledge as he possessed to his
descendants. On the other hand, there are those who urge that Adam, in-
structed of God, must have been possessed of all knowledge of which the
mind of man is capable, and have been deeply skilled in all the sciences and
arts of civilization.
That both extremes are wrong we have have no doubt. Adam was, at
his creation, not a child ; he was a man in the vigour of physical and mental
life. He was taught of God, and not left to gather by slow experience all
that he wanted (needed) to know. If Adam could talk at all, and we know
that he could, language must have been supernaturally imparted to him He
had no means of acquiring it but from God. From the same source he must
15*
346 . PARADISE LOST.
I found not what mcthought I wanted still, 355
And to the heav'nly Vision thus presumed :
by what name, for thou above all these,
Above mankind, or aught than mankind higher,
Surpasses! far my naming, how may I
Adore thee, Author of this universe, 360
And all this good to man ? for whose well being
So amply, and with hands so liberal
Thou hast provided all things ! but with me
I see not who partakes. In solitude
What happiness ? Who can enjoy alone, 365
Or all enjoying, what contentment find r
Thus 1 presumptuous ; and the Vision bright,
As with a smile more brighten'd, thus replied :
What call'st thou solitude ? Is not the earth
With various living creatures, and the air 370
Replenished ? and all these at thy command
To come and play before thee ? Know'st thou not
Their language and their ways They also know,
And reason not contemptibly. With these
have derived the knowledge he possessed of the properties of the object*
and beings around him.
But it does not, on the other hand, seem to us at all necessary to suppose
that Adam was endowed with any other knowledge than was suited to the
condition in which he was placed, and needful to the full enjoyment of its
advantages. That he was learned in all science, and skilled in all art, there
seems no reason to believe. K.
356. Vision : Object of vision. Author of the universe, line 360. Pre-
tumtd (to say) .
372-74. That beasts have reasoning faculties has been argued by Plutarch
Montaigne, and other writers, with great force of argument. Certainly
many things we observe in them it seems difficult to account for on an
other supposition. Many of their feelings and passions are similar to our
own. Even insects exhibit fear, anger, sorrow, joy, and desire ; and many
of them express those passions by noises peculiar to themselves. BUCKE.
Their language and their troy* : That brutes have a kind of language
among themselves, is evident and undeniable. There is a treatise, in
French, of the language of brutes ; and our author supposes that Adam un-
derstood this language, and was of knowledge superior to any of his de-
scendants, and besides was assisted by inspiration : with tuck knouiedge Goa
BOOK vnr. 347
Find pastime, and bear rule ; thy realm is large. / 375
So spake the Universal Lord, and secin'd
So ordering I, with leave of speech implored,
And humble deprecation, thus replied :
Let not my words offend thee, Hcav'nly Pow'r !
My Maker, be propitious while I speak ! 380
Hast thou not made me here thy substitute,
And these inferior far beneath me set ?
Among unequals what society
Can sort ? what harmony or true delight ?
Which must be mutual, in proportion due 385
Giv'n and received ; but in disparity,
The one intense, the other still remiss
Cannot well suit with either, but soon prove
Tedious alike : Of fellowship I speak
Such as I seek, fit to participate 390
All rational delight, wherein the brute
Cannot be human consort : they rejoice
Each with their kind ; lion with lioness ,
So fitly them in pairs thou hast combined ;
Much less can bird with beast, or fish with fowl 395
So well converse ; nor with the ox the ape :
Worse then can man with beast, and least of all.
Whereto th' Almighty answer'd not displeased :
A nice and subtle happiness I see
Thou to thyself proposest in the choice 400
Of thy associates, Adam, and wilt taste
No pleasure, though in pleasure, solitary.
What think'st thou then of me, and this my state ?
Seem I to thee sufficiently possess'd
Of happiness, or not, who am alone 40
endued his sudden apprehension. He is said by the school divines to have
exceeded Solomon himself in knowledge. N.
386. But in disparity : But in inequality, such as is between rational and
brute : the one intense, man, high, wound up and strained to nobler under-
itanding, and of more lofty faculties ; the other still remiss, the animal, let
down, and slacker, grovelling in more low and mean perceptions, can never
fcuit together. A musical metaphor, from strings, of which the stretched and
highest give a smart and sharp sound the slack a flat and heavy one. H
348 PARADISE rxjsr.
From all eternity ? for none I know
Second to me, or like, equal much less.
How have I then with whom to hold converse
Save with the creatures which I made ? and those
To me inferior f infinite descents 410
Beneath what other creatures are to thee.
He ceased ; I lowly answer'd : To attain
The height and depth of thy eternal ways,
All human thoughts come short, Supreme of things !
Thou in thyself art perfect, and in thee 415
Is no deficience found. Not so is Man,
But in degree ; the cause of his desire
By conversation with his like to help,
Or solace his defects. No need that thou
Should'st propagate, already infinite, 420
And through all numbers absolute, though one ;
But Man by number is to manifest
His single imperfection, and beget
Like of his like, his image multiplied
In unity defective, which requires 425
Collat'ral love, and dearest amity.
Thou in thy secrecy, although alone,
Best with thyself accompanied, seek'st not
Social communication ; yet so pleased,
Canst raise thy creature to what height thou wilt 430
Of union or communion, deified :
I by conversing cannot these erect
From prone, nor in their ways complacence find.
421. Through all, ffc. : Through all numbers of years that is, eternally
absolute, or independent of any cause or object.
423. Single imperfection : Imperfection as an individual, from being single.
The same idea is conveyed (425) by the phrase, " In unity defective."
429. So pleated: If so pleased.
433. Prone: Bending forward and looking downward. The expression
may have been suggested to the poet by this passage in Sallust: "Omnes
homines qui sese student pr.rstare c i tens animalibus, summa ope niti dccet,
ne vitatn silentio transeant veluti pccora, quT natura prona, atque ventri
obedientia, finxit." Or Milton may have remembered the boautiful lines
BOOK via. 349
Thus I erabolden'd spake, and freedom used
Permissive, and acceptance found ; which gain'd 435
This answer from the gracious voice divine :
Thus far to try thee, Adam, I was pleased ;
And find thee knowing, not of beasts alone,
Which thou hast rightly named, but of thyself;
Expressing well the spirit within thee free, 440
My image not imparted to the brute,
Whose fellowship therefore unmeet for thee,
Good reason was thou freely should'st dislike :
And be so minded still. I, ere thou spak'st,
Knew it not good for Man to be alone ; 445
And no such company as then thou saw'st
Intended thee ; for trial only brought,
To see how thou could'st judge of fit and meet.
What next I bring shall please thee, be assured ;
Thy likeness, thy fit help, thy other self, 450
of Ovid (lib. i. 84-86) , which it will gratify the classic reader here to
quote :
" Pronaque cum spectent animalia cietera terrain ;
Os honiini sublime dedit ; coelumque tueri
Jussit, et erectos a<l sideia tollere vultus."
" It seems to be the expression of mental elevation, conveyed by the " on
sublime" of man, and by what Milton calls " the looks commencing with the
skies? which is the foundation of the sublimity we ascribe to the human
figure. In point of actual height, it is greatly inferior to various tribes of
other animals ; but none of these have the whole of their bodies, both trunk
and limbs, in the direction of the vertical line, coinciding with that tendency
to rise, or to mount upwards, which is symbolical of every species of im-
provement, whether intellectual or moral, and which typifies so forcibly to
our species the pre-eminence of their rank and destination among the inha-
bitants of this lower world.
" Intimately connected with the sublime effect of man's erect form, is the
imposing influence of a superiority of stature over the mind of the multi-
tude. ' And when Saul stood among the people, he was higher than any ol
them, from his shoulders and upward. And all the people shouted, and said,
God save the king.' " DUGALD STEWART'S Works, vol. iv. 307.
On this principle Milton has described our first parents as
" of far nobler ihape and tall,
Godlike erect"
Book IV. 277-78.
350 PARADISE LOST.
Thy wish exactly to thy heart's desire.
He ended, or I heard no more, for now
My earthly by his heav'nly overpower'd,
Which it had long stood under, strain'd to th' hight
In that celestial colloquy sublime, 465
As with an object that excels the sense
Dazzled and spent, sunk down, and sought repair
Of sleep, which instantly fell on me, call'd
By nature as in aid, and closed mine eyes.
Mine eyes he closed, but open left the cell 460
Of fancy, my internal sight ; by which
Abstract, as in a trance, methought I saw,
Though sleeping, where I lay, and saw the shape
Still glorious before whom awake I stood ;
Who stooping, opcn'd my left side, and took 465
453. Earthly : Earthly nature. The caus is here assigned for that deep
sleep into which Adam now sunk, preparatory to the reception of a suitable
partner " another self." Mine eye* he dosed : The order of the words being
beautifully changed from that in the last line. Sleep is personified.
460. It is probable that the " deep sleep" was supernatural, or a kind of
trance, in which he had been conscious, although without pain, but rather,
perhaps, with rapture, of the whole process of Eve's formation. This is tke
idea generally entertained by the Jewish writers, and by the old Christian
fathers, and it has been adopted, and beautifully brought out here by Millo*.
K.
462. Jbttract : That is, the spirit was so separated from the body that it
did not see things as before with its material organs of vision. S.
The word in Gen. ii. 21, that is translated " deep sleep" in our version, the
Greek interpreters render by the word trance or ecttacy.
465. The Scripture says only "one of his ribs," but Milton follows those
interpreters who suppose this rib was taken from the left side, as being
nearer to the heart. N.
Some Jewish expositors teach us that it was taken from the right side,
and say that there was an odd, or thirteenth rib on that side a mere fancifnl
conjecture.
Many have rejected the Scriptural account of woman's origin, and hare
considered it an allegory. But (as Dr. Kitto has observed) there is no
greater difficulty in taking literally the creation of woman than the creation
of man. All modes being equally easy to God, he chose that which might
impress upon man n moral lesson, even by the physical fact of his origin :
a lesson important to repress pride, even in unfallen man, b-it which became
BOOK VIII. 351
From thence a rib, with cordial spirits warm,
And life-blood streaming fresh ; wide was the wound ;
But suddenly with flesh fill'd up, and heal'd,
The rib he form'd and fashion'd with his hands :
Under his forming hands a creature grew, 470
Manlike, but different sex ; so lovely fair,
That what seem'd fair in all the world, seein'd now
Mean, or in her summ'd up, in her contain'd,
And in her looks ; which from that time infused
Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before ; 475
And into all things from her air inspired
The spirit of love and amorous delight.
She disappear'd, and left me dark. I waked
terribly emphatic when, after the fall, man heard the awful words, u Dust
thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return."
Whether there was some peculiar organization in Adam (such as an ad-
ditional rib) , in order to provide for the formation of woman, or that God
substituted another rib for the one he had taken, it is not very important for
us to know ; but it is important to understand that he. to whom all modes
are the same, chose one which should serve vividly to impress upon the
mind of man and woman, their peculiarly intimate relation to each other.
In other creatures there was no natural connection between the pairs in the
very act of creation. The sexes were, in them, created independently of
each other. But the fact of woman's derivation from man a part of him-
solf, separated to be in another form re-united to him was calculated to in-
dicate and to originate an especial tenderness in their nuptial state, and its
indissoluble character, Eph. v. 28-31. Surely to teach such lessons as these,
was a sufficient reason for the mode of woman's creation. She was to be
created in some mode or other, and however created, in that would have
been the miracle. K.
467. Cordial spirits warm : Spirits warm with the energy of the heart.
471-73. Mean: The position of the words, with the pause upon this par
ticular word, gives great force to the sentiment expressed.
478. Left me dark : She that was my light vanished, and left me dark and
comfortless. In almost all languages light is a metaphor for Joy and comfort,
and darkness for the contrary. The poet uses this metaphor in a sonnet on
his deceased wife. After describing her as having appeared to him, he says,
" She fled, and day brought back my night."
N.
Adam's distress upon losing sight of this beautiful phantom, with his ex
clamations of joy and gratitude at the discovery of a real creature who re-
352 PARADISE LOST.
To find her, or for ever to deplore
Her loss, and other pleasures all abjure : 480
When, out of hope, behold her, not far off,
Such as I saw her in my dream, adorn'd
With what all Earth or Heaven could bestow
To make her amiable ! On she came,
Led by her Heav'nly Maker, though unseen 485
And guided by his voice ; nor uninfyrm'd
Of nuptial sanctity and marriage rites.
Grace was in all her steps ! Heav'n in her eye !
In ev'ry gesture dignity and love !
I overjoy'd, could not forbear aloud : 490
This turn hath made amends ! Thou hast fulfill'd
Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign,
Giver of all things fair, but fairest this
Of all thy gifts, nor enviest ! I now see
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, myself 495
Before me ! Woman is her name ; of Man
Extracted. For this cause he shall forego
Father and mother, and to his wife adhere :
setnbled the apparition which had been presented to him in his dream ; the
approaches he makes to her, and his manner of courtship, are all laid toge-
ther in a most exquisite propriety of sentiments.
Though this part of the poem is worked up with great warmth and
spirit, the love which is described in it is every way suitable to a state of
innocence. If the reader compares the description which Adam gives of his
leading Eve to the nuptial bower, with that which Dryden makes on the
same occasion, in a scene of his Fall of Man, he will be sensible of the great
care which Milton took to avoid all thoughts on so delicate a subject, that
might be offensive to religion or good manners. The sentiments are chaste,
but not cold; and convey to the mind ideas of the most transporting passion
and of the greatest purity. A.
490. Aloud: Aloud (to say) .
494. Nor enviest : Nor thinkest this gift too good for me. P.
495. Bone of my bone, tft. : My own similitude myself. That Adam,
waking from his deep sleep, should, in words so express and prophetic, own
and claim his companion, gave ground to the opinion, that he was not only
asleep but entranced, too ; by which he saw all that was done to him, and
understood the mystery of it, God informing his understanding in his ecstasy.
-H.
BOOK viii. 353
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul.
She heard me thus ; and tho' divinely brought, 500
Yet innocence and virgin modesty,
Her virtue, and the conscience of her worth,
That would be woo'd, and not unsought be won,
Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retired,
The more desirable ; or to say all, 505
Nature herself, though pure of sinful thought,
Wrought in her so, that seeing me, she turn'd.
I follow'd her : she what was honour knew,
And with obsequious majesty approved
My pleaded reason. To the nuptial bower 510
I led her, blushing like the morn. All Heav'n,
And happy constellations on that hour
Shed their selectest influence ! The earth
499. This line is an amplification of the statement in Genesis, " And they
shall be one flesh." It is an instance also of a monosyllabic line, and that
one of great beauty. In Book II., 621-950, are lines of similar construction
and force.
502. Conscience: Consciousness, knowledge. " Conscientia bene actae vitas
jucundissima est." Cic. de Senect.
504. Not obvious : Not coming to meet me ; not throwing herself in my way.
She was " divinely brought ;" line 500.
507. Wrought : This verb stands related, not only to nature but to inno-
cence, vigour, modesty, virtue, and conscience of worth, as its nominatives.
511-20. Ml Heaven, Sfc.: In poetry, personifications are extremely fre-
quent, and are, indeed, the very life and soul of it. We expect to find every-
thing animated in the descriptions of a poet who has a lively fancy. One
of the greatest pleasures we receive from poetry, is, to find ourselves always
in the midst of our fellows, and to see everything thinking, feeling, and act-
ing as we ourselves do. This is, perhaps, the principal charm of this sort
of figured style, that it introduces us into society with all nature, and inter-
ests us even in inanimate objects, by forming a connection between them
and us, through that sensibility which it ascribes to them. This is exempli-
fied remarkably in the passage here quoted. BLAIR.
513-18. Homer's Iliad, xiv. 347-351. In all his copies, however, of the
beautiful passages of other authors, he studiously varies and disguises tLem,
the better to give himself the air of an original, and to make by his addi-
tions and improvements, what he borrowed the more fairly his own; the
only regular way of acquiring a projwrty in thoughts taken from other
w
354 PARADISE L08T.
Gave sign of gratulation, and each hill !
Joyous the birds ; fresh gales and gentle airs 515
Whisper'd it to the woods, and from their wings
Flung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub,
Disporting, till the amorous bird of night
Sung spousal, and bid haste the ev'ning star
On his hill-top, to light the bridal lamp. 520
Thus have I told thce all my state, and brought
My story to the sum of earthly bliss
Which I enjoy ; and must confess to find
In all things else delight indeed, but such
As used or not, works in the mind no change, 525
Nor vehement desire ; these delicacies
I mean of taste, sight, smell, herbs, fruits, and flow'rs,
Walks, and the melody of birds ; but here
Far otherwise, transported I behold,
Transported touch. Here passion first I felt, 530
writers, if we may believe Horace, whose laws in poetry are of undoubted
authority. De Art. Poet. 131. Milton, indeed, in what he borrows from
Scripture, observes the contrary rule, and generally adheres minutely, or
rather religiously, to the very words, as much as possible, of the original.
N.
519-20. The evening ttar: (Venus) is said to light the bridal lamp, as it
was the signal among the ancients to light their lamps and torches in order
to conduct the bride home to the bridegroom. " Vesper adest, juvenes con-
surgite," &c., says Catullus.
OH hit hill-top, says our author, writing in the language as well as in the
spiiit of the ancients ; for when this star appeared eastward in the morning,
it was said to rise on Mount Ida. Virg. JEn. ii. 801 :
Jamque jugil ummae surgebat Lucifer Id,
Duccbatque diem."
When it appeared westward in the evening, it was said to be seen on
Mount (Etna, Virg. Eccl. viii. 30. Milton therefore writes in classical lan-
guage. He does not mention any mountain by name. This bridal cere-
mony of the ancients is alluded to more plainly in Book XI. 588-591. N.
519. Spoutal : Nuptials.
521-59. Thut have I told, tfc. : What a noble mixture of rapture and inno-
cence has the author joined together in the reflection which Adam makes of
the pleasures of love compared with those of sense ! A.
BOOK viu. 355
Commotion strange, in all enjoyments else
Superior and unmoved ; here only weak
Against the charm of beauty's pow'rful glance.
Or nature fail'd in me, and left some part
Not proof enough such object to sustain ; 635
Or from my side subducting, took perhaps
More than enough : at least on her bestow'd
Too much of ornament ; in outward show
Elaborate ; of inward, less exact.
For well I understand, in the prime end 540
Of nature, her th' inferior in the mind
And inward faculties, which most excel,
In outward also her resembling less
His image who made both, and less expressing
The character of that dominion giv'n 545
O'er other creatures ; yet, when I approach
Her loveliness, so absolute she seems,
And in herself, complete ; so well to know
Her own, that what she wills to do or say,
Seems wisest, virtuousest, discreetest, best ! 550
All higher knowledge in her presence falls
Degraded ! Wisdom in discourse with her
Loses, discount'nanced, and like folly shews.
537. The same sentiment is more fully expressed by Milton in his Samson
Agonistes :
" Is it for that such outward ornament
Was lavished on their sex. that inward gifts
Were left for haste unfinished, judgment scant,
Capacity not rais'd to apprehend
Or value what is best
In choice, but oftest to affect the wrong ?"
541-45. We have here an expression of the poet's opinion upon the ques-
tion of the comparative intellectual strength of the sexes, much discussed in
our own day ; also upon the retired position which she was designed to oc-
cupy with reference to the exercise of authority or government.
547. Msolute : Finished, complete.
550. Virtuoutett, discreetett : These terms are more expressive than the
ordinary forms of the superlative degree
553. Ditconnfnanced: Abashed.
356 PARADISE LOST.
Authority and reason on her wait,
As one intended first, not after made 555
Occasionally ; and to consummate all,
Greatness of Mind and Nobleness their seat
Build in her, loveliest, and create an MM
About her, as a guard angelic placed !
To whom the Angel, with contracted brow : 560
Accuse not Nature ; she hath done her part :
Do thou but thine, and be not diffident
Of wisdom ; she deserts thee not, if thou
Dismiss not her, when most thou need'st her nigh,
By attributing overmuch to things 565
Less excellent, as thou thyself perceiv'st.
For what admir'st thou ? what transports thee so ?
An outside ? Fair no doubt, and worthy well
Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love ;
Not thy subjection. Weigh with her thyself, 570
Then value. Oft-times nothing profits more
Than self-esteem, grounded on just and right
Well managed. Of that skill the more thou know'st,
The more she will acknowledge thee her head,
And to realities yield all her shows ; 575
Made so adorn for thy delight the more,
So awful, that with honour thou niay'st love
Thy mate, who sees when thou art seen least wise.
555-56. Intended to be first, and not made for the sake of another, or to
suit an emergency.
560. To wAom, fyc. : The sentiments of love in our first parent, expressed
above, gave the angel such an insight into human nature, that he seems ap-
prehensive of the evils which might befal the species in general, as well as
Adam in particular, from the excess of his passion. He therefore fortifies
him against it by timely admonitions, which very artfully prepare the mind
of the reader for the occurrences of the next Book, where the weakness ot
which Adam here gives such distant discoveries, brings about that fatal event
which is the subject of the poem. A.
565. Attributing : Accent the third syllable.
569. Eph. v. 28, 29 : 1 Pet iii. 7.
573. That tkill : Skill in self-esteem, grounded, Sec.
076. Morn: Adorned. 577. Jirful : Awe-inspiring.
BOOK via. 357
But if the sense of touch, whereby mankind
Is propagated, seem such dear delight 580
Beyond all other, think the same vouchsafed
To cattle and each beast ; which would not be
To them made common and divulged, if aught
Therein cnjoy'd were worthy to subdue
The soul of man, or passion in him move. 585
What higher in her society thou find'st
Attractive, human, rational, love still.
In loving thou dost well, in passion not,
Wherein true love consists not. Love refines
The thoughts, and heart enlarges ; hath his seat 590
In reason, and is judicious ; is the scale
By which to heav'nly love thou may'st ascend,
Not sunk in carnal pleasure : for which cause
Among the beasts no mate for thee was found.
To whom thus, half abash 'd, Adam reply'd : 595
Neither her outside, form'd so fair, nor aught
In procreation, common to all kinds,
(Though higher of the genial bed by far,
. And with mysterious reverence I deem)
So much delights me as those graceful acts, 600
Those thousand decencies, that daily flow
From all her words and actions, mix'd with love
And sweet compliance ; which declare unfeign'd
Union of mind, or in us both one soul :
Harmony to behold in wedded pair } 605
More grateful than harmonious sound to th' ear.
5Tet these subject not : I to thee disclose
What inward thence I feel, not therefore foil'd,
-79. Occasioned by what Adam had said (529-30) .
i*95-605. Half -abashed, Sfc. : Adam's discourse, which here follows the
gentle rebuke which he had received from the angel, shows that his love,
however violent it might appear, was still founded in reason, and consequently
not improper for Paradise. A.
607-10. Variously repretenting : The most difficult passage in the poem.
It may be paraphrased thus : Yet these subject not (these bring me not into
subjection, 570, 584, 585) . I indeed disclose to thee the strong emotions which
these accomplishments and graceful action* of Eva have excited (530-35) ;
358 PARADISE LOST.
Who meet with various objects, from the sense
Variously representing ; yet, still free, 610
Approve the best, and follow what I approve.
To love thou blam'st me not ; for love thou say'st
Leads up to Heav'n ; is both the way and guide.
Bear with me then, if lawful what I ask :
Love not the heav'nly Spirits ? and how their love 615
Express they ? by looks only ? or do they mix
Irradiancc, virtual or immediate touch -
To whom the Angel, with a smile that glow'd
Celestial rosy red (love's proper hue),
Answer'd : Let it suffice thee that thou know'st 620
Us happy ; and without love no happiness.
Whatever pure thou in the body enjoy'st
(And pure thou wert created) we enjoy
In eminence*, and obstacle find none
Of membrane, joint, or limb, exclusive bars. 625
Easier than air with air, if Spirits embrace,
Total they mix, union of pure with pure
Desiring ; not restrain 'd conveyance need,
As flesh to mix with flesh, or soul with soul.
But I can now no more ; the parting sun 630
Beyond the earth's green cape and verdant isles
Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.
but I am not on this account foiled (I am not embarrassed, confused in my
judgment) when I meet with variant object* from, or by, the tense (sensibility,
sensation) variously repretenting "(or when I meet with the various objects
represented to me in different ways, made known to me in different ways,
through the sense of sight, touch, smell, &c.) : Yet, stilt free, ffc. : Notwith-
standing the influence of strong feeling, above acknowledged, I am still free
from all improper bias; my judgment is not foiled, but performs its appro-
priate office of approving the best objects, and I follow what I approve.
617. Jrrajlio.nct: Their beams of light and splendour. Virtual touch : Thai
which is not real or immediate, but has the same effect, is equivalent to it.
631-32. The south-western extremity of Spain, or Cape de Verd, the most
western in Afiica, is the Cape referred to. The verdant, are the Canary Isles,
or perhaps the Cape Verd Islands, further south. Hesperian means western,
derived from a Greek word signifying evening. On this account Italy was
called Hesperia by the Greeks, as lying west of them ; and Spain was called
Hesperia by the Romano, for the tame reason.
BOOK vni. 359
Be strong, live happy, and love ; but, first of all,
Him whom to love is to obey, and keep
His great command : take heed lest passion sway 635
Thy judgment to do aught which else free will
Would not admit ; thine and of all thy sons
The weal or woe in thee is placed ; beware.
I in thy persevering shall rejoice,
And all the Blest. Stand fast ; to stand or fall 640
Free in thine own arbitrement it lies.
Perfect within, no outward aid require ;
And all temptation to transgress repel.
So saying, he arose ; whom Adam thus
Follow'd with benediction : Since to part, 645
Go heav'nly Guest, ethereal Messenger,
Sent from whose sov'reign goodness I adore.
Gentle to me and affable hath been
Thy condescension, and shall be honour'd ever
With grateful memory ; thou to mankind 650
Be good and friendly still, and oft return.
So parted they ; the Angel up to Heav'n
From the thick shade, and Adam to his bow'r.
633-43. Raphael closes the interview with some appropriate and solemn
counsels and commands.
637. Admit : Used in the Latin sense, and equivalent to commit.
645. Since to part, fyc. : Adam's speech at parting with the angel has in it
a deference and gratitude agreeable to an inferior nature, and at the same time
a certain dignity and greatness suitable to the father of mankind in his state
of innocence. A.
Benediction has the sense of thanks, as Milton has explained the word in
Parad. Reg. iii. 127 :
" Glory and benediction, that is, thanks."
Sine* to part, is an abbreviation for, " since it is necessary to part."
647. Whose: (Him) whose.
652. Bower : To meet an objection of Dr. Bentley, Newton observes that
in this place is meant Adam's inmost bower, as it is called, IV. 738. There
was a shady walk that led to Adam's bower. When the angel arose (644) ,
Adam followed him into this shady walk ; and it was from this thick shade
that they parted, and the angel went up to Heaven, and Adam to his bower.
BOOK IX.
THE ARGUMENT.
SATAN, having compassed the earth with meditated guile, returns as a mist
by night into Paradise, enters into the Serpent sleeping. Adam and Eve in
the morning go forth to their labours, which Eve proposes to divide in several
places, each labouring apart ; Adam consents not, alleging the danger, lest
that enemy, of whom they were forewarned, should attempt her, found alone ;
Eve, loth to be thought not circumspect or firm enough, urges her going
apart, the rather desirous to make trial of her strength ; Adam at last yields ;
the Serpent finds her alone ; his subtle approach, first gazing, then speaking,
with much flattery extolling Eve above all other creatures. Eve, wondering
to hear the Serpent speak, asks how he attained to human speech and such
understanding not till now ; the Serpent answers, that by tasting of a certain
tree in the garden he attained both to speech and reason, till then void of
both ; Eve requires him to bring her to that tree, and finds it to be the tree
of knowledge, forbidden ; the Serpent, now grown bolder, with many wiles
and arguments, induces her at length to eat ; she, pleased with the taste, de-
liberates a while whether to impart thereof to Adam or not ; at last brings
him of the fruit, relates what persuaded her to eat thereof; Adam, at first
amazed, but perceiving her lost, resolves, through vehemence of love, to per-
ish with her, and, extenuating the trespass, eats also of the fruit : the effects
thereof in them both; they seek to cover their nakedness; then fall to va-
riance and accusation of one another.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THE Ninth Book is raised upon that brief account in Scripture, wherein we
are told that the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field, that
he tempted the woman to eat the forbidden fruit, that she was overcome by
this temptation, and that Adam followed her example. From these few par-
ticulars Milton has formed one of the most entertaining narratives that in-
vention ever produced. He has disposed of these several circumstances among
so many beautiful and natural fictions of his own, that his whole story looks
only like a comment upon sacred writ, or rather seems to be a full and com-
plete relation of what the other is only an epitome. The disposition and
continuance of the story I regard as the principal beauty of the Ninth Book,
which has more story in it and is fuller of incidents, than any other in the
whole poem. A.
The Ninth Book is that on which the whole fate and fall of man turns ;
and so far is the most important. It is called the most tender. If the sub-
mission to sensual human passions be tenderness, it is so ; taking the resist-
ance to those passions to be loftiness. The serpent himself appears to have
been enamoured of Eve's beauty and loveliness of mien, and for a moment to
have repented of the evil he was plotting to bring upon her.
All that we know from the Mosaic history is, that the serpent tempted
Eve, and Eve tempted Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit ; but we do not
know by what wiles this sin was brought about. We may suppose that by
the serpent, the operation of the evil passions of contradiction, disobedience
rebellion, and scepticism is meant ; just as we may suppose that Eve persisted
in roaming alone in spite of Adam's dissuasions, merely because her pride
was thwarted by her husband's fear that " some harm should befal her" in
his absence. E. B.
The sentiments advanced by Sir E. Brydges in the last paragraph are no't
in accordance with Scriptural truth or sound philosophy, as will be made
evident from the following statements and reasonings of Dr. Kitto :
In the sad history of the fall, there is scarcely any one incident which more
exercises our thoughts than the nature of the creature by whose baneful
suggestions that ruin was brought to pass. The sacred record, in the third
362 PARADISE LOST.
chapter of Genesis, says plainly enough that it was " a serpent," described
as being " more subtile than any beast of the field ;" and the final curse also
indicates the serpentine condition u Upon thy belly shall thou go, and dust
shall thou eat all the days of ihy life."
Hence, some have regarded ihe tempter as a serpent, and nothing more.
This opinion has many more advocates than the reader might suppose ; 01
rather, it hat had them, for there are few who now entertain this opinion. To
the que&tion, llow could a mere serpent tempt Eve, it is answered, that it lay
in the repeated use by the serpent of the forbidden fruit in her presence,
withoul any of ihe apparent effects upon him which she had been taught to
dread. The influence of this example, and the thoughts that hence arose in
her mind, are then represented, agreeably to the genius of oriental and figu-
rative language, in the form of a conversation. The great objection to this
is, that the alleged figurative style here, is adverse to the literal tone and
character of the whole narrative ; and, what is far more conclusive, that
another agent is clearly pointed out in the New Testament, and may, by the
light thus afforded, be discovered even in the original account.
That agent is the Devil, or Satan, and the general opinion is, that he em-
ployed or actuated the serpent as his instrument. Thus the latter appears to
reason and to speak. The women converses with him, and she is led, by the
artful representations which the Devil enables him to make, to transgress the
divine law. No mere animal could have taken the part this serpent did.
But it may be doubted whether Eve knew this. It is possible that the in-
tuitive perception of the qualities of animals which Adam possessed, was not
shared by Eve, but was to be imparted to her by him ; and it is highly pro-
bable that he had not yet communicated to her all the knowledge of this kind
which had been acquired by him before she had existence. It is far from
improbable that the knowledge of this fact was among the considerations
which induced Satan to apply himself through the serpent to the woman ra-
ther than to the man. She, being continually making new discoveries in the
animal creation, would be little surprised in at length finding one creature
that could speak, and even reason. Or, supposing she did know thai animals
could not do either, it has seemed to us possible that the serpent by eating
the fruit in her sight, may have led her to conclude that his superior gifts
were owing to his having partaken of this sovereign food. This supposition
is quite in harmony with ihe general drift of ihe fatal argument. The curse
pronounced upon the deceiver is plainly addressed to an intelligent agent de-
signedly guilty of an enormous crime, and would have been unmeaning and
unworthy of ihe Divine characler, if addressed to a mere animal, which, in
following the instincts of its nature, had unconsciously raised seductive
thoughls in the mind of the woman.
That, however, the phraseology of the curse is in its outer sense applied to
the condition of ihe serpent, while in its inner meaning terribly significant to
the intelligenl agent, seems lo us very clearly lo show that the serpent was
really, and not figuratively, employed in this awful transaction. The mon
BOOK ix. 363
closely the language of the curse is examined, the more real its purport, as
addressed to the intelligent agent of the temptation, under forms of speech
adapted to the serpentine condition, will be apparent. The closing portion
of it " I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed : it (he) shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his
heel," could have no significance with reference merely to the serpent ; but
to the real tempter it was of awful importance. They were words to shake
Hell, and to fill the arch fiend with consternation. It is not at all likely that
the fallen pair understood these words nearly so well as he did ; yet even to
them it must have appeared that it promised some great and crowning
triumph to "the seed of the woman," and perhaps a recovery from the fall,
after the enemy had seemed for a time to triumph over him, and to *' bruise
his heel." But we know its meaning better, probably, than either the first
pair or even Satan did then. We can see that it was the first gospel promise,
foretelling the sufferings of Christ and his final triumph over the Evil One
his victory in our behalf, by suffering.
BOOK IX.
No more of talk where God or Angel guest
With Man, as with his friend, familiar used
To sit indulgent, and with him partake
Rural repast, permitting him the while
Venial discourse, unblamcd : I now must change 6
Those notes to tragic ; foul distrust, and breach
Disloyal on the part of Man, revolt,
And disobedience : on the part of Hcay'n
Now alienated, distance and distaste,
Anger and just rebuke, and judgment given, 10
That brought into this world a world of woe,
J . No more of talk, Sp. : The poet says that he must now treat no more
of familiar discourse with either God or angel ; for Adam had held discourse
with God, as we read in the preceding Book, and the whole foregoing
episode is a conversation with the angel, and as this takes up so large a part
of the poem, it is particularly described and insisted upon here. The Lord
God and the angel Michael, both indeed afterwards discourse with Adam in
the following Books, but those discourses are not familiar conversation as
with a friend : they are of a different strain, the one coming to judge, and
the other to expel him from Paradise. N.
5. Venial ditcourte : Discourse upon familiar topics, or of a familiar cha-
racter. I mutt now change, fa. : As the*author is now changing his subject,
he proposes, likewise, to change his style agreeably to it. What follows is
more of tragic strain, than of the epic, which may serve as an answer to
those critics who censure the latter Books of the Paradise Lost as falling
below the former. N.
11. World a world: An instance of the pun a form of expression gene-
rally condemned by the critics when introduced into a dignified poem ; jrt
BOOK ix. 365
Sin and her shadow Death, and Misery,
Death's harbinger. Sad task ! yet argument
Not less but more heroic than the wrath
Of stern Achilles on his foe pursued 15
Thrice fugitive about Troy wall ; or rage
Of Turnus for Lavinia disespoused,
Or Neptune's ire, or Juno's, that so long
Perplex'd the Greek and Cytherea's son :
If answerable style I can obtain 20
Of my celestial patroness, who deigns
Her nightly visitation unimplored,
And dictates to me slumb'ring, or inspires
Easy my unpremeditated verse :
Since first this subject for heroic song 25
Pleased me long choosing, and beginning late ;
it must be admitted that Milton's puns are often very expressive, as in this
instance.
12. Shadow Death : A beautiful figure to illustrate the sad connection of
death with sin. As in the presence of light an opaque body casts a dark
shadow, so in the light of the Divine government sin casts the dismal
shadow of death. Misery here denotes any of those sufferings and diseases
which undermine health and life.
13. Sad task, yet argument : The Paradise Lost, even in this latter part of
it, concerning God's anger and Adam's distress, is a more heroic subject than
the wrath of Achilles on hit foe, Hector, whom he pursued three times round
the walls of Troy, according to Homer ; or than the rage of Turnus for
Lavinia, disespoused (17) , having been first betrothed to him, and after-
wards promised to ^Eneas, according to Virgil ; or Neptune's ire that so
long perplexed the Greek, Ulysses, as we read in the Odyssey ; or Juno's ire
(18), that for so many years perplexed Cytherea's son, JEnezs, as we read at
large in the JEneid. The anger that he is about to sing is an argument
(subject) more heroic not only than the anger of men, of Achilles and
Turnus, but than that even of the gods, of Neptune and Juno. The anger
of the true God is a more noble subject than that of false gods. In this re-
spect he has the advantage of Homer and Virgil; his argument is mort
heroic, as he says, if he can but make his style answerable. N.
22. Celestial patroness : Called, in other parts of the poem, heavenly Mute,
Urania, in conformity to classical usage.
21. Nightly visitation: He composed verses at night.
26. Long choosing, ffc. : Our author intended pretty early to write an epic
poem, and proposed the story of King Arthur for the subject of it ; but that
366 PARADISE LOST
Not sedulous by nature to indite
Wars, hitherto the only argument
Heroic deem'd, chief maat'ry to dissect
With long and tedious havoc fabled knights 30
In battles feign 'd ; the better fortitude
Of patience and heroic martyrdom
Unsung ; or to describe races and games,
Or tilting furniture, emblazon'd shields,
Impresses quaint, caparisons and steeds ; 35
Bases and tinsel trappings, gorgeous knights
At joust and tournament ; then marshal 'd feast
Served up in hall with sewers and seneschals ;
The skill of artifice or office mean,
Not that which justly gives heroic name 40
To person or to poem. Me of these
Nor skill'd nor studious, higher argument
Remains, sufficient of itself to raise
was laid aside, probably for the reason here intimated. The Paradise Lost he
designed first as a tragedy. It was not till long after that he began to form
it into an epic poem ; and indeed for several years he was so hotly engaged
in the controversies of the times, that he was not at leisure to think of a
work of this nature, and did not begin to fashion it in its present form, till
after the Salmasian controversy, which ended in 1655, and probably did not
set about the work in earnest till after the Restoration, so that he was long
choosing and beginning late. N.
28. Heroic deemed : By the moderns as well as by the ancients, wars being
the principal subject of all the poems from Homer down to this time ; but
Milton's subject was different, yet he reckons it himself a heroic poem. N.
29. Chief mattery, (ft. : Those were wrong also who thought the (bisecting
of knightt was a principal part of the skill of a poet, describing wounds as a
surgeon. Doubtless he glanced here at Homer's perpetual affectation of this
sort of knowledge, which certainly debases his poetry. R.
33. Unsung: (Being) unsung.
35. Impresses : Witty devices.
36. Bases : The mantle which hung down from the middle to about the
knees, or lower, worn by knights on horseback. T.
38. Seteers : Servants who arrange the dishes, from an old French word,
meaning to set down. Seneschals : Stewards.
41. Of: Respecting.
BOOK ix. 367
That name, unless an age too late, or cold
Climate, or years, damp my intended wing 45
Depress'd, and much they may, if all be mine,
Not hers who brings it nightly to my ear.
The sun was sunk, and after him the star
Of Hesperus, whose office is to bring
Twilight upon the earth, short arbiter 50
'Twixt day and night, and now from end to end
Night's hemisphere had veil'd th' horizon round,
When Satan, who late fled before the threats
Of Gabriel out of Eden, now improved
In meditated fraud and malice, bent 55
On Man's destruction, maugre what might hap
Of heavier on himself, fearless return'd
By night he fled, and at midnight return'd
From compassing the earth, cautious of day,
Since Uriel, regent of the sun, descry'd 00
His entrance, and forewarn'd the Cherubim
That kept their watch : thence full of anguish driven,
The space of sev'n continued nights he rode
45. Or years, damp, fyc. : He was near sixty when this poem was pub-
lished ; and it is surprising that at that time of life, and after such trouble-
some days as he had passed through, he should have so much poetical fire
remaining. N. Intended : Stretched out.
47. Hers: See line 21.
49. Hesperus, a brother of Atlas, according to the fabulous account, was a
great astronomer, who, ascending Mount Atlas to take celestial observations,
was blown away by a tempest, and seen no more. This gave rise to the
story that he was transformed into the evening star.
Another story is, that Hesperus was the son of Aurora, and vied in beauty
with Venus. On this account the beautiful star of evening received his
name, and the name of Venus was also applied to the same planet.
50. Short arbiter, ffc. : An expression probably borrowed from the begin-
ning of Sir Philip Sidney's Arcadia, where, speaking of the sun about the
time of the equinox, he calls him an indifferent arbiter between the night and
the day. N.
56. Maugre: In spite of.
59. Cautious: Afraid.
63. The space, $c. : It was about noon when Satan came to the earth, and
368 PARADISE LOST.
With darkness ; thrice the equinoctial line
He circled ; four times cross'd the car of night G6
From pole to pole, traversing each colure ;
On th' eighth return'd, and on the coast averse
From entrance or Cherubic watch, by stealth
Found unsuspected way. There was a place,
Now not, tho' sin, not time, first wrought the change, 70
Where Tigris at the foot of Paradise -V
Into a gulf shot under ground, till part
Rose up a fountain by the tree of life :
In with the river sunk, and with it rose
having been discovered by Uriel, he was driven out of Paradise the eimiing
night (Book IV) . From that time he was a whole week in continual dark-
ness for fear of another discovery.
63-83. Rode, e/e. : Satan's traversing the globe, and still keeping within
the shadow of the night, as fearing to be discovered by the angel of the sun
who had before detected him, is one of those beautiful imaginations with
which he introduces this his second series of adventures. Having examined
the nature of every creature, and found out one which was most proper for
his purpose, he again returns to Paradise ; and to avoid discovery, sinks by
night with a river that ran under the garden, and risen up again through a
fountain that issued from it by the tree of life. A.
64. Thrice with the equinoctial he circled: He travelled on with the night
three times round the equator ; he was three days moving round from east
to west as the sun does, but always on the opposite side of the globe in
darkness.
65-66. Four time* crofted the car of night from pole to pole: Did not move
directly on with the night, as before, but crossed over from the northern to
the southern, and from the southern to the northern pole.
66. Traversing each colure : As the equinoctial line, or equator, is a great
circle encompassing the earth from east to west, and from west to east
again, so the colure* are two great circles intersecting each other at right
angles in the poles of the world, and encompassing the earth from north to
south and from south to north again ; and. therefore, as Satan was moving
from pole to pole, at the same time the car of night was moving from east
to west. If, therefore, he would keep still in the shade of night, as he de-
sired, he could not move in a straight line, but must move obliquely, and
thereby cross the two colures. N.
67-S. Avertefrom entrance : Turned away from, or in a different position
from that coast, or portion of the earth, by which he had previously entered.
It was a part, also, over which the Cherubim kept no watch.
BOOK ix. 369
Satan involved iu rising mist, then sought 76
Where to lie hid. Sea he had search'd and land
From Eden over Pontus, and the pool
Maeotis, up beyond the river Ob ;
Downward as far antarctic ; and in length
West from Orontes to the ocean barr'd 80
At Darien, thence to the land where flows
Ganges and Indus : thus the orb he roam'd
With narrow search, and with inspection deep
Consider'd every creature ; which of all
Most opportune might serve his wiles, and found 86
The serpent subtlest beast of all the field.
Him, after long debate, irresolute
Of thoughts revolved, his final sentence chose ;
Fit vessel, fittest imp of fraud, in whom
77. As we had before an astronomical, so here we have a geographical
account of Satan's peregrinations. N.
Pontus : The Black Sea. Pool Mtsotis. or sea of Asof, a marshy lake
northeast of the Black Sea and connected with it by the Cimmerian Bos-
phorus. O6, or Oby : The largest river in Siberia, in Asiatic Russia.
79. Downward as far antarctic : As far southward. The northern hemis-
phere being elevated on our globes, the north is called up and the south
doiL-mrard. Antarctic south, the opposite of arctic north (from the Greek
word for bear) , the most conspicuous constellation near the north pole ; but
no particular place is mentioned near the south pole, these being all sea, or
land unknown. And in length : As north is up, and south is down, so in
length is east or west. N.
80. Orontet : A river of Syria, running westward of Eden into the Medi-
terranean.
81 . Darien : The isthmus of that name, connecting North and South Amei ica,
and barring the ocean hindering it from rushing between them. Job
xxxviii. 10. " And set bars to the sea"
86. Subtlest beast: Gen. iii. 1. The subtlety of the serpent is commended
likewise by Aristotle and other naturalists, and, therefore, he was the fitter
instrument for Satan, because (ns Milton says, agreeably to the doctrine of
the best divines) any sleights in him might be thought to proceed from his
native wit and subtlety, but, observed in other creatures, might the more
easily beget a suspicion of a diabolical power acting within them beyond
their natural sense. N.
89. Fittest imp of fraud : Fittest itock 1o graft his diabolical fraud upon
imp is from a Saxon word that signifies, to put into, to graft upon. H.
370 PARADISE LOST.
To enter and his dark suggestions bide 90
Front sharpest eight : for, in the wily snake,
Whatever sleights, none would suspicious mark,
As from his wit and native subtlety
Proceeding, which, in other beasta observed
Doubt might beget of diabolic power 96
Active within beyond the sense of brute.
Thus he resolved ; but first from inward grief
His bursting passion into plaints thus pour'd :
Earth, how like to Heav'n, if not preferr'd
More justly ! seat worthier of Gods ! as built 100
With second thoughts, reforming what was old !
For what God after better worse would build !
Terrestrial Heav'n, danced round by other Heav'ns
That shine, yet bear their bright officious lamps,
Light above light, for thee alone, as seems, 105
In thee concentring all their precious beams
Of sacred influence ! As God in Heav'n
Is centre, yet extends to all, so thou
Centring receiv'st from all those orbs ; in thee,
Not in themselves, all their known virtue appears 110
Productive in herb, plant, and nobler birth
Of creatures animate with gradual life
Of growth, sense, reason, all sum in M up in Man.
99. Earth, (ft. : The poet, who speaks as little as possible in his own
person, and, after the example of Homer, fills every part of his work with
manners and characters, here introduces a soliloquy of this infernal agent,
who was thus restless in the destruction of man. A.
100. Seat wortkier of god* : As it is common with people to undervalue
jrhat they have forfeited and lost by their folly and wickedness, and to over
/alue any good that they hope to attain; so Satan is here made to que>tioi
whether earth be not preferable to heaven ; but this is spoken of earth in its
riginal beauty before the fall. N.
102. After better worie, fa. : A sophistical argument worthy of Satan, and
or the same reason man would be better than angels ; but Satan was. wili-
ng to insinuate imperfection in God, as if he had mended hi* hand by crea-
ion. and as if all the works of God wx-re not perfect in their kinds and in
iheir degrees, and for the ends for which they were intended. N.
104. Officiou* : Serviceable.
BOOK IX. 371
With what delight could I have walk'd thee round,
If I could joy in aught ! sweet interchange 115
Of hill and valley, rivers, woods and plains,
Now land, now sea, and shores with forests crown'd,
Rocks, dens, and caves ! but I in none of these
Find place or refuge ; and the more I see
Pleasures about me, so much more I feel 120
Torment within me, as from the hateful siege
Of contraries : all good to me becomes
Bane, and in Heav'n much worse would be my state.
But neither here seek I, no, nor in Heav'n
To dwell, unless by mast'ring Heav'n's Supreme ; L25
Nor hope to be myself less miserable
By what I seek, but others to make such
As I, though thereby worse to me redound :
For only in destroying I find ease
To my relentless thoughts ; and, him destroy'd, 130
Or won to what may work his utter loss,
For whom all this was made, all this will soon
Follow, as to him linked in weal or woe ;
In woe then, that destruction wide may range.
To me shall be the glory sole among 135
Th' infernal Pow'rs, in one day to have marr'd
What he, Almighty styled, six nights and days
Continued making, and who knows how long
Before had been contriving ? though perhaps
Not longer than since I in one night freed 140
From servitude inglorious well nigh half
1 13. Of growth, sense, reason, tfc. : The three kinds of life rising, as it
were, by steps : the vegetable, animal and rational ; of all which man partakes
and he only. He grows, as plants, minerals, and all things inanimate ; he
lives, as all other animated creatures ; but is. over and above, endued with
reason. R.
119. It means, find place (to dwell in) or refuge from punishment. Com-
pare 124-25.
121. Siege: Struggle.
130. Him : The objective is here used for the nominative case absolute
o in Book VII. 142.
372 PARADISE L08T.
Th' angelic name, and thinner left the throng
Of his adorers : he to be avenged.
And to repair his numbers thus impaired,
Whether such virtue spent of old now fail'd 146
More Angels to create, if they at least
Are his created ; or, to spite us more,
Determined to advance into our room
A creature form'd of earth, and him endow,
Exalted from so base original, 150
With heav'nly spoils, our spoils. What he decreed
He effected ; Man he made, and for him built
Magnificent this world, and earth his seat,
Him lord pronounced, and, indignity !
Subjected to his service Angel wings, 166
And flaming ministers, to watch and tend
Their earthly charge. Of these the vigilance
I dread, and to elude, thus wrapt in mist
Of midnight vapour, glide obscure, and pry
In ev'ry bush and brake, where hap may find 160
The serpent sleeping, in whose mazy folds
To hide me, and the dark intent I bring.
O foul descent ! that 1, who erst contended
With Gods to sit the high'st, am now constrain'd
Into a beast, and mix'd with bestial slime, 165
This essence to incarnate and imbrute,
That to the height of deity aspired !
But what will not ambition and revenge
Descend to ? Who aspires, must down as low
146. If they at leatt, Sfc. : Satan questions whether the angels were
created by God ; he had before asserted that they were not to the angels
themselves, V. 859-861. N.
1 60. Hap : Chance, or accident.
164-5. The sense is: I am now constrained (forced) into a beast, and,
mixed with bestial slime, I am constrained to incarnate and imbrute this
essence which aspired to the height of Deity.
168. What will not, Sfc. : A practical and important question.
1 69. Must down : More energetic tlian if the verb had been supplied :
BOOK ix. 373
As high he soar'd, obnoxious first or last 170
To basest things. Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.
Let it : I reck not, so it light well aim'd,
Since higher I fall short, on him who next
Provokes my envy, this new fav'rite 175
Of Heav'n, this man of clay, son of despite,
Whom us the more to spite his Maker raised
From dust. Spite then with spite is best repaid.
So saying, through each thicket dank or dry,
Like a black mist low creeping, he held on 180
His midnight search, where soonest he might find
The serpent : him fast sleeping soon he found,
In labyrinth of many a round self-roll'd,
His head the midst, well stored with subtle wiles :
Nor yet in horrid shade or dismal den, 185
Nor nocent yet, but on the grassy herb
Fearless, unfear'd, he slept. In at his mouth
roust sink down. Newton quotes a beautiful instance from Shakspeare, of
the use of such adverbs for verbs :
" Henry tne Fifth ia crowned : up vanity !
Down, royal state !"
173. A truly diabolical sentiment this ! So he can but be any ways re-
venged, he does not value though his revenge recoil upon himself. N.
Let it : Let it recoil.
174. Since higher, fyc. : That is, since I fall short of a higher object (th
Almighty) if it light on him who, &c.
176. There is not, in my opinion, in the whole Book, any speech that is
worked up with greater judgment, or better suited to the character of the
speaker. There is all the horror and malignity of a fiend-like spirit ex-
pressed, and yet this is so artfully tempered with Satan's sudden starts of
recollection upon the meanness and folly of what he was going to undertake,
as plainly show the remains of the archangel, and the ruins of a superior
nature. TUYEK.
179. Through each thicket, tfc. : Satan is here described as gliding through
the garden, under the resemblance of a mist, in order to find out the crea-
ture in which he designed to tempt our first parents. This description has
omething in it very poetical and surprising. A.
188. Noctnt : Injurious: Grassy herb : Virg. JEn. v. 26 : " Graminis her-
bam/'
374 PARADISE LOST.
The devil enter'd ; and his brutal sense,
In heart or head, possessing, soon inspired
With act intelligent! ; but his sleep 190
Disturbed not, waiting close th' approach of morn.
Now when as sacred light began to dawn
In Eden on the humid flow'rs, that breathed
Their morning incense, when all things that breathe,
From th' earth's great altar send up silent praise 195
To the Creator, and his nostrils fill
With grateful smell, forth came the human pair,
And join'd their vocal worship to the choir
Of creatures wanting voice : that done, partake
The season, prime for sweetest sent* and airs ; 200
Then commune how that day they best may ply
Their growing work : for much their work outgrew
The hands' dispatch of two gard'ning so wide :
And Eve first to her husband thus began :
Adam, well may we labour still to dress 205
This garden, still to tend plant, herb, and flow'r,
Our pleasant task enjoin'd ; but till more hands
192-204. Jit tacrtd light began, tfc. : The description of the morning, here
given, is wonderfully suitable to a divine poem, and peculiar to that first
season of nature. The author represents the earth, before it was cursed, as
a great altar breathing out its incense from all parts, and sending up a plea-
sant savour to the nostrils of the Creator, to which he adds a noble idea of
Adam and Eve offering their morning worship, and filling up the universal
concert of praise and adoration. A.
Sacred light : The morning often is called tacrtd by the poets, because that
fime is usually allotted to sacrifice and devotion. N.
197. With grateful trndl : This is in the style of Eastern poetry. So it is
said, Gen. viii. 21, "The Lord smelled a sweet savour."
200. Prime for twettctt ttntt, $c. : Senta, now spelled, less properly, tccntt.
Milton here writes from experience, being an early riser, as we learn from his
Apology for Smectymnui : ' : My morning haunts are where they should be, at
home, not sleeping or concocting the surfeits of an irregular feast, but up and
stirring ; in winter, often ere the sound of any bell awake men to labour, or
to devotion ; in summer, as oft with the bird that first rises, or not much tar-
dier, to read good authors, or cause them to be read, till the attention be
weary, or memory have its full fraught"
BOOK ix. 376
Aid us, the work under our labour grows,
Luxurious by restraint ; what we by day
Lop overgrown, or prune, or prop, or bind, 210
One night or two with wanton growth derides
Tending to wild. Thou therefore now advise,
Or hear what to my mind first thoughts present :
Let us divide our labours ; thou where choice
Leads thee, or where most needs, whether to wind 215
The woodbine round this arbour, or direct
The clasping ivy where to climb ; while I
In yonder spring of roses, intermix'd
"With myrtle, find what to redress till noon :
For while so near each other thus all day 220
Our task we choose, what wonder if so near
Looks intervene and smiles, or object new
Casual discourse draw on, which intermits
Our day's work brought to little, though begun
Early, and th' hour of supper comes unearn'd. 225
To whom mild answer Adam thus return 'd:
212. Wild: Wildness. 213. Bear: Entertain.
218. Spring of rotes: Small thicket, or coppice of roses.
219. Redress: Set right, improve.
221. So near: The repetition so near, is extremely beautiful, and naturally
comes in here, as the chief intent of Eve's speech was to persuade Adam to
let her go from him : she therefore dwells on so near, as the great obstacle to
their working to any purpose. STILLINGFLEET.
223. Intermits : Causes to cease for a time.
226. To whom mild answer, Sfc. : The dispute here carried on between our
two first parents is represented with great art. It proceeds from a difference
of judgment, not of passion, and is managed with reason, not with heat. It
is such a dispute as we may suppose might have happened in Paradise, had
man continued happy and innocent. There is a great delicacy in the mora.ities
which are interspersed in Adam's discourse, and which the most ordinary
reader cannot but take notice of. That force of love which the father of
mankind so finely describes in the Eighth Book, shows itself here in many
fine instances ; as in those fond regards which he casts towards Eve at her
parting from him, 399-400 ; in his impatience and amusement during her
absence; but particularly in that passionate speech (896-916) where, seeing
her irrecoverably lost, he resolves to perish with her rather than to live
without her. A.
376 PARADISE LOST.
Sole Eve, associate sole ; to me beyond
Compare above all living creatures dear,
Well bast thou motion 'd, well thy thoughts employ'd
How we might best fulfil the work which here 230
God hath assign M us ; nor of me shall pass
Unpralsed : for nothing lovelier can be found
In woman, than to study household good,
And good works in her husband to promote.
Yet not so strictly hath our Lord imposed 235
Labour, as to debar us when we need
Refreshment, whether food, or talk between,
Food of the mind, or this sweet intercourse
Of looks and smiles ; for smiles from reason flow,
To brute denied, and are of love the food ; 340
Love, not the lowest end of human life.
For not to irksome toil, but to delight
He made us, and delight to reason join'd.
These paths and bow'rs doubt not but our joint hands
Will keep from wilderness with ease, as wide 245
As we need walk, till younger hands ere long
Assist us : but if much converse perhaps
Thee satiate, to short absence I could yield ;
For solitude sometimes is best society,
227. Sole Eve, aitociate tolt : Thou only Eve, thou only associate tole u
an epithet of endearment
228. Beyond compare : Beyond comparison. We have before noticed that
Milton sometimes uses the substantive for an adjective, and an adjective for
a substantive. Here we may observe that sometimes he makes a verb of a
noun, and again a noun of a verb : a noun of a verb, as here ; also in VI. 549,
dirtttrb he uses for disturbance. And a verb of a noun, as in VII. 412. u tempttt
the ocean." And in like manner he makes the adjective a verb, as in VI. 440 :
'-.... To better as tnd tcortr our foet :''
and again the verb an adjective, as in VIII. 576, '' made so adorn." \.
239. SmiUtfrom retuon flow: Smiling is so great an indication of reason,
that some philosophers have altered the definition of man from animal ra-
tionale to ritif'ilf, affirming man to be the only creature endowed with the
power of laughter II.
245. Wilderntft : State of disorder.
S49. For tolitwie, tfc. : A most valuable remark, and worthy of being often
BOOK ix. 377
And short retirement urges sweet return. 250
But other doubt possesses me, lest harm
Befall thee, severed from me ; for thou know'st
What hath been warn'd us ; what malicious foe,
Envying our happiness, and of his own
Despairing, seeks to work us woe and shame 255
By sly assault ; and somewhere nigh at hand
Watches, no doubt, with greedy hope to find
His wish and best advantage, us asunder ;
Hopeless to circumvent us join'd, where each
To other speedy aid might lend at need. 260
Whether his first design be to withdraw
Our fealty from God, or to disturb
Conjugal love, than which perhaps no bliss
Enjoy'd by us excites his envy more ;
Or this, or worse, leave not the faithful side 265
That gave thee being, still shades thee, and protects.
The wife, where danger or dishonour lurks,
Safest and seemliest by her husband stays ;
Who guards her, or with her the worst endures.
To whom the virgin majesty of Eve, 270
As one who loves, and some unkindness meets,
With sweet austere composure thus replied :
Offspring of Heav'n and Earth, and all Earth's Lord,
That such an enemy we have, who seeks
Our ruin, both by thee inform'd I learn,- 275
And from the parting Angel overheard, '
As in a shady nook I stood behind,
practised. It was a saying of Scipio, " Nunquam minus solus quam cum so-
lus," which means, " Never less alone than when alone."
270. The virgin majesty of Eve : The ancients used the word virgin with
more latitude than we. Virgil calls Pasiphae virgin after she had three chil-
dren. It is here put to denote beauty, bloom, sweetness, modesty, and all the
amiable characters which are usually found in a virgin, and these with ma-
tron majesty. What a picture ! R.
277. This occurred a week before the present interview. After Satan fled
from Paradise (end of Book IV.) we have no account of Adam and Kve ex-
cept on the first day after; on which day Eve (Book V.) relates her dream.
378 PARADISE LOST.
Just then rcturnM at shut of ev'ning flow'rs.
But that thou should 'st my firmness therefore doubt
To God or thce, because we have a foe 280
May tempt it, I expected not to hear.
His violence thou fear'st not, being such
As we, not capable of death or pain,
Can either not receive, or can repel.
His fraud is then thy fear : which plain infers 285
Thy equal fear that my firm faith and love
Can by his fraud be shaken or seduced ?
Thoughts, which how found they harbour in thy breast,
Adam, mis-thought of her to thee so dear ?
To whom with healing words Adam replied : 290
Daughter of God and Man, immortal Eve,
For such thou art, from sin and blame entire :
Not diffident of thee do I dissuade
Thy absence from my sight, but to avoid
Th' attempt itself, intended by our foe. 295
For he who tempts, though in vain, at least asperses
The tempted with dishonour foul, supposed
Not incorruptible of faith, not proof
Against temptation. Thou thyself with scorn
And anger would'st resent the offer'd wrong, 300
Raphael comes down from Heaven, and discourses with Adam till evening
and the account of their parting is given at the end of Book VIII. Satan has
now returned to Paradise after an absence of seven days. No account, there-
fore, is given of Adam and Eve from the first of those days till now on the
seventh.
278. Nothing can be more beautifully natural than the hour of return being
fixed by the closing of the flowers. S.
285. Fraud: Deceit. Thy fear: The object of thy fear.
288-89. Thought* .... mi*-tlu>ught, Sfc. : Wrongly thougbtof her to thee so
dear (according to thine own account, 227).
291. Daughter of God and Man: As Eve had called Adam (273) off spring
of Heaven and Earth, as made by God out of the dust of the earth, so Adam
calls Eve daughter of God and Man, as made by God out of man ; and ac-
knowledges her to be immortal, as she had said herself (283) that they were
not capable of death or pain, but only so long as she was entire from tin and
blame; integer vitae, scelehsque purus, Uor. Od. i. 22. 1. N.
BOOK iz. 379
Though ineffectual found : misdeem not then,
If such affront I labour to avert
From thee alone, which on us both at once
The enemy, though bold, will hardly dare,
Or daring, first on me th' assault shall light. 305
Nor thou his malice and false guile contemn ;
Subtle he needs mnst be who could seduce
Angels ; nor think superfluous other's aid.
I from the influence of thy looks receive
Access in ev'ry virtue ; in thy sight 310
More wise, more watchful, stronger, if need were
Of outward strength ; while shame, thou looking on,
Shame to be overcome or over-reach'd
Would utmost vigour raise, and raised unite
Why should'st not thou like sense within thee feel 315
When I am present, and thy trial choose
With me, best witness of thy virtue tried ?
So spake domestic Adam, in his care
And matrimonial love : but Eve, who thought
Less attributed to her faith sincere, 320
Thus her reply with accent sweet renew'd :
If this be our condition, thus to dwell
In narrow circuit straighten'd by a foe,
Subtle or violent, we not endued
Single with like defence, wherever met, 325
How are we happy, still in fear of harm ?
But harm precedes not sin : only our foe
301. Misdeem not: Think it not wrong.
310. jlccess : Accession, increase.
312. Thou looking on : An example of the nominative case absolute.
314. Raised unite : Would unite, or concentrate, that vigour of intellectual
and moral character when raised.
315. Sense: Sensation.
318. Domestic Adam : Adam fond of the family state, and devoted to its
best interests.
320. Less attributed, $c. : That is, less than there should be ; an instance
of conformity to the Latin i Horn.
380 PARADISE LOST.
Tempting, affronts us with his foul esteem
Of our integrity : his foul esteem
Sticks no dishonour on our front, but turns 330
Foul on himself : then wherefore shunn'd or fear'd
By us ? who rather double honour gain
From his surmise proved false, find peace within,
Favour from IJeav'n, our witness from th' event
And what is faith, love, virtue unessay'd 335
Alone, without exterior help sustain'd ?
Let us not then suspect our happy state
Left so imperfect by the Maker wise,
As not secure to single or combined.
Frail is our happiness, if this be so, 340
And Eden were no Eden thus exposed.
To whom thus Adam fervently replied :
Woman, best are all things as the will
Of God ordain 'd them ; his creating hand
Nothing imperfect or deficient left 345
Of all that he created, much less Man,
Or aught that might his happy state secure,
Secure from outward force. Within himself
The danger lies, yet lies within his pow'r :
328. Etteem : Opinion, estimation. Affront* literally means to encounter
lace to face (ad frontem, to the front, or face) , and Milton had this in mind
when he wrote (330) , no dishonour on our front, but turns foul (dishonour)
on himtelf. Shakspeare often uses the word in its most literal sense.
334. Witnett : Testimony, proof.
336-36. What merit is there in any virtue till it has stood the test alone,
and without other assistance ? R.
339. As not to be secure to us single or together. N.
342. Fervently replied O woman, Sfc. : Throughout this whole conversa-
tion, which the poet has in every respect worked up to a faultless perfection,
there is the most exact observance of justness and propriety of character.
With what strength is the superior excellency of man's understanding here
pointed out, and how nicely does our author here sketch out the defects pe-
culiar in general to the female mind ! And after all, what great ait has he
shown in making Adam, contrary to his better reason, grant the request of
his spouse, beautifully verifying what he had made our general ancesU .-, a
little while before, observe to the angel ! VIII. 546, &c. THYKR.
BOOK IX. 381
Against his will he can receive no harm. 350
But God left free the will ; for what obeys
Reason is free, and reason he made right ;
But bid her well be ware, and still erect,
Lest by some fair-appearing good surprised,
She dictate false, and misinform the will 355
To do what God expressly hath forbid.
Not then mistrust but tender love enjoins,
That I should mind thee oft ; and mind thou me.
Firm we subsist, yet possible to swerve,
Since reason not impossibly may meet 360
Some specious object by the foe suborn'd,
And fall into deception unaware,
Not keeping strictest watch, as she was wara'd.
Seek not temptation then ; which to avoid
Were better, and most likely if from me 365
Thou sever not : trial will come unsought.
Would'st thou approve thy constancy, approve
First thy obedience ; th' other who can know ?
Not seeing thee attempted, who attest ?
But if thou think, trial unsought may find 370
Us both securer than thus warn'd thou seem'st,
Go : for thy stay, not free, absents thee more.
Go, in thy native innocence, rely
On what thou hast of virtue, summon all,
353. Be Moart : These words, the latter of which is here an adjective, are
now usually printed as one word, forming a verb. Erect is an adjective in
this sentence, connected with ware.
358. Mind: Remind. 361. Suborned: Unfairly procured.
365. Likely: Probable. 367 Approve: Prove.
372. Co ; for thy ttay, not free, c. : It is related of Milton's first wife, Mary
Powell, that she had not cohabited with him above a month, before she was
very desirous of returning to her friends in Oxfordshire, there to spend the
remainder of the summer. We may suppose that, upon this occasion, their
conversation was somewhat of the same nature as Adam and Eve's ; and it
was upon some such considerations as this, that after much solicitation he
permitted her to go. It is the more probable that he alluded to his own case
in this account of Adam and Eve's parting, as, in the account of their recon-
ciliation, it will appear that he copied exactly what happened to himself. N.
382 PARADISE LOST.
For God towards theo hath done his part ; do thine. 375
So spake the patriarch of mankind : bat Eve
Persisted ; yet submiss, though last, replied :
With thy permission then, and thus forewarn'd
Chiefly by what thy own last reas'ning words
Touch'd only, that onr trial, when least sought, 380
May find us both perhaps far less prepared,
The willinger I go ; nor much expect
A foe so proud will first the weaker seek :
80 bent, the more shall shame him his repulse.
Thus saying, from her husband's hand her hand 385
Soft she withdrew, and, like a Wood-Nymph light,
Oread, or Dryad, or of Delia's train,
Betook her to the groves ; but Delia's self
In gait surpass 'd, and Goddess-like deport,
Though not as she with bow and quiver arm'd, 390
But with such gard'ning tools as art yet rude,
Guiltless of fire, had form'd, or Angels brought.
To Pales, or Pomona, thus adorn'd,
Likest she seem'd ; Pomona when she fled
Vertumnus, or to Ceres in her prime, 395
Yet virgin of Proserpina from Jove.
377. Submit*: Submissive.
385. From her hutband't hand, tfc. : A pleasing image. Notwithstanding
this difference of judgment, while Adam is reasoning and arguing with Eve,
he still holds her by the hand, which she gently withdraws, a little impatient
to be gone, even while she is speaking. And then, like a wood-nymph light,
Oread, a nymph of the mountains, or Dryad, a nymph of the groves, of the
oaks particularly, or of Delia'* train, the train of Diana, called Delia from
the circumstance that she was born in the island Delos, she betook her to the
grove* ; but she surpassed not only Diana's nymphs, but Diana herself (in her
gait and deportment) , though she wears different ensigns (390-91) such as art
yet rude, guiltiest of fire had formed, before fire was as yet stolen from Heaven
by Prometheus, as the ancients fabled, or such tools as angel* brought. N.
389. Deport: Demeanour.
394-95. Under the name of Vertvmnu*. an old Italian prince, who probably
introduced the art of gardening, was honoured after death as a god. The
Romans considered him as specially presiding over the fruit of trees. Hi*
wife was Pomona, one of the Hamadryads (or nymphs of the trees) , a god-
BOOK IX. 333
Her long with ardent look his eye pursued,
Delighted ; but desiring more her stay.
Oft he to her his charge of quick return
Repeated ; she to him as oft engaged 400
To be return'd by noon amid the bow'r,
And all things in best order to invite
Noontide repast, or afternoon's repose.
O much deceived, much failing, hapless Eve,
Of thy presumed return ! event perverse ! 405
Thou never from that hour in Paradise
Found'st either sweet repast or sound repose !
Such ambush hid among sweet flow'rs and sha~dcs
Waited with hellish rancour imminent
To intercept thy way, or send thee back 410
Despoil'd of innocence, of faith, of bliss.
For now, and since first break of dawn, the Fiend,
Mere serpent in appearance, forth was come,
dess of gardens and fruits, whose love he gained at last after changing him-
self into many forms ; from which circumstance his name (Ov. Met. xiv.
633) was derived. FISKE.
Palet was an Italian goddess who presided over cattle. While Eve resem-
bled Diana in her majestic gait, she more resembled the rural goddesses Pales,
Pomona, and Ceres in her equipments, thus adorned liktst she seemed, $c. She
resembled these in beauty, in the office of gardening, and in the act of carry-
ing the implements of that art.
395. Ceres : A goddess to whom were ascribed the discovery and improve-
ment of agriculture ; also, the establishing of laws and the regulation of civil
society.
396. The meaning is, When yet a virgin, before the birth of Proserpina,
who descended from Jove. The mode of expression is borrowed from clas-
sical writers, and is quite elliptical.
404-5. That is, much failing of thy presumed return. These beautful apos-
trophes and anticipations are frequent in the poets, who affect to speak like
men inspired with the knowledge of futurity, JEn. x. 501. There is some-
thing very moving in such reflections concerning the vanity of all human
hopes, and how little events answer our expectations. N.
412-13. Thefiend, mere serpent, Sfc. : The several wiles which are put in
practice by the tempter, when he found Eve separated from her husband ;
Ihe many pleasing images of nature which are intermixed in this part of the
story, with its gradual and regular progress to the fatal catastrophe, are no
384 PARADISE LOST.
And on his quest, where likeliest he might find
The only two of mankind, but in them 415
The whole included race ; his purposed prey.
In bow'r and field he sought, where any tuft
Of grove or garden-plot more pleasant lay,
Their tendence or plantation for delight :
By fountain, or by shady rivulet 420
He sought them both ; but wish'd his hap might find
Eve separate ; he wish'd, but not with hope
Of what so seldom chanced, when to his wish,
Beyond his hope, Eve separate he spies,
Veil'd in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood, 425
Half spied, so thick the roses blushing round
About her glow'd, oft stooping to support
Each flow'r of slender stalk, whose head, though gay
Carnation, purple, azure, or speck'd with gold,
Hung drooping unsustain'd : them she upstays 430
Gently with myrtle band, mindless the while
Herself, though fairest unsupported flow'r,
From her best prop so far, and storm so nigh.
Nearer he drew ; and many a walk traversed
Of stateliest covert, cedar, pine, or palm, 435
Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen
Among thick-woven arborets and flow'rs
Imborder'd on each bank, the hand of Eve :
Spot more delicious than those gardens feign'd
Or of revived Adonis, or renown'd 440
very remarkable, that it would be superfluous to point out their respective
beauties. A.
419. Tendance: Care.
431. Mindleu: Not thinking of.
436. VolMe: Active. 437. Arborett: Shrub*.
438. Imbordertd on each bank : Forming the border of each bank. Tht
hand : The product of the hand of Eve, so far as care and dressing were
concerned.
440. ddtmit: See Book I. 440. Revived: He was fabled to have been rr-
ttortd to life by Venus.
BOOK ix. 385
Akinous, host of old Laertes' son,
Or that, not mystic, where the sapient king
Held dalliance with his fair Egyptian spouse.
Much ho the place admired ; the person more.
As one who long in populous city pent, 445
Where houses thick, and sewers annoy the air
Forth issuing on a summer's morn to breathe
Among the pleasant villages and farms
Adjoin'd, from each thing met conceives delight ;
The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine, 4CO
Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound :
If chance with nymph-like step fair virgin pass,
What pleasing seem'd, for her now pleases more,
She most, and in her look sums all delight.
Such pleasure took the Serpent to behold 455
This flow'ry plat, the sweet recess of Eve
Thus early, thus alone. Her heav'nly form
Angelic, but more soft and feminine,
Her graceful innocence, her ev'ry air
Of gesture or least action, overawed 460
His malice, and with rapine sweet bereaved
His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought.
That space the Evil One abstracted stood
441. Laertes* son: Ulysses, who, on his return from Troy, was generously
entertained by King Alcinous, the proprietor of a celebrated garden. Pliny
tells us that there was nothing which the ancients more admired than the
gardens of the Hesperides, and those of Alcinous and Adonis. To such as
these Milton compares that particular part of Paradise, more delicious than
any other, upon which the tasteful Eve had employed the labour of her
bands.
442-43. Or that, not mystic: Not fabulous as the rest ; not allegorical as
some have fancied; but a real garden, which Solomon made for his wife, the
daughter of PharaoL, king of Egypt. See Canticles. And thus, as the
most beautiful countries in the world (IV. 268-285) could not vie with Para-
dise, so neither could the most delicious gardens equal this jiotnry plat, tht
sweet recess of Eve (IX. 4-'>6) . X.
450. Tedded grots : Grass just mowed, and spread for drying. R.
452. Chance : By chance.
463-64. Abstracted stood from his own evil, $c. : This passage i pre-emi
nently beautiful, and of extraordinary originality. E. B.
17 Y
386 PARADISE LOST.
From his own evil, and for the time remain''!
Stupidly good ; of enmity disarm 'd, 465
Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge ;
But the hot Hell that always in him burns,
Though in mid Heaven, soon ended his delight,
And tortures him now more, the more he sees
Of pleasure not for him ordain'd. Then soon 470
Fierce hate he recollects ; and all his thoughts
Of mischief, gratulating, thus excites :
Thoughts, whither have ye led me ! With what sweet
Compulsion thus transported to forget
What hither brought us ! hate, not love, nor hope 475
Of Paradise for Hell, hope here to taste
Of pleasure, but all pleasure to destroy,
Save what is in destroying : other joy
To me is lost. Then let me not then let pass
Occasion which now smiles. Behold alone 480
The woman, opportune to all attempts,
Her husband, for I view far round, not nigh,
Whose higher intellectual more I shun,
And strength, of courage haughty, and of limb
Heroic built, though of terrestrial mould, 485
Foe not informidable, exempt from wound,
I not ; so much hath Hell debased, and pain
Enfeebled me, to what I was in Heav'n.
She fair, divinely fair, fit love for Gods ;
468. Though in mid Heaven : That is, though he were transported to th
midst of Heaven ; or, it may be understood as implying, that he sometime*
was in Heaven an interpretation sanctioned by Job, i. 6 ; ii. 1 ; and by *
passage in Paradise Regained, 1. 366:
" nor from the Heaven of heaven*
Hath he excluded my retort sometime*," fee.
472. Gratulating : Employing a lively style of address, thus excite* all
his thoughts of mischief.
478. Other joy to me it lott : Corresponding with the sentiment attributed
to him in Book IV. 110: ,
" Evil be thou my Rood," tc.
481. Opportune, tfc. : Favourably situated for all attempts.
489. Lav*: Object of love.
BOOK ix. 887
Not terrible, though terror be in love 490
And beauty, not approach'd by stronger hate,
Hate stronger, under show of love well feign 'd ;
The way which to her ruin now I tend.
So spake th' enemy of mankind, inclosed
In serpent, inmate bad, and toward Eve 495
Address'd his way, not with indented wave,
Prone on the ground, as since, but on his rear,
Circular base of rising folds, that tower'd
Fold above fold a surging maze, his head
Crested aloft, and carbuncle his eyes ; 500
With burnish'd neck of verdant gold, erect
Amidst his circling spires, that on the grass
Floated redundant. Pleasing was his shape,
And lovely : never since the serpent kind
Lovelier : not those that in Illyria changed 505
490. Though terror, fyc. : That is, though an awe-inspirir.g majesty be in
love (amiableness) and beauty (when), not approached by stronger hate, a
hatred which overpowers such majesty, and causes it to be disregarded ; hate
ttronger, shown to be the stronger, under thow, fyc., that is, from the disguise
of well-feigned love, which I have assumed.
496. Address 1 d: Directed. With indented wave: With a motion in and
out, like the teeth of a saw.
499. Fold above fold, ffc. : Our author has not only imitated Ovid, but has
ransacked all the good poets who have ever made a remarkable description
of a serpent. N.
504. Satan is not here compared, and preferred to the finest and most
memorable serpents of antiquity the Python and the rest ; but only to the
most memorable of those serpents into which others were transformed, and
with the greater propriety, as he was himself now transformed info a ser-
pent And in this view it is said that none were lovelier not those that
tn Illyria changed Hermione and Cadmus (that is, varied their external form;
far these persons still retained their sense and memory as Ovid relates, just
u Satan was Satan still when enclosed in the form of a serpent) .
This Cadmus, together with his wife Hermione, or Harmonia (as some-
times written) , leaving Thebes in Baeotia, which he had founded, and for
diverse misfortunes quitted, and coming into Illyria, they were both turned
into serpents, for having slain one sacred to Mars (Ovid, Met. Book IV.)
N.
'ii.i. Not thott : Not those serpents wr more beautiful that, &c.
?88 PARADISE LOST
Hermione and Cadmus, or the God
In Epidaurus ; nor to which transform 'd
Aumioniun Jove, or Capitoline was seen ;
He with Olympias, this with her who bore
Scipio the bight of Rome. With tract oblique 510
At first, as one who sought access, but fear'd
To interrupt, sidelong he works his way.
As when a ship by skilful steersman wrought,
Nigh river's mouth or foreland, where the wind
Veers oft, as oft so steers, and shifts her sail, 515
So varied he, and of his tortuous train
Curl'd many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve,
To lure her eye : she busied, heard the sound
Of rustling leaves, but minded not, as used
To such disport before her through the field 520
From ev'ry beast ; more duteous at her call
Than at Circean call the herd disguised.
506-7. Or the god in Epidaurut : That is, .sculapius the god of physic,
the son of Apollo, who was worshipped at Epidaurut, a city of Pelopon-
nessus,and being sent for to Rome, in the time of a plague, assumed the form
of a serpent and accompanied the ambassadors (Livy, Book XI. ; Ovid, Met
Book XV.) ; but though he was thus changed in appearance, he was still
&sculapius. In ttrpente Dent, as Ovid calls him, XV. 670 ; the Deity in a
terpent, and under that form continued to be worshipped at Rome. N.
507. Nor were those serpents lovelier, to which tram/armed Jlmmonian
Jove, or Capitoline icat teen (to which Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline
was seen transformed) . The first was the Lybian Jupiter (called Jlmmon,
from a Greek word signifying land) : the other the Roman, called Capitoline
from the Capitol, his temple, at Rome.
509. He with Olympiat : The first ; the pretended father of Alexander the
Great, was fabled to have conversed with Alexander's mother, Olympias, in
the form of a serpent.
509-10. Thit vrith her who bore Scipio the hight of Rome : The latter, fabled
in like manner, to have been the father of Scipio Africanus, who raised bit
country and himself to the highest pitch of glory. N.
522. Circean call : Cir, a famous sorceress, residing upon an island on the
western coast of Italy. All persons who landed on her island, by tasting
her magic cup, were changed into the appearance of swine, and subject to
her control. These are the herd ditguiud. alluded to by Milton. Homer,
OJyss. x. 235-243 ; Virg. &n. vii. 10V20. The fable illustrate* the brutal-
Izing inSunc of sensual indulgence*
BOOK ix. 389
He bolder now, uncall'd, before her stood,
But as in gaze admiring, oft he bow'd
His turret crest and sleek enamel'd neck, 525
Fawning, and lick'd the ground whereon she trod.
His gentle dumb expression turn'd at length
The eye of Eve to mark his play. He, glad
Of her attention^gain'd, with serpent-tongue
Organic, or impulse of vocal air, 530
His fraudulent temptation thus began :
Wonder not, sov'reign Mistress, if perhaps
Thou canst, who art sole wonder ; much less arm
Thy looks, the Heav'n of mildness, with disdain,
Displeased that I approach thee thus, and gaze 535
Insatiate, I thus single, nor have fear'd
Thy awful brow, more awful thus retired.
Fairest resemblance of thy Maker fair !
Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine
By gift, and thy celestial beauty adore 540
With ravishment beheld ! there best beheld
Where universally admired : but here
In this inclosure wild, these beasts among,
Beholders rude, and shallow to discern
Half what in thee is fair, one man except, 545
Who sees thee ? (and what is one ?) who should'st be seen
A Goddess among Gods, adored and serv'd
By Angels numberless, thy daily train.
So glozed the Tempter, and his proem tuned ;
530. Organic, or impulse of vocal air : That the Devil moved the serpent's
tongue, and used it as an instrument to form the tempting speech he made to
Eve. is the opinion of some ; that he formed a voice by impression of the
sounding air, distant from the serpent, is that of others, of which our author
has left the curious to their choice. H.
531. This speech is similar to that(V. 37) which Satan had made to her
in her dream, and it had a fatal effect. To cry her up as a goddess, was the
readiest way to make her a mere mortal. N.
537. Retired: Secluded.
549. Glozed: Flattered. Proem tuned: Skilfully suited his introduction
to the end in view.
390 PARADISE LOST.
Into the heart of Eve his words made way, 550
Though at the voice much marvelling. At length,
.Not unatnozcd, she thus in answer spake :
What may this mean ? Language of man pronounced
By tongue of brute, and human sense express'd !
The first at least of these I thought denied 555
To beasts, whom God on their creation-day
Created mute to all articulate sound :
The latter I demur ; for in their looks
Much reason, and in their action oft appears.
Thee, Serpent, subtlest beast of all the field, 560
I knew, but not with human voice endued.
Redouble then this miracle, and say,
How cam'st thou speakable of mute ; and how
To me so friendly grown above the rest
Of brutal kind, that daily are in sight ! 565
Say ! for such wonder claims attention due.
To whom the guileful Tempter thus replied :
Empress of this fair world, resplendent Eve,
Easy to me it is to tell thee all
What thou coinmand'st ; and right thou should'st be obey'd.
I was at first as other beasts that graze 570
The trodden herb, of abject thoughts and low,
As was my food : nor aught but food discern'd,
Or sex, and apprehended nothing high ;
Till on a day roving the field, I chanced 575
A goodly tree far distant to behold,
Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mii'd,
Ruddy and gold. I nearer drew to gaze ;
When from the boughs a savoury odour blown,
Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense 580
Than smell of sweetest fennel, or the teats
558. The latter I demur: Compared with lines 554-55, this phrase seem*
to mean : Of the tatter's being denied, I doubt ; in other words, I doubt
whether human sense is denied altogether to beasts.
563. Speakable of mute : Capable of speaking, baring been previously
dumb.
BOOK IX. 391
Of ewe or goat dropping with milk at ev'n,
Unsuck'd of lamb or kid, that tend their play.
To satisfy the sharp desire I had
Of tasting those fair apples, I resolved 685
Not to defer ; hunger and thirst at once
(Pow'rful persuaders) quicken'd at the scent
Of that alluring fruit, urged me so keen.
About the mossy trunk I wound me soon,
For high from ground the branches would require 590
Thy utmost reach or Adam's : Round the tree
All other beasts that saw, with like desire
Longing and envying stood, but could not reach.
Amid the tree now got, where plenty hung
Tempting so nigh, to pluck and eat my fill 595
I spared not ; for such pleasure till that hour
At feed or fountain never had I found.
Sated at length, ere long I might perceive
Strange alteration in me, to degree
Of reason in my inward pow'rs, and speech 600
Wanted not long, though to this shape retain'd.
Thenceforth to speculations high or deep
I turn'd my thoughts, and with capacious mind,
Consider'd all things visible in Heav'n,
Or Earth, or Middle ; all things fair and good : 605
But all that fair and good in thy divine
Semblance, and in thy beauty's heav'nly ray
United I beheld. No fair to thine
Equivalent or second ; which compell'd
Me thus, though importune perhaps, to come 610
And gaze, and worship thee, of right declared
583. Tend : Are attentive to.
597. Feed : Time, or act of eating ; meal.
599-601. To degree of reason: To the higher state of reason, &c. , to
that degree in which I was endowed with reason. Wanttd I wanted.
605. Middle : Space between Heaven and Earth.
607. Semblance: Form.
610. Importune : Unseasonable, or troublesome.
17*
392 PARADISE LOST.
Sov'reign of creatures, universal Dame.
So talk'd the spirited sly Snake ; and Eve,
Yet more amazed, unwary, thus replied :
Serpent, thy overpraising leaves in doubt 615
The virtue of that fruit, in thee first proved.
But say, where grows the tree ? from hence how far ?
For many are the trees of God that grow
In Paradise, and various, yet unknown
To us, in such abundance lies our choice, 620
As leaves a greater store of fruit untouch'd,
Still hanging incorruptible, till men
Grow up to their provision, and more hands
Help to disburden Nature of her birth.
To whom the wily adder, blithe and glad : 625
Empress the way is ready, and not long ;
Beyond a row of myrtles, on a flat,
Fast by a fountain, one small thicket past
Of blowing myrrh and balm. If thou accept
My conduct, I can bring thee thither soon. 630
Lead then, said Eve. He leading swiftly roll'd
In tangles, and made intricate seem straight,
To mischief swift. Hope elevates, and joy
Brightens his crest ; as when a waud'ring fire.
812. Dame: Formerly a term of great respect and title of honour. Mil-
ton here uses it as synonymous with^uern in line 684.
613. Spirited: Actuated by a spirit, or intelligent mind.
615. Over-praising was no indication of the reason he claimed to have
acquired by eating the fruit
616. Prmfd: Tried.
623. Up to their prmition : To such a number as to be able to consume
what the trees provide.
630. Conduct: Guidance.
633. In tangle*: In a complicated manner.
634-42. Hope devote*, ffc. : This similitude is not only very beautiful, but
the closest in the whole poem, where the serpent is described as rolling tor-
ward in all his pride, animated by the evil spirit, and conducting Eve to her
destruction, while Adam was at too great a distance from her to give her his
assistance ; all these particulars being wrought into the similitude. A.
BOOK ix. 393
Compact of unctuous vapour, which the night 635
Condenses, and the cold environs round,
Kindled through agitation to a flame,
Which oft, they say, some evil Spirit attends,
Hov'ring and blazing with delusive light,
Misleads th' amazed night-wand'rer from his way
To bogs and mires, and oft through pond or pool, 640
There swallow'd up and lost, from succour far :
So glister'd the dire Snake, and into fraud
Led Eve^ our credulous mother, to the tree
Of prohibition, root of all our woe ! 645
Which when she saw, thus to her guide she spake :
Serpent, we might have spared our coming hither,
Fruitless to me, though fruit be here to excess,
The credit of whose virtue rest with thee,
Wondrous indeed, if cause of such effects. 650
But of this tree we may not taste nor touch ;
God so commanded, and left that command
Sole daughter of his voice : the rest, we live
Law to ourselves ; our reason is our law.
To whom the Tempter guilefully replied : 655
Indeed ! Hath God then said, that of the fruit
Of all these garden-trees ye shall not eat,
Yet Lords declared of all in earth or air ?
To whom thus Eve, yet sinless : Of the fruit
Of each tree in the garden we may eat : 660
But of the fruit of this fair tree amidst
The garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat
635. Compact : Composed, consisting. 636. Cold : Cold air.
643. Glittered: Shone, sparkled. Fraud: Hurt, injury; used by Milton
in the Latin signification, JEn. x. 72.
644. Tree of prohibition : Hebrew form of expression for "piohibited
tree."
647. A play upon the word fruit, used figuratively in the first instance.
653. Daughter of hit voice : A beautiful Hebraistic form of expression, to
denote precept or command the utterance of the voice. Sole daughter : The
only command given to our first parents. The rest : A classical idiom for a
to other things.
394 PARADISE LOST.
Thereof, nor shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
She scarce had said, though brief, when now more bold
The Tempter, but with show of zeal and love 665
To Man, and indignation at his wrong,
New part puts on, and as to passion moved,
Fluctuates disturbed, yet comely, and in act
Raised, as of some great matter to begin.
As when of old some orator renown 'd 670
In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence
Flourish'd, since mute, to some great cause address'd
Stood in himself collected, while each part,
Motion, each act won audience, ere the tongue,
Sometimes in hight, began, as no delay 675
Of preface brooking through his zeal of right :
So standing, moving, or to hight up grown,
The Tempter, all impassioned, thus began :
sacred, wise, and wisdom-giving Plant,
Mother of science, now I feel thy pow'r 680
Within me clear, not only to discern
Things in their causes, but to trace the ways
Of highest agents, deem'd however wise.
Queen of this universe, do not believe
Those rigid threats of death : ye shall not die. 35
IIow should ye ? by the fruit ? It gives you life
To knowledge ; by the thrcat'ner ? Look on me,
Me who have touch'd and tasted, yet both live,
And life more perfect have attaiu'd than fate
Meant me, by venturing higher than my lot. 690
Shall that be shut to Man, which to the Beast
Is open ? or will God incense his ire
For such a petty trespass, and not praise
Rather your dauntless virtue, whom the pain
674. Motion : Each is understood before this word
676. Brooking : Enduring no delay of preface, &c.
683. Ye thatt not die : Our author artfully continues to make the serpent
confirm this statement by a reference to his own case.
687. To knowledge: (In addition) to knowledge.
BOOK ix. 395
Of death denounced, whatever thing death be, 695
Deterr'd not from achieving what might lead
To happier life, knowledge of good and evil !
Of good, how just ! of evil, if what is evil
Be real, why not known, since easier shunn'd ?
God therefore cannot hurt ye and be just : 700
Not just, not God ; not fear'd then, nor obey'd :
Your fear itself of death removes the fear.
Why then was this forbid ? Why but to awe,
Why but to keep ye low and ignorant,
His worshippers. He knows that in the day 705
Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear,
Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then
Open'd and clear'd, and ye shall be as Gods,
Knowing both good and evil as they know.
That ye shall be as Gods, since I as Man, 710
Internal Man, is but proportion meet ;
702. Your fear, tfc. : Justice is inseparable from the very being and
essence of God, so that could he be unjust, he would be no longer God, and
then neither to be obeyed nor feared ; so that the fear of death, which does
imply injustice in God, destroys itself, because God can as well cease to be,
as cease to be just : a Satanic syllogism. H.
708-9. Satan's language is so constructed that while he meant one thing,
she would naturally understand another. By " opening the eyes" she under-
stood a farther and higher degree of wisdom ; but he meant it of their per-
ceiving their own misery and feeling remorse of conscience. By " being
as Gods" (Elohim) , she probably understood the being elevated almost to an
equality with the Deity himself in point of knowledge and dignity ; but he
probably meant it of their being brought to the condition of the angels that
fell, as angels are sometimes styled Elohim, Ps. viii. G. By " knowing good and
evil/' she doubtless understood a kind of divine omniscence ; whereas hi
meaning was, that they should have a woeful experience of the difference be
tween good and evil, or between happiness and misery, such as he himself
had. The same equivocal character distinguished the responses of the ancient
oracles, which were probably the special engines of Satan ; and wicked de-
ceivers in all ages have employed the same diabolical subtlety in the use of
double senses, to compass their ends, concealing the essence of a lie under
the semblance of the truth. Busii.
710-11. Since I (have become) as man, internal man: That is, intellectu-
ally.
396 PARADISE LOST.
I, of brute, human ; ye, of human, Gods.
So ye shall die perhaps, by putting off
Human, to put on Gods ; death to be wish'd,
Tho' threatcn'd, which no worse than this can bring. 715
And what are Gods, that Man may not become
As they, participating Godlike food ?
The Gods are first, and that advantage use
On our belief, that all from them proceeds.
I question it ; for this fair earth I see, 720
YVarm'd by the sun, producing ev'ry kind ;
Them nothing. If they all things, who inclosed
Knowledge of good and evil in this tree,
That whoso eats thereof, forthwith attains
Wisdom without their leave ? and wherein lies 725
Th' offence, that Man should thus attain to know ?
What can your knowledge hurt him, or this tree
Impart against his will, if all be his ?
Or is it envy ? And can envy dwell
In heav'nly breasts ? These, these, and many more 730
Causes, import your need of this fair fruit.
Goddess humane, reach then, and freely taste.
He ended, and his words, replete with guile,
Into her heart too easy entrance won.
Fix'd on the fruit she gazed, which to behold 735
Might tempt alone ; and in her ears the sound
Yet rung of his persuasive words, irapregn'd
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth :
712. / (who am) of brvte (animals, have become) human; ye (who arc)
of human (beings, shall become) godt.
713. So : That is, by putting off, &c.
714. To put on godt : To become like gods.
722. Thtm nothing : I see them (producing) nothing. If they (produced) all
thing*, &c. See line 719.
729-30. Can envy, Sft. : Suggested to the poet very probably by the well-
known interrogatory at the opening of the jEneid, u Tantrne aniinis ccrles-
tibus ir.e ?"
731. Import: Indicate.
738. To her teeming : To her apprehension, or, as seemed to her.
BOOK ix. 397
Meanwhile the hour of noon drew on, and waked
An eager appetite, raised by the smell 740
So savoury of fruit, which with desire,
Inclinable now grown to touch or taste,
Solicited her longing eye ; yet first,
Pausing a while, thus to herself she mused :
Great are thy virtues, doubtless, best of fruits, 745
Though kept from man, and worthy to be admired,
Whose taste, too long forborn, at first assay
Gave elocution to the mute, and taught
The tongue not made for speech to speak thy praise.
Thy praise he also, who forbids thy use, 750
Conceals not from us, naming thee the tree
Of knowledge, knowledge both of good and evil :
Forbids us then to taste ; but his forbidding
Commends thee more, while it infers the good
By thee communicated, and our want : 755
For good unknown, sure is not had ; or had
And yet unknown, is as not had at all.
In plain then, what forbids he but to know ;
Forbids us good ! forbids us to be wise !
Such prohibitions bind not. But if death 760
Bind us with after-bands, what profits then
Our inward freedom r In the day we eat
Of this fair fruit, our doom is, we shall die.
How dies the Serpent ? he hath eaten and lives,
And knows, and speaks, and reasons, and discerns : 765
Irrational till then. For us alone
Was death invented ? or to us denied
This intellectual food, for beasts reserved ?
740. dn eager appetite : This is a circumstance beautifully added by our
mthor to the Scripture account, in order to make the folly and impiety of
Eve appear less extravagant and monstrous. N.
742. Inclinable : Somewhat disposed.
750. Thy praise : Thy worthiness of praise.
658. In plain then : In plain (language) then.
761. dfter-bandt : Future links.
38 PARADISE LOST.
For beasts it seems ; yet that one beast which first
Hath tasted, envies not, but brings with joy 770
The good befall'n him, author unsuspect,
Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile.
What fear I then r Rather, what know to fear
Under this ignorance of good and evil,
Of God or death, of law or penalty ? 775
Here grows the cure of all, this fruit divine,
Fair to the eye, inviting to the taste,
Of virtue to make wise. What hinders then
To reach, and feed at once both body and mind ?
So saying, her rash hand, in evil hour, 780
Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat !
Earth felt the wound ; and Nature from her seat
Sighing, through all her works gave signs of woe,
That all was lost ! Back to the thicket slunk
The guilty Serpent, and well might, for Eve, 785
Intent now wholly on her taste, nought eke
Regarded ; such delight till then, as seem'd,
In fruit she never tasted, whether true
Or fancy'd so, through expectation high
Of knowledge ; nor was Godhead from her thought. 790
Greedily she ingorged without restraint
And knew not eating death. Satiate at length,
And heightened as with wine, jocund, and boon,
Thus to herself she pleasingly began :
771. Jiuthor wuutpect: Relater (of the good befallen him) not to be sus-
pected.
781-5. So toying, tfc. : When Dido, in the fourth jEneid, 166-68, yielded
to that fatal temptation which ruined her, Virgil tells us the earth trembled,
the heavens were filled with flashes of lightning, and the nymphs howled
upon the mountain-tope. Milton, in the same poetical spirit, has described
all nature as disturbed upon Eve's eating the forbidden fruit. A.
792. Kttfw not eating dtath ' Knew not (she was) eating that which HMth>
procuring cause of death.
794. Thut to hertelf, trc. : As our author had. in the preceding conference
betwixt our first parents, described, with the greatest art and decency, the
subordination and inferiority of the female character in the strength of rea-
son and understanding, so in this soliloquy of Eve's, after tasting the forbid-
BOOK iz. 399
sov'reigu, virtuous, precious of all trees 795
In Paradise, of operation blest
To sapience, hitherto obscured, infumed,
And thy fair fruit let hang, as to no end
Created ; but henceforth my early care,
Not without song, each morning, and due praise, 800
Shall tend thee, and the fertile burden ease
Of thy full branches, offer'd free to all ;
Till, dieted by thee, I grow mature
In knowledge, as the Gods who all things know ;
Though others envy what they cannot give ; 805
For had the gift been theirs, it had not here
Thus grown. Experience, next to thee I owe,
Best guide ; not following thee I had remain'd
In ignorance : thou open'st Wisdom's way,
And giv'st access, though secret she retire. 810
And I perhaps am secret Heav'n is high,
den fruit, one may observe the same judgment, in his varying and adapting
it to the condition of her fallen nature. Instead of those little defects in her
intellectual faculties before the fall, which were sufficiently compensated by
her outward charms, and were rather softening than blemishes in her cha-
racter, we see her now running into the greatest absurdities, and indulging
the wildest imaginations. THYER.
795. Virtuous : Efficacious. Precious of all trees : Most precious, &c. ;
the positive degree, as is common in the ancient classics, being used for the
superlative.
796-97. Of operation blest to sapience : Of happy operation, or influence, to
wisdom that is, for the imparting of wisdom. Infamed : Defamed.
801. Tend: Take care of. Ease: Lighten.
805. Though others envy, Sfc. : She means the gods, though for decency's
sake she names them not. She is now arrived at that pitch of impiety,
that she attributes envy to the gods, as Satan had taught her (729) , and ques-
tions whether this tree was their gift, as Satan had likewise suggested (718) :
such impression had his doctrines made on her. N.
807. I owe, best guide: To thee, Experience, my best guide, I am next in-
debted. Experience (derived from the act of tasting) is here personified,
and is used in the nominative case independent, the word " guide" being in
apposition.
810. Secret: Though she retire into a secret place.
811. Jim secret . She questions even God's omniscience, and flatten her-
400 PARADISE LOST.
High and remote, to see from thence distinct
Each thing on earth, and other care perhaps
May hare diverted from continual watch
Our great Forbidder, safe with all his spies 815
About him. But to Adam, in what sort
Shall I appear : Shall I to him make known
As yet my change, and give him to partake
Full happiness with me, or rather not,
But keep the odds of knowledge in my pow'r 820
Without copartner ? so to add what wants
In female sex, the more to draw his love,
And render me more equal, and perhaps,
A thing not undesirable, sometime
Superior ; for inferior, who is free ? 825
This may be well ; but what if God have seen,
And death ensue ? Then I shall be no more ;
And Adam, wedded to another Eve,
Shall live with her enjoying ; I extinct.
A death to think ! Confirm 'd then, I resolve 830
Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe :
So dear I love him, that with him all deaths
I could endure ; without him live no life.
So saying, from the tree her step she turned :
But first low rev'rence done, as to the PowV 835
self that she is still in secret, like other sinners, who say, " The Lord shall
not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it," Ps. xciv. 7. X.
812. High: Too high, &c.
815. Safe : Beyond the power to harm not to be dreaded; rather an un-
usual sense of the word, as in the familiar phrases, " I have him safe ;" u he
is safe asleep."
818. To give to partake: An expression similar to what is found in Latin
authors and Greek. Horn. Iliad, i. 18; Virg. JEn. i. 65, 79, 522; also in
Milton, I. 736 ; III. 243.
824-25. Sometime tuptrior: The thought of attaining the superiority over
her husband, is very artfully made one of the first that Eve entertains after
eating the forbidden fruit; but still her love of Adam, and jealousy of another
Eve, prevail even over that : so just is the observation of Solomon, Cant
viii. 6 : u Love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave." N.
835. But firtt low rcv'rcnct, tfc. : This first sign of idolatry in man, is well
BOOK IX. 401
That dwelt within, whose presence had infused
Into the plant sciential sap, derived
From nectar, drink of Gods. Adam the while
Waiting, desirous her return, had wove
Of choicest flow'rs a garland, to adorn 840
Her tresses, and her rural labours crown,
As reapers oft are wont their harvest-queen.
Great joy he promised to his thoughts, and new
Solace in her return, so long delay'd ;
Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, 845
Misgave him : he the falt'ring measure felt ;
And forth to meet her went, the way she took
That morn when first they parted. By the tree
Of knowledge he must pass : there he her met,
Scarce from the tree returning : in her hand 850
A bough of fairest fruit, that downy smiled,
introduced as an immediate consequence of the fall. The remaining portion
of this Book may be considered, I think, as in some respects superior to any
other part of the poem. The mention of Adam, unconscious of the coming
woe, weaving flowers for Eve, is exquisitely pathetic ; the misgivings of his
heart on meeting her, the description of her agitated appearance, and the
discourse, deep and passionate, which follows, are all conceived in the finest
vein of tragic genius. In no other part of his poem had Milton an oppor-
tunity of displaying his power in the delineation of human passion, but he
has here proved, that, had his subject admitted it, it would have possessed
not less pathos than sublimity. S.
838. Adam the while, fyc. : Andromache is thus described as amusing her-
self, and preparing for the return of Hector, not knowing that he was
already slain by Achilles, Horn. Iliad, xxii. 440, &c. N.
845. Divine of something ill : Foreboding or suspecting ill ; a Latin phrase,
as in Hor. Od. iii. 27 : 10 :
" Imfirium divina avis imminentium."
N.
8-16. He the j Wring measure felt : This phrase may be interpreted either
in a moral or physical sense : in the first, it would mean, that he had a pre-
sentiment of the faulty act of his absent partner, for the primary, though
now obsolete meaning of the word faltering, is defective, faulty. The other
sense is thus given by Patrick Hume. He found his heart kept not true
time; he felt the false and intermitting measure the natural description of
our minds foreboding ill, by the unequal beatings of the heart and pulse.
851. That downy smiled: That covered with soft down, looked swettly.
z
402 PARADISE LOST.
New gather'd, and ambrosial smell diffused.
To him she hasted. In her face excuse
Came prologuc r and apology too prompt,
Which with bland words at will she thus addressed : 855
Hast thou not wonder'd, Adam, at my stay ?
Thee I have miss'd, and thought it long, deprived
Thy presence ; agony of love till now
Not felt ! nor shall be twice ; for never more
Mean I to try, what rash untried I sought, 860
The pain of absence from thy sight ! But strange
Hath been the cause, and wonderful to hear.
This tree is not, as we are told, a tree
Of danger tasted, nor to evil unknown
Opening the way, but of divine effect 865
To open eyes, and make them Gods who taste !
And hath been tasted such. The serpent wise,
Or not restrain'd as we, or not obeying,
Hath eaten of the fruit, and is become,
Not dead, as we are threatened, but thenceforth 870
Endued with human voice and human sense,
Reasoning to admiration ; and with me
Persuasively hath so prevailed, that I
Have also tasted, and have also found
Th' effects to correspond ; opener mine eyes, 875
Dim erst, dilated spirits, ampler heart,
And growing up to Godhead ; which for thee
Chiefly I sought ; without thee can despise :
For bliss, as thou hast part, to me is bliss ;
Virg. Eccl. ii. 51. "And ambrotial tmeU di/uted ;" a translation of Virg.
Georg. iv. 415. H.
854. Prologue : As an introduction to the discourse that followed. A pro-
logue is a term generally appropriated to the speech or ode that is delivered
just before a play commences. Hence the fitness of it to express the abore
idea.
864. Tatttd: (When) tasted
875. Openrr mine eyet : More open are mine eyes.
876. Dilated tpiritt : Animal vigour or excitability is increased.
879. jf< : As far as, or, to what extent.
BOOK ;x. 403
Tedious, unshared with thee, and odious soon. 880
Thou therefore also taste, that equal lot
May join us, equal joy, as equal love !
Lest thou not tasting, different degree
Disjoin us, and I then too late renounce
Deity for thee, when Fate will not permit. 885
Thus Eve, with count'nance blithe, her story told ;
But in her cheek distemper flushing glow'd.
On th' other side, Adam, soon as he heard
The fatal trespass done by Eve, amazed,
Astonied stood and blank, while horror chill 890
Ran through his veins, and all his joints relax'd ;
From his slack hand the garland, wreath'd for Eve,
Down dropt, and all the faded roses shed.
Speechless he stood and pale, till thus at length,
First to himself, he inward silence broke : 895
fairest of creation, last and best
Of all God's works, Creature in whom excell'd
Whatever can to sight or thought be form'd,
Holy, divine, good, amiable, or sweet !
How art thou lost ! how on a sudden lost ! 900
Defaced, deflow'r'd, and now to death devote !
Rather, How hast thou yielded, to transgress
The strict forbiddance ? how to violate
The sacred fruit forbidden ? Some cursed fraud
890-91. Blank, $c. : Virg. &n. ii. 120
" Obstupuere animis, geliduiqae per iraa cacurrit
OSM tremor."
Also, xii. 951 :
" 111! tolrantur frigore membra."
H.
892-3. Down dropt : The beauty and expressiveness of the numbers, as
well as the beauty of the image here, must strike every reader. N.
901. Devote: Devoted. " Devota morti pectora liberap," Hor. Od. iv.
14: 18.
This line is a good example of alliteration : defaced, deflower 3 'rf, devote. The
ancient poets were fond of this peculiarity of diction. Among the moderns
Dryden regarded it as a great attainment in the art of versification. In the
use of it Milton but seldom indulged, and has thus shown his good taste
404 PARADISE LOST.
Of enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown, 905
And me with thee hath ruin'd ! for with thee
Certain my resolution is to die.
How can I live without thee ! how forego
Thy sweet converse and love so dearly join'd,
To live again in these wild woods forlorn ! 910
Should God create another Eve, and I
Another rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart. No, no, I feel
The link of nature draw me : flesh of flesh,
Bone of my bone thou art ; and from thy state 915
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.
So having said, as one from sad dismay
Recomforted, and after thoughts disturb'd
Submitting to what seem'd remediless,
Thus in calm mood his words to Eve he turn'd : 920
Bold deed thou hast presumed, advent'rous Eye,
And peril great provoked, who thus hast dared,
Had it been only coveting to eye
That sacred fruit, sacred to abstinence,
Much more to taste it, under ban to touch. 925
But past who can recall, or done undo ?
Not God omnipotent, nor Fate : yet so
Perhaps thou shalt not die ; perhaps the fact
909. So dearly joined : The line may be thus interpreted : The sweet con-
verse and love of thee, so dearly joined to me.
910. Wild unodt forlorn: How vastly expressive are these words, of
Adam's tenderness and affection for Eve, as they imply that the mere ima-
gination of losing her had already converted the sweets of Paradise into the
horrors of a desolate wilderness. TIIYER.
913. Wmdd never be absent from, ffc.
920. Thut. tp. : He had, till now, been speaking to himself. Now his
speech turns to Eve, but not with violence not with noise and rage. It is
a deep, considerate melancholy. The line cannot be pronounced but as it
ought slowly, gravely. R.
925. San: Prohibition.
928. Perhapt thou thalt not die : How just a picture does Milton here give
us of the natural imbecility of the human mind, and its aptness to be warped
BOOK IX. 405
Is not so heinous now, foretasted fruit,
Profaned first by the serpent, by him first 930
Made common and unhallow'd ere our taste ;
Nor yet on him found deadly, he yet lives ;
Lives, as thou saidst, and gains to live as Man
Higher degree of life : inducement strong
To us, as likely tasting, to attain 935
Proportional ascent, which cannot be
But to be Gods, or Angels, Domi-Gods.
Nor can I think that God, Creator wise,
Though threat'ning, will in earnest so destroy
Us his prime creatures, dignify'd so high, 940
Set over all his works, which in our fall,
For us created, needs with us must fail,
Dependent made : so God shall uncreate,
Be frustrate, do, undo, and labour lose,
Not well conceived of God, who tho' his pow'r 945
Creation could repeat, yet would be loth
Us to abolish, lest the Adversary
Triumph and say, Fickle their state whom God
Most favours : who can please him long ? Me first
He ruin'd, now Mankind. Whom will he next ? 950
Matter of scorn, not to be giv'n the Foe.
However, I with thee have fix'd my lot,
Certain to undergo like doom. If death
Consort with thee, death is to me as life :
So forcible within ray heart I feel 955
into false judgments and reasonings by passion and inclination. Adam had
but just condemned the action of Eve in eating the forbidden fruit, and yet,
drawn by his fondness for her. immediately summons all the force of his
reason to prove what she had done to be right a proof of our author's ex-
quisite knowledge of human nature. Reason, too often, is but little better
than a slave, ready, at the beck of the will, to dress up in plausible colours
any opinions that our interest or resentment have made agreeable to us.
THYEE.
93fl. Jit likely tatting : That is, since there was a probability that w
would taste.
944 Fnutratt: Disappointed
406 PARADISE LOST.
The bond of nature draw me to my own,
My own in thee ! for what thou art is mine !
Our state cannot be severed ; we are one,
One flesh. To lose thee were to lose myself.
So Adam ; and thus Eve to him replied : 960
glorious trial of exceeding love !
Illustrious evidence ! example high !
Engaging me to emulate, but, short
Of thy perfection, how shall I attain,
Adam ? from whose dear side I boast me sprung, 965
And gladly of our union hear thee speak,
One heart, one soul in both ; whereof good proof
This day affords, declaring thee resolved,
Rather than death or aught than death more dread
Shall separate us, link'd in love so dear, 970
To undergo with me one guilt, one crime,
If any be, of tasting this fair fruit,
Whose virtue (for of good still good proceeds,
Direct, or by occasion) hath presented
This happy trial of thy love, which else 975
So eminently never had been known.
Were it I thought death menaced would ensue
This my attempt, I would sustain alone
The worst, and not persuade thee : rather die
Deserted, than oblige thee with a fact 980
Pernicious to thy peace, chiefly assured
Remarkably so late of thy so true,
So faithful love, uncqual'd ; but I feel
Far otherwise th' event ; not death, but life
Augmented, open'd eyes, new hopes, new joys, 985
969. Rather than death : Rather than that death, &c.
977. Were it that I thought, $c.
980. Oblige thee with a fact : Bind thee with a deed that is, in plainer
language, bind thee to punishment on account of this act. See Hor. Od. ii.
8: 5:
" Bed tu iimul obligmiti
PerfiJum votji cuput."
984. Event : Event (will be)
BOOK IX.
407
Taste so divine, that what of sweet before
Hath touch'd my sense, flat seems to this, and harsh.
On my experience, Adam, freely taste ;
And fear of death deliver to the winds.
So saying, she embraced him, and for joy 990
Tenderly wept ; much won that he his love
Had so ennobled, as of choice t' incur
Divine displeasure for her sake, or death.
In recompense (for such compliance bad
Such recompense best merits) from the bough 995
She gave him of that fair enticing fruit
With liberal hand : he scrupled not to eat
Against his better knowledge ; not deceived,
But fondly overcome, with female charm.
Earth trembled from her entrails, as again 1000
In pangs ; and Nature gave a second groan ;
Sky lour'd, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops
Wept at completing of the mortal sin
Original ; while Adam took no thought,
Eating his fill ; nor Eve to iterate 1005
Her former trespass fear'd, the more to sooth
Him with her loved society, that now,
989. Winds : A proverbial expression. See Hor. Od. i. 26 : 1 :
" Tristitiam et metus
Tradam protervU in mare Creticum
Portare ventit.''
990. There is great beauty, and the truest passion, in this picture of Eve.
It well prepares the mind for the fall of Adam, who is represented as sin-
ning more through the intoxication of love and fondness, than any ignorance
of his danger. S.
998-99. Paul declares " Adam was not deceived, but the woman," &c.,
1 Tim. ii. 14. He is charged, Gen. iii. 17, with hearkening to the voice of
his wife, in view of which we may say with Virgil, JEn. iv. 412 :
" Improbe amor, quid non mortali.i pectora cogis !"
997-1003. He tcrupled not, tfc. : When Adam participated with his wife
in guilt, the whole creation is a second time convulsed. Compare note on
780. As all nature suffered by the gnilt of our first parents, these symptoms
of trouble and consternation are wonderfully imagined, not only as prodigies,
but aa marks of her sympathizing in th fall of man. A.
408 PARADISE LOST.
As with new wine intoxicated both,
They swim in mirth, and fancy that they feel
Divinity within them breeding wings 1010
Wherewith to scorn the earth : but that false fruit
Far other operation first display'd,
Carnal desire inflaming : he on Evo
Began to cast lascivious eyes ; she him
As wantonly repaid. In lust they burn : 1015
Till Adam thus 'gan Eve to dalliance move :
Eve, now I see thou art exact of taste,
And elegant, of sapience no small part,
. Since to each meaning savour we apply,
And palate call judicious. I the praise 1020
Yield thee, so well this day thou hast purvey'd.
Much pleasure we have lost while we abstain'd
From this delightful fruit, nor known till now
True relish, tasting. If such pleasure bo
In things to us forbidd'n, it might be wish'd, 1025
For this one tree had been forbidden ten.
But come, so well refresh 'd, now let us play,
As meet is, after such delicious fare ;
For never did thy beauty since the day
I saw thee first and wedded thee, adorn'd 1030
With all perfections, so inflame my sense
With ardour to enjoy thee ; fairer now
1008. Intoxicated, <$r. : The secret intoxication of pleasure, with all those
transient flushings of guilt and joy, which the poet represents in our first
parent* upon their eating the forbidden fruit, and those flaggings of spirit,
those damps of sorrow, and mutual accusations which succeed it, are con-
ceived with a wonderful imagination, and described in very natural senti-
ments. A.
1017-20. Exact and elegant corporeal taste is here pronounced to be no small
part of tapience. since sapience (or savour) has the meaning of taste as well
as of wisdom, or good sense. We also give to the palate (the organ 01 taste)
the epithet judicious, an epithet which is applied more commonly to an in-
tellectual act. Sapience and savour are derived from the same root, tapio. ana
are used by Milton iu this passage as synonymous. The primary mean-
ing of tapio is, to hact a tattt or rdtth, to favour: the derivative meaning is
to be wist, to be potteittil of judgment. Thus to the palate as well as to tht
understanding tavour u applied (1019.)
BOOK IT. 409
Than ever, bounty of this virtuous tree.
So said he ; and forbore not glance or toy
Of amorous intent : well understood 1035
Of Eve, whose eye darted contagious fire
Her hand he seized, and to a shady bank,
Thick overhead with verdant roof imbower'd,
He led her, nothing loth. Flow'rs were the couch,
Pansies, and violets, and asphodel, 1040
And hyacinth, earth's freshest softest lap.
There they their fill of love and love's disport
Took largely, of their mutual guilt the seal,
The solace of their sin, till dewy sleep
Oppress'd them, wearied with their amorous play. 1045
Soon as the force of that fallacious fruit,
That with exhilarating vapour bland
About their spirits had play'd, and inmost pow'rs
Made err, was now exhaled, and grosser sleep
Bred of unkindly fumes, with conscious dreams 1050
Incumber'd, now had left them, up they rose
As from unrest, and each the other viewing,
Soon found their eyes how open'd, and their minds
How darken'd. Innocence, that as a veil
Had shadow'd them from knowing ill, was gone ;
Just confidence, and native righteousness, 1055
1033. Virtuou* tret : Tree having powerful properties, or producing great
effects.
1034. Toy, tfc. : Sport. What a striking contrast does this description of the
amorous follies of our first parents, after the fall, make to that lively picture
of the same passion in its state of innocence in the preceding Book, 510.
THYEB.
1045. The preceding passage is principally copied from Homeland would
be exceptionable did it not form part of the moral of the poem.
That which seems in Homer an impious fiction, becomes a moral lesson in
Milton, since he makes that lascivious rage of the passions the immediate
effect of the sin of our first parents after the fall. N.
1049. Gmiser deep, fc. : Very unlike the sleep they enjoyed in a state of
innocence, V. 35.
1055. Knowing ill : Being conscious of ill, or of ill-doing.
IS
410 PARADISE LOST.
And honour from about them, naked left
To guilty shame ; he cover'd, hut bis robe
Uncover'd more. So rose the Danite strong^
Herculean Samson, from the harlot-lap 1060
Of Philistean Dalilah, and waked
Shorn of his strength ; they destitute and bare
Of all their virtue : silent, and in face
Confounded long they sat, as stricken mute,
Till Adam, though not less than Eve abash'd, 1065
At length gave utt'rance to these words, constrain 'd :
O Eve ! in evil hour thou didst give ear
To that false worm, of whomsoever taught
To counterfeit Man's voice ; true in our fall,
False in our promised rising ! Since our eyes 1070
Open'd we find indeed, and find we know
Both good and evil ; good lost, and evil got !
Bad fruit of knowledge, if this be to know,
Which leaves us naked thus, of honour void,
Of innocence, of faith, of purity, 1075
Our wonted ornaments now soil'd and stain'd,
And in our faces evident the signs
Of foul concupiscence ; whence evil store ;
E'en shame, the last of evils : of the first
1057. From about them (was gone).
1058. He covered : Shame covered. Shame is here personified.
1059. Samson was of the tribe of Dan. So rote: Jl rose, &c.
1067. Eve in evil hour, tfc. : As this whole transaction between Adam
and Eve is manifestly copied from the episode of Jupiter and Juno on Mount
Ida (Iliad xiv.), as it has many of the same circumstances, and often the very
words translated, so it concludes exactly after the same manner, in a quarrel.
Adam awake* much in the same humour as Jupiter, and their cases are
somewhat parallel : they are both overcome by their fondness to their wives,
and are sensible of their error too late, and then their love turns to resent-
ment, and they grow angry with their wives, when they should rather have
been angry with themselves for their weakness in hearkening to them. N
1068. False worm: That is, serpent. It is a general name for the reptile
kind, as in VII. 476. N.
1078. Whenrt nil ttart : Whence there i rtor*, or abundance of eviU.
BOOK IX. 411
Be sure then. How shall I behold the face 1080
Henceforth of God or Angel, erst with joy
And rapture so oft beheld ? those heav'nly shapes
Will dazzle now this earthly with their blaze,
Insufferably bright ! might I here
In solitude live savage, in some glade 1085
Obscured, where highest woods impenetrable
To star or sun-light, spread their umbrage broad,
And brown as ev'ning ! Cover me, ye Pines ;
Ye Cedars, with innumerable boughs
Hide me, where I may never see them more ! 1090
But let us now as in bad plight, devise
What best may for the present serve to hide
The parts of each from other, that seem most
To shame obnoxious, and unseemliest seen ;
Some tree, whose broad smooth leaves together sew'd, 1095
And girded on our loins, may cover round
Those middle parts, that this new comer, Shame,
There sit not, and reproach us as unclean.
So counsel'd he ; and both together went
Into the thickest wood ; there soon they chose 1100
The fig-tree ; not that kind for fruit renown'd,
But such as at this day, to Indians known
In Malabar or Deccan, spreads her arras
1095. Leave* together sewed, &fc. : The sacred text, Gen. iii. 7, 'says that
they tewed fig leave* together, and Milton adheres to the Scripture expression
(in our translation) , which has given occasion to the sneer, What could they
do for needles and thread ? But the original Hebrew text signifies no more
than they twisted (tied or fastened) the young twigs of the fig-tree round
about their waists, in the manner of a Roman crown (laurel wreath worn
about the head) ; for which purpose the fig-tree, more than all others, espe
cially in those Eastern countries, was the most serviceable, because it has,
as Pliny says, lib. xvi. cap. 26, folium maximum, umbrosissimumque, the
greatest and most shady leaf. Our author follows the best commentators in
supposing that this was the Indian fig-tree, the account of which he borrows
from Pliny, lib. xii. cap. 5, as Pliny had from Theophrastus. It was not that
kind for fruit renoiro'rf, and Pliny says that the largeness of the leaves nin-
th red the fruit from growing. Jf-
1103. Mulii/Mi,- : The southwestern coast of the peninsula of Hindustan.
412 PARADISE LOST.
Branching BO broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow 1105
About the mother-tree, a pillar'd shade
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between :
There oft the Indian herdsman, shunning heat,
Shelters in cool, and tends his pasturing herds
At loop-holes cut through thickest shade. Those leaves 1110
They gather'd, broad as Amazonian targe,
And with what skill they had together sew'd,
To gird their waist. Vain covering, if to hide
Their guilt and dreaded shame ! how unlike
To that first naked glory ! Such of late 1115
Columbus found th' American, so girt
With feather'd cincture, naked else and wild
Among the trees on isles and woody shores.
Thus fenced, and as they thought, their shame in part
Cover'd, but not at rest or ease of mind, 1 120
They sat them down to weep ; not only tears
Ilain'd at their eyes, but high winds worse within
Began to rise, high passions, anger, hate,
Mistrust, suspicion, discord, and shook sore
Their inward state of mind : calm region once 1125
And full of peace, now tost and turbulent ;
For understanding ruled not, and the will
Heard not her lore, both in subjection now
To sensual appetite, who from beneath
Usurping over sov'reign reason, claim 'd 1130
Superior sway. From thus distemper'd breast,
Adam, estranged in look and alter 'd style,
Speech intermitted thus to Eve renew'd :
Dercan : the remainder of that peninsula, stretching from the Nubuddah River
to Cape Comorin.
1104-10. A beautiful and concise description, founded on Pliny's account,
of the banyan (or fig) tree. There is in India a tree of this kind measuring
two thousand feet in circumference, and boasting of thirteen hundred and fifty
trunks.
1117. Feathered cincture A girdle of feathers.
1128. Lore: Lesson.
BOOK IX. 413
Would thou hadst hearken'd to iny words, and stay'd
With me, as I besought thee, when that strange 1135
Desire of wand'ring this unhappy morn,
I know not whence, possess'd thee ; we had then
Remain'd still happy, not, as now, despoil'd
Of all our good, shamed, naked, miserable.
Let none henceforth seek needless cause to approve 1140
The faith they owe : when earnestly they seek
Such proof, conclude, they then begin to fail.
To whom, soon moved with touch of blame, thus Eve :
What words have pass'd thy lips, Adam, severe !
Imput'st thou that to my default, or will 1145
Of wand'ring, as thou call'st it, which who knows
But might as ill have happen'd thou being by,
Or to thyself perhaps ? Hadst thou been there,
Or here th' attempt, thou couldst not have discern'd
Fraud in the Serpent, speaking as he spake ; 1150
No ground of enmity between us known,
Why he should mean me ill, or seek to harm.
Was I to have never parted from thy side ?
As good have grown there still, a lifeless rib !
Being as I am, why didst not thou, the head, 1155
Command me absolutely not to go,
Going into such danger as thou saidst ?
Too facile then thou didst not much gainsay,
Nay, didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss.
Hadst thou been firm and fix'd in thy dissent, 1160
Neither had I transgress'd, nor thou with me.
To whom then, first incensed, Adam replied :
Is this the love, is this the recompense
Of mine to thee, ingrateful Eve, express'd
Immutable when thou wert lost, not I ; 1165
1140. Approve: Prove, put to the test; as Eve had boasted (335).
1149. Or here the attempt had been made. 1141. Faith: Fidelity.
1158. Facilt: Easy. 1159. Fair: Courteously.
1162. Fir it incensed: As Adam is now first angry, his speech is abrupt and
his sentences broken. N.
414 PARADISE LOST.
Who might have lived and joy'd immortal bibs,
Yet willingly chose rather death with thee ?
And am I now upbraided as the cause
Of thy transgressing ? not enough severe,
It seems, in thy restraint. What could I more ? 1170
I warn'd thec, I admonish'd thee, foretold
The danger, and the lurking enemy
That lay in wait. Beyond this had been force ;
And force upon free-will hath here no place.
But confidence then bore thee on, secure 1175
Either to meet no danger, or to find
Matter of glorious trial ; and perhaps
I also err'd in overmuch admiring
What seem'd in thee so perfect, that I thought
No evil durst attempt thee ; but I rue 1180
That error now, which is become my crime,
And thou th' accuser. Thus it shall befall
Him who, to worth in woman over-trusting,
Lets her will rule. Restraint she will not brook ;
And left to herself, if evil thence ensue, 1186
She first his weak indulgence will accuse.
Thus they in mutual accusation spent
The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning :
And of their vain contest appear'd no end.
1166. Joy'd: Enjoyed.
1170. In thy restraint: In the restraint of thee.
1183. In woman: This reading is preferable to Bishop Newton'* (women)
and approved by him ; but, further, it has the authority of Milton himself
V. 333-34.
BOOK X.
THE ARGUMENT.
MAN'S transgression known, the guardian angels forsake Paradise, and re-
turn up to Heaven to approve their vigilance, and are approved, God declaring
that the entrance of Satan could not be by them prevented. He sends his
Son to judge the transgressors, who descends and gives sentence accordingly ;
then in pity clothes them both, and re-ascends. Sin and Death, sitting till
then at the gates of Hell, by wondrous sympathy feeling the success of Satan
in this new world, and the sin by Man there committed, resolve to sit no
longer confined in Hell, but to follow Satan, their sire, up to the place of Man.
To make the wa)* easier from Hell to this world to and fro, they pave a
broad highway or bridge over Chaos, according to the track that Satan first
made ; then, preparing for Earth, they meet him, proud of his success, re-
turning to Hell ; their mutual gratulation. Satan arrives at Pandemonium ; in
full assembly relates with boasting his success against Man ; instead of ap-
plause, is entertained with a general hiss by all his audience, transformed
with himself also suddenly into serpents, according to his doom given in
Paradise ; then, deluded with a show of the forbidden tree springing up before
them, they, greedily reaching to take of the fruit, chew dust and bitter ashes.
The proceedings of Sin and Death ; God foretells the final victory of his Son
over them, and the renewing of all things ; but for the present commands his
angels to make several alterations in the heavens and elements. Adam, more
and more perceiving his fallen condition, heavily bewails, rejects the condole-
ment of Eve ; she persists, and at length appeases him ; then, to evade the
curse likely to fall on their offspring, proposes to Adam violent ways, which
he approves not ; but, conceiving better hope, puts her in mind of the late
promise made them, that her Seed should be revenged on the Serpent ; and
exhorts her with him to seek peace of the offended Deity, by repentance and
supplication.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
CEBTAIWLT Milton has in this Book shown to an amazing extent all tfte
variety of his powers in striking contrast with each other : the sublimity of
the celestial persons ; the gigantic wickedness of the infernal ; the mingled
excellence and human infirmities of Adam and Eve ; and the shadowy and
terrific beings, Sin and Death. Of any other poet, the imagination would
have been exhausted in the preceding Books ; in Milton, it still gathers
strength and grows bolder and bolder, and darts with more expanded wings.
When Sin and Death deserted the gates of Hell, and made their way to Earth,
the conception and expression of all the circumstances are of a supernatural
force.
I see no adequate reason why the whole of an Epic poem should (may)
not consist of allegorical or shadowy beings; nor do I see why they should
(may) not be mixed in action with those imaginary persons who represent
realities. Certainly the poetical parts of the Scriptures everywhere embody
such shadowy existences. (See note on 230.)
Sin and Death might have flown through the air from Hell to Earth, as
shadowy personifications, without the aid of a bridge of matter ; but this
ought not to have prohibited the poet from picturing a bridge of matter, if
his imagination led him to that device. It was intended to typify the facility
of access contrived by Sin and Death from Hell to this terrestrial globe, not
only for themselves, but for all their ministers and innumerable followers.
The moral is obvious : what is intended to be conveyed is, though figuratively
told, in perfect concurrence with our faith, instead of shocking it. We must
cut away all the most impressive parts of poetry, if we do not allow these
figurative inventions.
It may be admitted that it requires a rich mind duly to enjoy and appre-
ciate these grand and spiritual agencies. They, therefore, who have cold
conceptions, eagerly catch hold of these censures to justify their own insen-
sibility ; they ran understand illustrations drawn from objects daily in solid
forms before their eyes. But it is not only in the description of forms and
actions that the bard has a strength and brilliance so wonderful ; he is equally
happy in the sentiments he attributes to each personage. All speak their
own distinct characters, with a justness and individuality which meet instant
recognition, and waken an indescribable assent and pleasure. Thus Adam
BOOK X. 417
and Eve, when they know the displeasure of tne Almighty, and are over-
whelmed with fear and remorse, each express themselves according to their
separate casts of mind, disposition, and circumstances : their moans are deeply
affecting. To my taste, this Book is much more lofty and much more pa-
thetic, than the Ninth : as the subject was much more difficult, so it is
executed with much more wonderful vigour and originality.
The whole of " Paradise Lost," from beginning to end, is part of one inse-
parable web ; and however beautiful detached parts may appear, not half
their genius or wisdom can be felt or understood except in connexion with
the whole.
Such is the erudition applied to this most wonderful work, that nothing less
than the conjoined attempts of a whole body of learned men for a century
have been able to explain its inexhaustible allusions ; and even yet the task
is not completed. . B.
A A
BOOK X.
MEANWHILE the hainous and despiteful act
Of Satan dene in Paradise, and how
He in the serpent had perverted Eve,
Her husband she, to taste the fatal fruit,
Was known in Heav'n : for what can 'scape the eye 5
Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart
Omniscient ! who in all things wise and just,
Hinder 'd not Satan to attempt the mind
Of Man, with strength entire, and free-will ann'd
Complete to have discover'd and repulsed 10
Whatever wiles of foe or seeming friend.
For still they knew, and ought to have still remember'd
The high injunction not to taste that fruit, .
Whoever tempted : which they not obeying,
Incurred (what could they less ?) the penalty, 15
12. They: The antecedent is Man (9) in a collective sense, embracing
Adam and Eve. So in Gen. i. 26, " Let us make Man in our image, and let
them have dominion," &c.
1415. Which they not obeying incurred, fff. : On considering the nature
of this command, we may confidently affirm, says Dr. Harris, that had it re-
mained inviolate, no one would ever have thought of impeaching its rectitude
or propriety ; but that all would have joined in admiring its simplicity, easi-
ness, and adaptation, and in adoring the sovereign goodness of the Lawgiver.
Or, even when violated, had the attendant penalty been a mere momentary
infliction on the transgressor, each of all his posterity would doubtless have
BOOK X. 41P
Aud manifold in sin, deserved to fall.
Up into Heav'n from Paradise in baste
Th' Angelic guards ascended, mute and sad
acquiesced in the Divine arrangement. The quarrel is, then, not with the
nature of the law, but with the supposed consequmces of its violation. Its
character is left unconsidered. and all that is thought of is its issue. And
thus, indulging in the very spirit which led to the transgression of the law,
men judge of its character by its results. The first transgressors acted on the
persuasion that, judging by the fallacious advantage of its violation, it would
be better to break it than to keep it. Their posterity are apt to think that
it would have been better had it not been enacted ; both uniting in the im-
plied sentiment, that man's will, and not God's, should rule. The first law
appears to be as good a test still, of man's moral disposition, as it was on the
day of its Divine appointment
Dr. Harris further remarks, that the particular prohibition was only the
indirect occasion of transgression. The same spirit of disobedience would
have been developed, it may be assumed, in some other manner (although
not necessarily) , even if that prohibition had never existed. Indeed the pro-
bability is, that the probationary arrangement did not even hasten the moment
of transgression, but actually delayed it ; for had not the entrance of evil been
provided against at every avenue save one, the likelihood is that it would,
in however a mitigated form, have earlier made its appearance. Neither
must it be imagined that the outward act itself constituted the guilt of the
first transgressor. This was only the external manifestation of the fatal
change within. Had the forbidden object eluded his grasp, or vanished from
his sight as he essayed to take it, the sin would yet have been completed in
purpose, and, therefore, in the eye of God and of conscience, though still in-
complete in outward and muscular action. So that the consequences which
ensued are not to be viewed as resulting from the outward breach of a posi-
tive law, however reasonable and benevolent that law might be, but from
that breach as indicating the internal change of man's nature, or his disregard
to the will of God formally and solemnly expressed.
For a full discussion of this subject, and masterly vindication of the Divine
permission of the introduction of sin into the world, consult the " Man Pri-
meval" of Dr. Harris, pp. 392-418.
16. Manifold in sin : Having committed a complicated sin, involving dis-
obedience, unbelief, uxoriousness, self-will, and other irregularities.
18. The angelic guards, $c.: The Tenth Book of Paradise Lost has a
greater variety of persons in it than any other in the whole poem. The
author, upon the winding up of his action, introduces all those who had any
concern in it, and shows with great beauty the influence which it had upon
each of them. It is the last act of a well-written tragedy, in which all who
had a part in it are generally drawn up before the audience, and represented
420 PARADISE LOST.
For Man ; for of bis state by this they knew,
Much wood 'ring bow tbc subtle fiend bad stolen 20
Entrance unseen. Soon as th' unwelcome news
From Earth arrived at Heaven-gate, displeased
All were wbo beard : dim sadness did not spare
That time celestial visages ; yet, ruix'd
With pity, violated not their bliss. 26
About the new-arrived, in multitudes
Th' ethereal people ran, to hear and know
How all befell : they tow'rds the throne supreme,
Accountable, made baste to make appear
With righteous plea their utmost vigilance. 30
And easily approved ; when the Most High
Eternal Father, from his secret cloud,
Amidst, in thunder utter'd thus his voice :
Assembled Angels, and ye Pow'rs returned
From unsuccessful charge, be not dismay'd 35
Nor troubled at these tidings from the earth,
under those circumstances in which the determination of the action places
them.
This book may be considered under four heads ; in relation to the celestial,
the infernal, the human, and the imaginary persons, who have their respec-
tive parts allotted in it.
The guardian angels of Paradise are described as returning to Heaven upon
the fall of man, in order to prove their vigilance : their arrival, their manner
of reception, the sorrow which appeared in themselves and in those spirits
who are said to rejoice at the conversion of a sinner, are very finely laid to-
gether in the lines quoted. A.
19. By thit (time).
23. Dim $adntts. Iff. : What a just and noble idea does our author here
give us of the blessedness of a benevolent temper, and how proper at the
same time to obviate the objection that might be made of sadness dwelling
in heavenly spirits. THYER.
It is plain that Milton conceived sadness mixed with pity to be more consistent
with heavenly bliss, than sadness without that compassionate temper. There
is something pleasing, something divine even, in the melancholy of a merciful
mind. And this (adds Mr. Thyer) might be further confirmed by the de-
light we take in tragical representations upon the stage, where the pleasure
rises from sympathizing with the distresses of our fellow-creatures, and in-
dulgiug a commiserating temper. N.
BOOK X. 421
Which your sincerest care could not prevent,
Foretold so lately what would come to pass,
When first this tempter cross 'd the gulf from Hell.
I told ye then he should prevail and speed 40
On his bad errand ; Man should be seduced
And flatter'd out of all, believing lies
Against his Maker ; no decree of mine
Concurring to necessitate his fall,
Or touch with lightest moment of impulse 45
His free-will, to her own inclining left
In even scale. But fall'n he is ; and now
What rests, but that the mortal sentence pass
On his transgression, death denounced that day ;
Which he presumes already vain and void, 50
Because not yet inflicted, as he fear'd,
By some immediate stroke ; but soon shall find
Forbearance no acquittance, ere day end.
Justice shall not return as bounty scorn'd.
But whom send I to judge them ? Whom but thee, 55
Vicegerent Son ? To thee I have transferred
All judgment, whether in Heav'n, or Earth, or Hell.
Easy it may be seen that I intend
Mercy colleague with justice, sending thee
Man's Friend, his Mediator, his design'd 60
Both Ransom and Redeemer voluntary,
And destined Man himself to judge Man fall'n.
So spake the Father, and unfolding bright
Tow'rd the right hand his glory, on the Son
Blazed forth unclouded Deity : he full 65
Resplendent all his Father manifest
Exprcss'd, and thus divinely answer'd mild :
40. I told ye then, (fc. : See Book III. 86-96.
42. Believing lie* againtt hit Maker : Such as Satan had suggested, that all
things did not proceed from God, that God kept the forbidden fruit from them
out of envy, &c. -N.
45. Moment : Force, VI. 239. 48. Rests : Remains.
57. Mljudgntnt: John v. 22-27. 59. Psalm Ixxxv. 10.
422 PARADISE LOST.
Father Eternal, thine is to decree ;
Mine, both in Heav'n and Earth, to do thy will
Supreme, that thou in ine, thy Son beloved, 70
May'st ever rest well pleased. I go to judge
On earth these thy transgressors ; but thou know'st,
Whoever judged, the worst on me must light,
When time shall be, for so I undertook
Before thee ; and not repenting, tfcfe obtain 75
Of right, that I may mitigate their doom
On me derived ; yet I shall temper so
Justice with mercy, as may illustrate most
Them fully satisfy'd, and thee appease.
Attendance none shall need, nor train where none 80
Are to behold the judgment, but the judged,
Those two. The third, best absent, is condemn'd,
Convict by flight, and rebel to all law :
Conviction to the serpent none belongs.
Thus saying, from his radiant seat he rose 85
Of liigh collat'ral glory : him Thrones and Pow'rs,
Princedoms and Dominations ministrant,
72. I go to judge: The same Divine Person who in the foregoing puts ol
this poem (Book III. 236) interceded for our first parents before their fall
overthrew the rebel angels, and created the world, is now represented as de-
scending to Paradise, and pronouncing sentence upon the three offenders.
The cool of the evening being a circumstance with which holy writ intro-
duces this great scene, it is poetically described by our author (92-103) , who
has also kept religiously to the form of words in which the three several
sentences were passed upon Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. He has rathe'
chosen to neglect the melodiousness of his verse, than to deviate from those
speeches which are recorded on this great occasion. The guilt and confusion
of our first parents, standing naked before their judge, are touched with great
beauty. A.
74. & I undertook, $e. : Book III. 236, &c.
78. Illustrate mott : Most clearly show.
80. Shall need: Shall be necessary, as in Book III. 341.
84. Conviction notte belong* : No proof is needful against the serpent, com-
pelled by Satan to be the ignorant instrument of his malice against mankind,
now mute and unable to answer for himself. H.
86. Collateral glory . Side-by-side, or equal, glory, VIII. 426; IV. 485.
BOOK x. 423
Accompanied to Heaven-gate ; from whence
Eden and all the coast in prospect lay.
Down he descended straight : the speed of Gods 90
Time counts not, tho' with swiftest minutes wing'd
Now was the sun in western cadence low
From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour
To fan the earth, now waked, and usher in
The ev'ning cool, when he, from wrath more cool, 95
Came the mild Judge and Intercessor both,
To sentence Man. The voice of God they heard
Now walking in the garden, by soft winds
Brought to their ears, while day declined : they heard,
And from his presence hid themselves among 100
The thickest trees, both man and wife, till God
Approaching, thus to Adam call'd aloud :
Where art thou, Adam ? wont with joy to meet
My coming, seen far off ! I miss thee here,
Not pleased, thus entertain'd with solitude, 105
Where obvious duty erewhile appear'd unsought :
Or come I less conspicuous ? or what change
Absents thee, or what chance detains ? Come forth '
He came, and with him Eve, more loth, tho' first
T' offend ; discount'nanced both, and discomposed : 110
92. Cadence: Decline.
98. Walking: This word is to be joined, not with "Lord," but with
u voice," as it is in the original (in Genesis) the same word with that used
to signify the sound of the trumpet upon Mount Sinai, Ex. xix. 19, " And
when the voice of the trumpet sounded long (Heb. ' walked' )." A voice may
be said to walk or go when it increases in intensity, waxing louder and louder.
The same term is applied to a constantly brightening light. Prov. iv. 18,
u Shineth more and more (Heb. ' walketh') to the perfect day." BOSH on
Genesis.
The phrase " Voice of the Lord God," is usually applied to thunder, Job
xxxvii. 4, 5 ; Ps. xxix. 3-9 ; but seems here to denote the act of calling to
Adam. See 119-21.
102. See Gen. iii. It is curious to observe how the poet paraphrases and
enlarges upon the divine historian. N.
100. Obvious duty : Open, manifest respect or dutifulness. Erewhile : A
short while since.
424 PARADISE LOST.
Love was not in their looks, either to God
Or to each other, but apparent guilt,
And shame, and perturbation, and despair,
^A-njrer, and obstinacy, and hate, and guile.
Whence Adam, fait. 'ring long, thus answer'd brief: 115
I heard thee in the garden, and of thy voice
Afraid, being naked, hid myself. To whom
The gracious Judge, without revile, replied :
My voice thou oft hast heard, and hast not fear'd,
But still rejoiced : how is it now become 120
So dreadful to thee r That thou'rt naked, who
Hath told thee ? Hast thou eaten of the tree
Whereof I gave thee charge thou shouldst not eat ?
To whom thus Adam, sore beset, replied :
Heav'n ! in evil strait this day I stand 125
Before my Judge, either to undergo
Myself the total crime, or to accuse
My other self, the partner of my life ;
Whose failing, while her faith to me remains,
1 should conceal, and not expose to blame 130
By my complaint ; but strict necessity
Subdues me, and calamitous constraint,
Lest on my head both sin and punishment,
However insupportable, be all
Devolved ; tho', should I hold my peace, yet thou 135
Wouldst easily detect what I conceal.
This Woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help,
And gav'st me as thy perfect gift, so good,
So fit, so acceptable, so divine,
That from her hand I could suspect no ill ; 140
And what she did, whatever in itself,
Her doing seem'd to justify the deed ;
1 14-15. He camt, tfe. : These two lines are so destitute of harmony as to
represent in sound the ideas of tardiness, difficulty, and hesitancy through
frar. C.
118. Revile: Reproof
130. &c. His unwillingness to accuse his wife, and yet the necessity of his
doing it, are finely imagined. N.
BOOK x. 425
She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
To whom the Sov'reign Presence thus replied :
Was she thy God, that her thou didst obey 145
Before his voice ? or was she made thy guide,
Superior, or but equal, that to her
Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place
Wherein God set thee 'bove her, made of thee,
And for thee, whose perfection far excell'd 150
Hers in all real dignity ? . Adorn 'd
She was indeed, and lovely to attract
Thy love, not thy subjection ; and her gifts
Were such as under government well seem'd,
Unseemly to bear rule, which was thy part 155
And person, had'st thou known thyself aright.
So having said, he thus to Eve in few :
Say, Woman, what is this which thou hast done ?
To whom sad Eve, with shame nigh overwhelm'd,
Confessing soon, yet not before her Judge 160
Bold or loquacious, thus abash 'd, replied :
The Serpent me beguiled, and I did eat.
Which when the Lord God heard, without delay
To judgment he proceeded on th' accused
Serpent, though brute, unable to transfer 105
The guilt on him who made him instrument
Of mischief, and polluted from the end
Of his creation : justly then accursed,
As vitiated in nature : more to know
Concern'd not Man (since he no further knew) 170
Nor alter'd his offence ; yet God at last
To Satan, first in sin, his doom applied,
Though in mysterious terms, judged as then best ;
And on the serpent thus his curse let fall :
151-52. The same idea was communicated by the angel Raphael, VIII.
568. Milton often thus inculcates the superior authority belonging to the
husband.
156. Perton is here used in the sense of the Latin persona (dramatis) , cha-
racter. It was thy part and thy character (in the drama of life) to bear rule,
157. hi few: In few (words).
426 PARADISE LOST.
Because thou bast done this, tbou art accursed 175
Above all cattle, each beast of the field ;
Upon thy belly grov'ling thou shalt go,
And dust shalt eat all the days of thy life.
Between thee and the Woman I will put
Enmity, and between thine and her seed : 180
Her Seed shall bruise thy head ; thou bruise his heel.
So spake this Oracle, then verify'd
175. This is taken from Genesis iii. 14, 15. The object of the curse in tms
ease was both the natural visible serpent employed as the instrument, and
Satan himself, by whom he was instigated. It was not the serpent alone,
and by itself, that tempted the first pair ; it was that animal, as moved and
impelled by the devil, which accomplished their ruin. The expressions used
in denouncing the sentence, appertain to both : not that a brute reptile could
really be guilty of sin, or a fit subject of punishment, but it is entirely in ac-
cordance with the usual method of the Divine dispensations to put some
token of displeasure upon the instrument of an offence, as well as upon the
offender who employs it. Thus the beast who had been lain with by man,
Lev. xx. 15, was to be burned to death as well as the man himself; and even
the censers of Korah and his companions were condemned as no longer fit to
be applied to a sacred use. This is done in order to express more forcibly
the Divine detestation of the act, while at the same time we may freely ad-
mit that the main weight of the curse undoubtedly fell upon the principal
agent, whose doom is mystically expressed in the terms appropriate to a
natural serpent. It may further be observed, in justification of the Divine
proceeding, that the brute serpent, in pursuance of this curse, probably suf-
fered no pain. It might be deteriorated as to its properties ; it might be
lowered in the scale of creation ; it might be transformed from a shape and
appearance the most beautiful in the eyes of men, into a form the most dis-
gusting ; and all this without any diminution of its corporeal pleasures.
Such a change involved no mental suffering, as it would in the case of a ra-
tional being subjected to like degradation. BUSH.
176-81. Our author was certainly here more in the right than ever, in ad-
hering religiously to the words of Scripture, though he has thereby spoiled
the harmony of his verse. N.
182- Oracle: Here is a manifest indication that, when Milton wrote this
passage, he thought Paraditt was chiefly regained at our Saviour's resurrec-
tion. This would have been a copious and sublime subject for a second poem.
In episodes he might have introduced his conception, birth, miracles, and the
entire history of his administration while on earth ; and I much grieve that,
instead of this, he should choose for the argument of his Paradise Regained
the fourth cliapter of Luke, the temptation in the wUdernet* ; a dry, barren, and
BOOK x. 427
When Jesus, Son of Mary, second Eve,
Saw Satan fall like lightning down from Heav'n,
Prince of the air ; then, rising from his grave, 185
Spoil'd principalities and pow'rs, triumph'd
In open show, and, with ascension bright,
Captivity led captive through the air.
The realm itself of Satan long usurp'd ;
Whom he shall tread at last under our feet ; 190
E'en he who now foretold bis fatal bruise,
And to the Woman thus his sentence turn'd :
Thy sorrow I will greatly multiply
By thy conception : Children thou shalt bring
In sorrow forth ; and to thy husband's will 195
Thine shall submit : he over thee shall rule.
On Adam last thus judgment he pronounced :
Because thou'st hearken'd to th' voice of thy wife,
And eaten of the tree, concerning which
I charged thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat thereof; 200
Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; thou in sorrow
Shalt eat thereof all the days of thy life :
Thorns also and thistles it shall bring thee forth
Unbid ; and thou shalt eat th' herb of the field ;
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, 205
Till thou return unto the ground ; for thou
Out of the ground wast taken (know thy birth) ;
For dust thou art, and shalt to dust return.
. So judged he Man, both Judge and Saviour sent,
And th' instant stroke of death, denounced that day, 210
Removed far off ; then pitying how they stood
Before him naked to the air, that now
Must suffer change, disdain'd not to begin
Thenceforth the form of servant to assume,
As when he wash'd his servants' feet ; so now, 215
As Father of his family, he clad
narrow ground to build an epic poem on. In that work he has amplified his
scanty materials to a surprising dignity, but yet being cramped down by a
wrong choice, without the expected applause. BENTLEY.
21C It was formerly believed that some animals shed their skins like
428 PARADISE LOST.
Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or slain,
Or as the snake with youthful coat repaid ;
And thought not much to clothe his enemies :
Nor he their outward only with the skins 220
Of beasts, but inward nakedness, much more
Opprobrious, with his robe of righteousness,
Arraying, cover'd from his Father's sight.
To him with swift ascent he up return'd,
Into his blissful bosom re-assumed 225
In glory, as of old ; to him appeased,
All, tho' all-knowing, what had pass'd-with Man '
Recounted, mixing intercession sweet.
Meanwhile ere thus was sinn'd and judged on Earth,
Within the gates of Hell sat Sin and Death, 230
makes ; but the most common supposition is, that the skins mentioned in
this part of Scripture history, were those of animals offered in sacrifice,
which, it is generally supposed, was instituted in the earliest period of man's
existence. S.
220. Wat tinned and judged: Impersonal verbs, constituting a Latin form
of expression, and meaning, sin and judgment took place.
230. Sat Sin and Dtath, (fc. : Some remarks may here, with propriety, be
made upon the introduction of such shadowy and imaginary persons into a
heroic poem. It is certain that Homer and Virgil are full of imaginary per-
sons ; and these are very beautiful in poetry, when they are just shown
without being engaged in any series of action. Homer, indeed, represents
sleep as a person, and ascribes a short part to him in his Iliad ; but we must
consider that though we now regard such a person as entirely shadowy and
unsubstantial, the heathens made statues of him, placed him in their tem-
ples, and looked upon him as a real deity. When Homer makes use of
similar allegorical persons, it is only in short, expressions which convey an
ordinary thought to the mind in the most pleasing manner, and may rather
be looked upon as poetical phrases than allegorical descriptions. Instead of
telling us that men naturally flee when they are terrified, he introduces the
persons of Flight and Fear as inseparable companions. Instead of saying
that the time was come when Apollo ought to have received his recom-
penre. he tells us that the Hour* brought him his reward. Instead of de-
scribing the effects of Minerva's apgis produced in battle, he tells us that the
brims of it were encompassed by Terror, Rout. Discord, Fury. Pvrtuit. Ma*-
mere, and Death. In the same figure of speaking, he represents Victory as
following Diomedes ; Ditcord, as the mother of funerals and of mourning ;
Venus, as dressed by the Grace*. Similar instances arc to be found in Virgil.
BOOK x. 429
In countervicw within the gates, that now
Stood open wide, belching outrageous flame
Far into Chaos, since the Fiend pass'd through,
Sin opening, who thus now to Death began :
O Son, why sit we here each other viewing 235
Idly, while Satan our great author thrives
In other worlds, and happier seat provides
For us, his offspring dear : It cannot be
But that success attends him ; if mishap,
Ere this he had return 'd, with fury driven 240
By his avengers, since no place like this
Can fit his punishment, or their revenge.
Milton has very often made use of the same way of speaking ; as where he
tells us that Victory sat on the right hand of the Messiah, when he marched
forth against the rebel angels ; that, at the rising of the sun, the Hours
unbarred the gates of light ; that Discord was the daughter of Sin. Of the
same nature are those expressions, where., describing the singing of the night-
ingale, he adds. " Silence was pleased ;" and upon the Messiah's bidding
peace to the Chaos, '' Confusion heard his voice." There are numberless
instances of our author's writing in this beautiful figure. It is plain that
these which have been mentioned, in which persons of an imaginary nature
are introduced, are such short allegories as are not designed to be taken in
the literal sense, but only to convey particular circumstances to the reader
after an unusual and entertaining manner. But when such persons are in-
troduced as principal actors, and engaged in a series of adventures, they take
too much upon them, and are, by no means, proper for a heroic poem, which
ought to appear credible in its principal parts. A.
The opinions just expressed differ, it will be noticed, from those contained
in the Introductory Remarks, prefixed to this Book ; and also from those ex-
piessed by Bishop Newton, and here subjoined.
Milton may rather be justified for introducing such imaginary beings as
Sin and Death, because a great part of his poem lies in the invisible world,
and such fictitious beings may better have a place there ; and the actions of
of Sin and Death are at least as probable as many of those ascribed to the
good or evil angels. Besides, as Milton's subject necessarily admitted so far
real persons, he was in a manner obliged to supply that defect by introduc-
ing imaginary ones ; and the characters of Sin and Death are perfectly agree-
able to the hints and sketches, which are given of them in Scripture. The
Scripture had made persons of them before in several places ; only it repre-
sented them, as I may say, in miniature, and he has drawn them in their
full length and proportions. N.
2.11. /M rountrrvitw : With a front view of each other.
430 PARADISE LOST
Methinks I feel new strength within me rise,
Wings growing, and dominion given me large
Beyond this deep ; whatever draws me on, 245
Or sympathy, or some connat'ral force,
Pow'rful at greatest distance to unite
With secret amity things of like kind
By secretest conveyance. Thou, my shade
Inseparable, must with me along ; 250
For Death from Sin no power can separate.
But lest the difficulty of passing back
Stay his return perhaps over this gulf
Impassable, impervious, let us try
Advent'rous work, yet to thy pow'r and mine 255
Not unagreeable, to found a path
Over this main from Hell to that New World,
Where Satan now prevails ; a monument
Of merit high to all th' infernal host,
Easing their passage hence, for intercourse 260
Or transmigration, as their lot shall lead.
Nor can 1 miss the way, so strongly drawn
246. Or tympathy, Ifc. : Whether sympathy. The modern philosopher
may. perhaps, take offence at this now exploded notion, but every friend to
the Muses will. I doubt not, pardon it, for the sake of that fine strain of
poetry which it has given the poet an opportunity of introducing in the fol-
lowing description. THVER.
249-50. Thou my thnde, tp. : Death teemed a thadmc, Book II. 669, and
was the inseparable companion as well as offspring of Sin. Shakspeare, in
the same manner uses shadow, as the Latins use umbra, (Hor. Sat. ii. 8 : 22) :
" I am your thadotc, my Lord, I'll foliate you."
Henry IV., Act. 2.
7* N.
250. Mutt with : Must go with, &c.
251. A momentous truth is here conveyed, and well adapted to make a
salutary moral impression.
257. Main: Ocean.
260. For intercourte or trantmigratian, tfc. : Intercourte, the passing fre-
quently backward and forward ; transmigration, quitting Hell once for all to
inhabit the new creation : they were uncertain which their lot should be.
R.
BOOK X. 431
By this new-felt attraction and instinct.
Whom thus the meagre Shadow answer'd soon :
Go whither Fate and inclination strong 265
Leads thee ; I shall not lag behind, nor err
The way, thou leading, such a scent I draw
Of carnage, prey innumerable, and taste
The savour of Death from all things there that live :
Nor shall I to the work thou enterprisest 270
Be wanting, but afford thee equal aid.
So saying, with delight he snuff'd the smell
Of mortal change on earth. As when a flock
Of ravenous fowl, though many a league remote
Against the day of battle, to a field 275
Where armies lie cncamp'd, come flying, lured
With scent of living carcases design'd
For death the following day, in bloody fight ;
So scented the grim Feature, and upturn'd
His nostril wide into the murky air, 280
Sagacious of his quarry from so far.
Then both from out Hell-gates into the waste
Wide anarchy of Chaos, damp and dark,
Flew diverse, and with pow'r (their pow'r was great)
Hov'ring upon the waters, what they met, 285
Solid or slimy, as in raging sea
Tost up and down, together crowded drove
From each side shoaliug towards the mouth of Hell :
As when two polar winds, blowing adverse
266. Err: Mistake.
277. With tcent of living carcaset : A fabulous story is here introduced
from Pliny by way of illustration ; for such a purpose no simile could be
more appropriate.
279. The grim Feature : The grim Form.
28J. Sagacious of his quarry: Quick of scent to discern his prey.
289. A when two polar uiW, Sfc. : Sin and Death, flying into different
parts of Chaos, and driving all the matter they meet with there in shoals
towards the mouth of Hell, afte compared to two polar urindt, north and south,
blowing advene upon the Cronian Sea, the Northern frozen sea, and driving
together mountain* of ice that ttop tht imagined rvay, the northwest passage, as
432
PARADISE LOST.
Upon the Cronian sea, together drive 290
Mountains of ice, that stop th' imagined way
Bejond Petsora eastward, to the rich
Cathaian coast. The aggregated soil
Death with his mace petrific, cold and dry,
As with a trident smote, and fix'd as firm 295
As Dclos floating once ; the rest his look
Bound with Gorgonian rigour not to move ;
And with asphaltic slime, broad as the gate,
Deep to the roots of Hell the gather'd beach
They fasten'd, and the mole immense wrought on 300
Over the foaming deep high arch'd, a bridge
Of length prodigious, joining to the wall
Immoveable of this now fenceless world
Forfeit to Death : from hence a passage broad,
Smooth, easy, inoffensive down to Hell. 305
So, if great things to small may be compared,
it is railed, which so many have attempted to discover, beyond Pettora eatt-
vxtrd (292) , the most north-eastern province of Muscovy, Russia, to the rich
Cathaian coast Cathay, the northern part of China. N.
294. Petrific : Converting substances into stone.
296. Delot : An island in the ^Egean Sea, one of the Cyclades, and
the alleged birth-place of Apollo. Its name is commonly derived from<ii|>oj
manifest, in allusion to the island being supposed to have once floated under
the surface of the sea, until, by order of Neptune, it was made to rise above,
and remain. The rett : The slimy parts, 286, as distinguished from the solid,
or soil.
297. Gorgonian rigour : Rigidness, such as the Gorgans were fabled to
produce : these were three sisters to whom the power was ascribed of turn-
ing into stone all persons on whom they fixed their eyes.
299. Beach: Shore.
303. Fencelet*: Unguarded.
306. So Xerxet, tfc. : This simile is very exact and beautiful. As Sin and
Death built a bridge over Chaos to subdue and enslave mankind, to if great
thing* to tmall may be compared u Si parva licet componere magnis," as Virgil
says, Georg. iv. 176 Xerxet, the Persian monarch, to bring the free states
of Greece under his yoke, came from Sutu, the chief city of Susiana, a pro-
vince jf Persia, the residence of the Persian monarch*, called Mcmnonia by
Herodotus, of Memnon, who built it, and who reigned there.
BOOK x. 433
Xerxes, the liberty of Greece to yoke,
From Susa his Memnonian palace high
Came to the sea, and over Hellespont
Bridging his way, Europe with Asia join'd, 310
And scourged with many a stroke th' indignant waves.
Now had they brought the work by wondrous art
Pontifical, a ridge of pendent rock,
Over the vex'd abyss, (following the track
Of Satan to the self-same place where he 315
First lighted from his wing, and landed safe
From out of Chaos,) to the outside bare
Of this round world. With pins of adamant
And chains they made all fast, too fast they made
And durable ; and now in little space 330
The confines met of Empyrean Heav'n
And of this World, and on the left hand Hell
309-10. And over the Hellespont bridging hi* way : Building a bridge, rest-
ing on ships, over Hellespont, the narrow sea by Constantinople, that divides
Europe from Asia, to march his large army over it.
310-11. Europe with Asia joined, and scourged with many a stroke the in-
dignant waves : Alluding particularly to the madness of Xerxes in ordering
the sea to be whipped for the loss of some of his ships.
311. Indignant waves: Scorning and raging to be so confined ; as Virgil
says, " Pontem indignatus, Araxes," JEn. viii. 728.
312. By wondrous art pontifical : By the wondrous art of building bridges.
The high priest of the ancient Romans was distinguished by the name of
Pontifex, from pans, a bridge, and facer e, to make : " Quia sublicius pons a
Pontificibus factus est primum, et restitutus saepe," as Varro relates.
Jlrt pontifical, says Warburton, is a very bad expression to signify the art
of building bridges, and yet, to suppose a pun, would be worse, as if the
Roman priesthood were as ready to make the way easy to Hell, as Sin an
Death did.
312-318. The prominent statements are : Now had they brought the work,
over the vexed at>yss, to the outside bare of this round world, following tht track
of Satan, &c.
315-17. For an explanation of outside bare of this round world, consult
note on Book iii. 34; ii. 1029-52.
322. On the left hand Hell : Virgil locates Hell on the left, and Elysium
on the right hand, JEn. vi. 542.
B B
434 PARADISE LOST.
With long reach interposed : three sev'ral ways
In sight, to each of these three places led.
And now their way to Earth they had descry 'd, 325
To Paradise first tending, when, behold,
Satan, in likeness of an Angel bright,
Betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion steering
His zenith, while the sun in Aries rose.
Disguised he came ; but those his children dear 330
Their parent soon discern'd, though in disguise.
He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk
Into the wood fast by, and changing shape
T' observe the sequel, saw his guileful act
By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded 335
Upon her husband, saw their shame that sought
Vain covertures ; but when he saw descend
The Son of God to judge them, terrify'd
He fled, not hoping to escape, but shun
The present, fearing, guilty, what his wrath 340
323. Reach: Extent.
328. Steering hit zenith : Alluding to a ship steering her course between
two islands : so Satan directed his way, on his return from the earth, be-
tween these two signs of the zodiac, upward*, towards the outside of thia
round world, whence he had come down, 317 ; III. 418-23, 560-74.
Satan, to avoid being discovered, as he had been before, IV. 569, &c., by
Uriel, regent of the sun, takes care to keep at as great distance as possible,
and, therefore, while the tun rote in Jlriet, he steers his course dirsctly up-
wards, betwixt the Centaur and the Scorpion, two constellations which lay in
a quite different part of the heavens from Aries. N.
It is observed by those who would set forth the greatness of Virgil's
plan, that he conducts his reader through all the parts of the earth which
were discovered in his time. Asia, Africa, and Europe, are the aerttai
scenes of his fable. The plan of Milton's poem is of an infinitely greater
extent, and fills the mind with many more astonishing circumstances.
Satan, having surrounded the earth seven times, departs at length from Para-
dise. We then see him steering his course among the constellations; and.
after having traversed the whole creation, pursuing his voyage through the
chaos, and entering into his own infernal dominions. A.
332. Seduced : Had been seduced.
335. Ml unweeting : Altogether ignorant, that is, of his presence. Second-
ed: Practised a second time.
BOOK x. 435
Might suddenly inflict ; that pass'd, return'd
By night, and listening where the hapless pair
Sat in their sad discourse, and various plaint,
Thence gathered his own doom, which understood
Not instant, but of future time, with joy 345
And tidings fraught, to Hell he now return'd,
And at the brink of Chaos, near the foot
Of this new wondrous pontifice, unhoped
Met who to meet him came, his offspring dear.
Great joy was at their meeting, and at sight 850
Of that stupendous bridge his joy increased.
Long he admiring stood, till Sin, his fair
Enchanting daughter, thus the silence broke :
Parent, these are thy magnific deeds,
Thy trophies, which thou view'st as not thine own ! 355
Thou art their author and prime architect :
For I no sooner in my heart divined,
(My heart, which by a secret harmony
Still moves with thine, join'd in connexion sweet,)
That thou on earth hadst prosper'd, which thy looks 360
Now also evidence, but straight I felt,
Tho' distant from thee worlds between, yet felt
That I must after thee with this thy son ;
Such fatal consequence unites us three :
Hell could no longer hold us in her bounds, 365
Nor this unvoyageable gulf obscure
Detain from following thy illustrious track.
Thou hast achieved our liberty, confined
344. Which, understood : Which being understood.
345. With joy and tidings : That is, with joyful tidings : an idiom of th
Lalin writers, as in JEn. viii. 436, " Squamis auroque," instead of " durrit
Kfuamit ; ./En. i. 630, " Munera latitiamque Dei," for " Munera lata Dei."
R.
348. Pontifice: Bridge-work.
363. Must (go) after thee.
364. Fatal consequence: Fated connection of cause and effect.
368. Our liberty : The liberty of us. For similar instances of this nw ol
436 PARADISE LOST.
Within Hell-gates till now ; thou us impower'd
To fortify thus far, and overlay 370
With this portentous bridge the dark abyss.
Thine now is all this world ; thy virtue hath won
What thy hands builded not ; thy wisdom gain'd
With odds what, war hath lost, and fully 'venged
Our foil in Heav'n : here thou shalt monarch reign ; 375
There didst not ; there let him still victor sway.
As battle hath adjudged, from this new world
Retiring, by his own doom alienated,
And henceforth monarchy with thee divide
Of all things parted by th' empyreal bounds, 380
His quadrature, from thy orbicular W9rld,
Or try thee now more dangerous to his throne.
Whom thus the Prince of darkness answer'd glad :
Fair Daughter, and thou Son and Grandchild both,
High proof ye now have given to be the race 385
Of Satan (for I glory in the name,
Antagonist of Heav Vs Almighty King) ;
Amply have merited of me, of all
Th' infernal empire, that so near Heav'n's door
Triumphal with triumphal act have met, 390
Mine with this glorious work, and made one realm
Hell and this world, one realm, one continent
Of easy thoroughfare. Therefore, while I
the pronoun, refer to IV. 129; VIII. 423; DC 108. To fortify: To erect
firm work.
375. Foil: Defeat
381. Hit quadrature, tfc. : This world is orbicular , or round ; the empyreal
Heaven is a quadrature, or square. Our author had said before (II. 1048)
that it was undetermined tquare or round ; and so it might be to Satan,
viewing it at that distance ; but here he follows the opinion of Gassen-
dus and others, who say that the empyrium, or Heaven of heavens, is
of a square figure, because the holy city, in the Revelation (xxi. 16), is w>
described. N.
384. Son and grandchild : Death is by these terms described as the imme-
diate effect of sin, and the more remote effect of the agency of Satan, by which
the sin of man was effected.
386. Satan means antagonist or adversary
BOOK x. 437
Descend through darkness, on your road with ease,
To my associate Pow'rs, them to acquaint 395
With these successes, and with them rejoice,
You twd this way, among these numerous orbs
All yours, right down to Paradise descend ;
There dwell and reign in bliss, thence on the earth
Dominion exercise, and in the air, 400
Chiefly on Man, sole lord of all declared ;
Him first make sure your thrall, and lastly kill.
My substitutes I send ye, and create
Plenipotent on earth, of matchless might
Issuing from me. On your joint vigour now 405
My hold of this new kingdom all depends,
Through Sin to Death exposed by my exploit.
If your joint pow'r prevail, th' affairs of Hell
No detriment need fear. Go, and be strong.
So saying, he dismiss'd them ; they with speed 410
Their course through thickest constellations held,
Spreading their bane ; the blasted stars look'd wan,
And planets, planet-struck, real eclipse
Then suffer'd. Th' other way Satan went down
The causey to Hell-gate ; on either side 415
Disparted Chaos over-built exclaim'd,
And with rebounding surge the bars assail'd
That scorn 'd his indignation. Through the gate,
Wide open and unguarded, Satan pass'd,
And all about found desolate ; for those 420
Appointed to sit there had left their charge,
402. Thrall: Slave.
409. Go and be strong : The words of Moses to Joshua, Deut. xxxi. 7, 8.
412. Spreading their bane, ffc. : Ovid's description of the journey of Envy
to Athens, Met. ii. 791-94, and Milton's of the journey of Sin and Death to
Paradise, have a great resemblance. But whatever Milton imitates, he adds
a greatness to it : as in this place, he alters Ovid's flowers, herbs, people, and
cities, to stars, planets, arid worlds.
413. And planets, planct-strurk : We say of a thing when it is blasted and
withered, that it is planet-struck; and this is now applied to the planets
themselves. And what a sublime idea does it give us of the devastations
of Sin and Death ! N. 415. Causo^ Raised "A'av-
438 PARADISE LOST.
Flown to the upper world ; the rest were all
Far to tli' inland retired, about the walls
Of Pandemonium, city and proud scat
Of Lucifer, so by allusion call'd, 425
Of that bright star to Satan paragon 'd.
There kept their watch the legions, while the Grand
In council sat, solicitous what chance
Might intercept their emperor sent ; so he
Departing, gave command ; and they observed. 430
As when the Tartar from his Russian foe
By Astracan over the snowy plains
Retires, or Bactrian Sophi from the horns
Of Turkish crescent, leaves all waste beyond
The realm of Aladule, in his retreat 435
To Tauris or Casbeen, so these the late
Heav'n-banish'd host, left desert utmost Hell
424. Pandemonium, referred to Book I. 756, and there said to be the high
capital of Satan and his peers. It is derived from ra, all, and &<>&>*,
demon.
425. Lucifer : Light bnnger. The old poets give this name to Venus
when she is a morning star, and then heralds the great orb of light. In
Isaiah, xiv. 12, Nebuchadnezzar is compared to Lucifer, from the worldly
splendor by which he had previous to his death been surrounded, and by
which he surpassed all other monarchs, as the brilliancy of Lucifer (Venus)
surpasses that of the other celestial bodies, in the absence of the sun. Ter-
tullian and Gregory the Great, erroneously understood this passage in Isaiah
as referring to the fall of Satan, in consequence of which the name Lucifer
has since been applied to Satan. K. Compare Book i. 591-06 ; X. 440-55.
426. Paragoned: From paragonner (French), to be equal to, to be like;
from *ua, juxta, and ayur, ccrtamcn. An exact idea or likeness of a thing)
able to contest with the original. H.
432-36. Attrafcm : A large city near the mouth of the Volga. Sophi :
A title of the King of Persia. He is styled Bactrian, from one of his rich-
est provinces, lying near the Caspian Sea. Alalult : The greater Armenia.
Tauri* : A city in Persia, now called Ecbatana. Catbeen : One of the largest
cities of Persia, in Parthia, towards the Caspian Sea. In this city, after the
loss of Tauris, the Persian monarchs made their residence.
434. Cretctnt : The Turkish standard bears the figure of the new moon,
which terminates in points, or horn*. The new moon is crttcent, or growing ;
it enlarges its figure. The phrase, " horns of Turkish crescent," is equivalent
to Turkish standard, tud this may figuratively stand for Turkish power.
BOOK x. 439
Many a dark league, reduced in careful watch
Round their metropolis, and now expecting
Each hour their great advent'rer from the search 440
Of foreign worlds ; he through the midst, unuiark'd,
In show plebeian Angel militant
Of lowest order, pass'd ; and from the door
Of that Plutonian hall, invisible,
Ascended his high throne, which under state 445
Of richest texture spread, at th' upper end
Was placed in regal lustre. Down a while
He sat, and round about him saw, unseen.
At last, as from a cloud, his fulgent head
And shape star-bright appear'd, or brighter, clad 450
With what permissive glory since his fall
Was left him, or false glitter. All amazed
At that so sudden blaze, the Stygian throng
Bent their aspect, and whom they wish'd beheld,
Their mighty chief return 'd. Loud was th' acclaim : 455
Forth rush'd in haste the great consulting peers,
Raised from their dark divan, and with like joy
Congratulant approach'd him, who with hand
Silence, and with these words attention, won :
Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Pow'rs, 460
For in possession such, not only of right,
I call ye, and declare ye now, return'd
445-47. Ascended hit high throne, fyc. : His first appearance in the assem-
bly of fallen angels is worked up with circumstances which give a delight-
ful surprise to the reader ; but there is no incident in the whole poem which
does this more than the transformation of the whole audience, that follows
the account their leader gives them of his expedition. The gradual change
of Satan himself is described after Ovid's manner, and may vie with any of
those celebrated transformations which are looked upon as the most beauti-
ful parts in that poet's works. A. State : Canopy, elegant covering.
454. Bent their atpcct : Directed their look.
457. Raited from their dark divan : The devils are frequently described by
metaphors taken from the Turks. Satan is called the Sultan (I. 348), as here
the council is styled the divan. The said council is said to sit in secret con-
clave (I. 795) , the Devil, the Turk, and the Pope being commonly thought
to be nearly related, and often joined together. N.
440 PARADISE LOST.
Successful beyond hope, to lead ye forth
Triumphant out of this infernal pit
Abominable, accursed, the house of woe, 466
And dungeon of our tyrant. Now possess,
As Lords, a spacious world, to our native Heavn
Little inferior, by my adventure hard
With peril great achieved. Long were to tell
What I have done, what suffer'd, with what pain 470
Voyaged th' unreal, vast, unbounded deep
Of horrible confusion, over which
By Sin and Death a broad way now is paved
To expedite your glorious march ; but I
Toil'd out my uncouth passage, forced to ride 475
Th' untractable abyss, plunged in the womb
Of unoriginal Night and Chaos wild,
That jealous of their secrets fiercely opposed
My journey strange, with clamorous uproar
Protesting Fate supreme ; thence how I found 480
The new-created world, which fame in Heav'n
Long had foretold, a fabric wonderful,
Of absolute perfection, therein Man
Placed in a Paradise, by our exile
Made happy. Him by fraud I have seduced 485
From his Creator, and the more to increase
Your wonder, with an apple ! He thereat
Offended (worth your laughter) hath given up
475. Uncouth : Strange, unknown, unusual.
477. Unoriginal: Unorigiuated, ungenerated.
4SO. Protesting Fate tupreme : Calling upon Fate as a witness against my
proceedings. This does not perfectly agree with the account in Book II.
1007-9. But Satan is here extolling his own performances, ana perhaps the
author did not intend that the father of lies should keep strictly to truth. N.
484. Exile: Accent on the last syllable.
487 With an apple: The fall of man, and this incident connected with it,
have long been the profane jest of infidelity, as, according to tnis passage,
they were previously of Satan and his wicked associates. But the act as ft
crime and as a source of universal wretchedness, is too serious to admit, with
propriety, of any such treatment.
BOOK X. 441
Both his beloved Man and all his world,
To Sin and Death a prey, and so to us, 490
Without our hazard, labour, or alarm,
To range in, and to dwell, and over Man
To rule, as over all he should have ruled.
True is, me also he hath judged, or rather
Me not, but the brute Serpent, in whose shape 495
Man I deceived. That which to me belongs
Is enmity, which he will put between
Me and mankind : I am to bruise his heel ;
His seed (when is not set) shall bruise my head.
A world who would not purchase with a bruise, 500
Or much more grievous pain ? Ye have th' account
Of my performance : What remains, ye Gods,
But up and enter now into full bliss ?
So having said, a while he stood, expecting
Their universal shout and high applause 505
To fill his ear ; when, contrary, he hears
On all sides, from innumerable tongues
A dismal universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn. He wonder'd, but not long
Had leisure, wond'ring at himself now more : 510
His visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare,
His arms clung to his ribs, his legs intwining
Each other, till supplanted down he fell
494. True u : True (it) is.
496. That which to me belongs, Sfc. : The sentence referred partly to Satan,
and partly to the serpent, his instrument, as explained fully in the Introductory
Remarks of Book IX. and in note Book X. 175.
499. When : (The time) when.
513. Till supplanted, Sfc. : We may observe here a singular beauty and
elegance in Milton's language ; and that is in using words in their strict and
literal sense which are commonly applied to (used with) a metaphorical
meaning, whereby he gives a peculiar force to his expressions, and the literal
meaning appears more new and striking than the metaphor itself. We have
an instance of this in the word supplanted, which is derived from the Latin
stifijilanto, to trip up one's heels, or overthrow (a planta pedis subtus emota) ,
and there is an abundance of other examples in several parts of this wcrk
N.
442 PARADISE LOST.
\
A monstrous serpent on his belly prone.
Reluctant, but in vain ; a greater Pow'r 515
Now ruled him, punish'd in the shape he sinn'd,
According to his doom. He would have spoke,
But hiss for hiss return'd with forked tongue
To forked tongue ; for now were all transform 'd
Alike ; to serpents all as accessories 520
To his bold riot. Dreadful was the din
Of hissing through the hall, thick swarming now
With complicated monsters, head and tail.
Scorpion, and Asp, and Amphisbaena dire,
Cerastes horn'd, Hydras, and Elops drear, 525
And Dipsas (not so thick swarm'd once the soil
Bedropt with blood of Gorgon, or the isle
Ophiusa) ; but still greatest he the midst,
514. A monttrout serpent, tfc. : Our author, in describing Satan's transfor-
mation into a serpent, had, no doubt, in mind the transformation of Cadmus
(Ovid Met. book iv.), to which he had alluded before in Book IX. 505: but
there is something far more astonishing in Milton than in Ovid ; for there
only Cadmus and his wife are changed into serpents, but here myriads of
angels are transformed all together. N.
519-20. The moral lessons which this transformation of the fallen angels
convey are good : a rebuke to pride, impiety, and falsehood ; the certainty
of retribution according to Divine threatenings ; the entire subjection of Satan
to God's control ; the degradation resulting from rebellion against the govern-
ment of Jehovah.
524. Amphiibana : A species of serpent that moves with either end fore-
most, as the name indicates, from -i/iii and Jir>->.
525. Ceratte* : A serpent that possesses horns, named from *'>, a horn.
Hydna : water-serpent, from il<, p. water a serpent that approaches without
giving notice, by hissing, to avoid him. Drtar: Direful, sad.
526. Diptat : A poisonous serpent whose bite produces severe thirst, Deut.
viii. The name is from <5. J^, thirst.
527. The fable of Medusa, one of the Gorgons. is here referred to. Her
lock!* of hair were converted into snakes. She was slain by Perseus, who
cut off her head; and the blood that flowed from it produced the serpents ol
Africa, Perseus having, on his return, winged his way over that country.
528. Ophiuta : A name given to many places on account of being greatly
infested by serpents; amongst others, to the islands of Tenos and of Rhodes
BOOK x. 443
Now Dragon grown, larger than whom the sun
Engender'd in the Pythian vale on slime, 530
Huge Python, and his pow'r no less he seem'd
Above the rest still to retain. They all
Him follow'd, issuing forth to th' open field,
Where all yet left of that revolted rout
Heav'n-fall'n, in station stood or just array, 535
Sublime with expectation when to see
In triumph issuing forth their glorious chief:
They saw, but other sight instead, a crowd
Of ugly serpents. Horror on them fell,
And horrid sympathy ; for what they saw, 540
They felt themselves now changing. Down their arms,
Down fell both spear and shield, down they as fast,
And the dire hiss renew'd, and the dire form
Catch'd by contagion, like in punishment,
As in their crime. Thus was th' applause they meant 545
Turn'd to exploding hiss ; triumph to shame,
Cast on themselves from their own mouths. There stood
A grove hard by, sprung up with this their change,
His will who reigns above, to aggravate
Their penance, laden with fair fruit, like that 550
Which grew in Paradise, the bait of Evo
Used by the Tempter. On that prospect strange
Their earnest eyes they fix'd, imagining
For one forbidden tree a multitude
Now risen, to work them further woe or shame ; 555
Yet parch'd with scalding thirst and hunger fierce,
Though to delude them sent, could not abstain,
TV above catalogue of species of serpents seems to have been taken fro
Lucan's Pharsalia, book ix. 696.
529. Dragon : This name is applied to the Devil, who is also called the
Old Serpent in Rev. xx. 2. Lucan had described the dragon as the greatest
and mswt terrible of the Lybian serpents.
?31. Huge Python: A famous serpent, in the vicinity of Delphi in Greece,
fabled to have sprung from the mud which remained upon the earth after the
deluge of Deucalion. Pythian vale: Vale near Delphi. See note pn 578-79
Ovid'i Met i. 438.
444 PARADISE 1.08T.
But on they rolled in heaps, and up the trees
Climbing, sat thicker than the snaky locks
That curl'd Mcgaora. Greedily they pluck'd . 660
The fruitage, fair to sight, like that which grew
Near that bituminous lake where Sodom flamed ;
This more delusive, not the touch, but taste
Deceived : they fondly thinking to allay
Their appetite with gust, instead of fruit 665
Chew'd bitter ashes ; which th' offended taste
With spatt'ring noise rejected. Oft they assay 'd,
Hunger and thirst constraining, drugged as oft
With hatefullest disrelish, writhed their jaws
With soot and cinders fill'd ; so oft they fell 570
Into the same illusion, not as Man
Whom they triumph'd once lapsed. Thus were they plagued,
And worn with famine long, and ceaseless hiss,
560. Megara : One of the Furies, whose hair, like Medusa's, :onsisted of
serpents.
562. Bituminous lake, $c. : The lake Aspbaltites (or Dead Sea) , near which
Sodom and Gomorrha were situated. Josephus affirms that the shapes and
fashions of them and those other cities called the citiet of the plain, were to be
aeen in his days, and trees laden with fair fruit (styled the applet of Sodoni) ,
rising out of the ashes, which at the first touch dissolved into ashes and smoke,
Wars of the Jews, book iv. c. 8. But this fair fruitage was more deceitful
and disappointing than Sodom's cheating apples, which only deceived the
touch, by dissolving into ashes ; but this endured the handling, the more to
vex and disappoint their taste, by filling the mouths of the damned with
grating cinders and bitter ashes, instead of allaying their scorching thirst,
provoking and inflaming it : so handsomely has our author improved (en-
hanced) their punishment. H.
565. Gutt: Relish.
568. Drugg'd: This is a metaphor taken from the general nauseoiuness of
drugs, when they are taken by way of medicine. P. Tormented with the
taste usually found in drugs. R.
572. IVhom they triumphed once lapttd : That is, whom they triumphed (over)
once fell.
573. Long and ccateleu hiu: (With) long, &c.
574. Permitted : Being permitted. This idea Warburton supposes to have
oeen taken from the old romances, of which Milton was a great reader ; 01
from Ariosto, can. zliii. tt. 9S, which comes nearer to it than any other work.
BOOK x. 445
Till their lost shape, permitted, they resumed ,
Yearly enjoin'd, some say, to undergo 575
This annual humbling certain number'd days,
To dash their pride, and joy for Man seduced.
However, some tradition they dispersed
Among the Heathen of their purchase got,
And fabled how the Serpent, whom they call'd 580
Ophion with Eurynome, the wide
Encroaching Eve perhaps, had first the rule
Of high Olympus, thence by Saturn driv'n
And Ops, ere yet Dictaean Jove was born.
Mean while, in Paradise the hellish pair 585
Too soon arrived, Sin there in Pow'r before,
578-79. It deserves remark, says Kirto, that in most of the accounts of the
dragon, or serpent, whom the heathen regarded as the source of evil, he is
called Typhon, or Python, a word which signifies " to over-persuade, to de-
ceive." Now, this very name Pitho or Python, designates the great deceiver
of mankind. When the damsel at Philippi is said to have been possessed by
"a spirit of divination," it is called, in the original, "a spirit of Python,'
manifestly showing that the pagan Python was, and could be, no other than
u that Old Serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world" (Rev. xii. 9) .
580-84. Our author is endeavouring to show that there was some tradition
among the heathen of the great power that Satan had obtained over mankind ;
and this he proves by what is related of Ophion with Eurynome. Ophion with
Eurynome, he says, had first the rule of high Olympus, and were driven thence
by Saturn and Ops. or Rhea, ere yet their son, Dictcean Jove, was born, so
called from Dicte, a mountain of Crete, where he was educated. Milton
seems to have taken this story from Apollonius Rhoditis.
Now Ophion, according to the Greek etymology, signifies a serpent, and
therefore Milton conceives that by Ophion the Old Serpent might be intended,
the serpent whom they called Ophion ; and Eurynome, signifying wide-ruling, he
bays, but says doubtfully, that she might be the wide-encroaching Eve perhaps.
This epithet is applied to Eve, to show the similitude between her and Eu-
rynome, and why he takes the one for the other; and therefore, in allusion to
the name of Eurynome, he styles Eve the wide-encroaching, as extending her
rule and dominion further than she should over her husband, and affecting
godhead. N.
588. Sin in power: That is, sin potential. Sin at first existed in possibility,
not in act. Jlctual once: It became actual, though not "in body," when
Adam violated Gods prohibition. It came in body upon the arrival of this
4*6 PARADISE LOST.
Once actual, now in body, and to dwell
Habitual habitant ; behind her Death
Close following, pace for pace, not mounted yet
On his pale horse : to whom Sin thus began : 590
Second of Satan sprung, all-conquering Death,
What think'st thou of our empire now, tho' earn'd
- With travel difficult ? Not better far
Than still at Hell's dark threshold to have sat watch,
Unnamed, undreaded, and thyself half starred ? 595
Whom thus the Sin-born monster answer'd soon :
To me, who with eternal famine pine,
Alike is Hell, or Paradise, or Heav'n ;
There best, where most with ravin I may meet ;
Which here, tho' plenteous, all too little seems 600
To stuff this maw, this vast unhide-bound corpse.
To whom the incestuous mother thus reply'd :
Thou therefore on these herbs, and fruits, and flow'rs,
Feed first, on each beast next, and fish, and fowl,
No homely morsels ; and whatever thing 605
The scythe of Time mows down, devour unspared ;
imaginary personage, which, however, emblematically denotes the propen-
sities to sin that existed in the bodies and souls of men after the apostacy ; as
the shadowy representation of Death, next spoken of, images to us the actual
or real death to which every human body, from its connection with sin, is
inevitably subjected.
588-90. Behind her Death, tft. : See Rev. vi. 8.
Milton has given a fine turn to this poetical thought, by saying that Death
had not mounted yet on his pale horse ; for, though he was to have a long
and all-conquering power, he had not yet begun, neither was he for some
time to put it into execution. GREENWOOD.
593. Not better, tfc. : Is it not better? &c.
599. Ravin: Prey.
601. Corptt : A contemptuous term, signifying, in this place, body. Un-
hide-bound : Not hide-bound ; not filled, but lank.
606. Srythe of Time : An allusion, perhaps, to the pagan god Saturn, called
by the Greeks Chronot, Time. He was accordingly represented as devouring
his own children, and casting them up again, as Time devours and consumes
all things which it has produced, which at length revive again, and are, as it
were, renewed : or else days, months, and years are the children of Time,
BOOK x. 447
Till I in Man, residing through the race,
His thoughts, his looks, words, actions, all infect,
And season him thy last and sweetest prey.
This said, they both betook them sev'ral ways, 610
Both to destroy or unimmortal make
All kinds, and for destruction to mature
Sooner or later ; which th' Almighty seeing,
From his transcendent seat the Saints among,
To those bright Orders utter'd thus his voice : 615
See with what heat these dogs of Hell advance
To waste and havoc yonder world, which I
So fair and good created, and had still
Kept in that state, had not* the folly of Man
Let in these wasteful furies, who impute 620
Folly to me ! So doth the Prince of Hell
And his adherents, that with so much ease
I suffer them to enter and possess
A place so heav'nly, and conniving seem
To gratify my scornful enemies, 625
That laugh as if, transported with some fit
Of passion, I to them had quitted afl,
At random yielded up to their misrule,
wnich he constantly devours and produces anew. He was generally repre-
sented as an old man bent through age and infirmity, holding a scythe in hia
right hand, with a serpent, which bites its own tail, in the left ; which is an
emblem of Time, and of the revolution of the year. In his left hand he holds
a child, which he is raising up, as if with the design of devouring it. See
Anthon's Diet.
611. Unimmortal: Mortal; implying that these things would have been
immortal had not sin entered the world.
616. These dogs of Hell, $c. : Upon the arrival of Sin and Death into the
works of the creation, the Almighty is again introduced as speaking to his
angels that surrounded him. A.
Newton thinks some of the expressions in this speech too coarse and low
to accord either with the dignity of an epic poem, or with the majesty of the
Divine Speaker; yet they are not altogether- without vindication, on the
ground that similar expressions are attributed to the same speaker in the
sacred writings ; and besides, it has been remarked that Homer often put*
such language into the mouths of his gods and heroes.
448 PARADISE LOST.
And know not that I call'd and drew them thither,
My Hell-hounds, to lick up the draff and filth 630
Which Man's polluting sin with taint hath shed
On what was pure, till cramm'd and gorged, nigh burst
With suck'd and glutted offal, at one sling
Of thy victorious arm, well-pleasing Son,
Both Sin, and Death, and yawning Grave, at last, 635
Thro' Chaos hurl'd, obstruct the mouth of Hell
For ever, and seal up his ravenous jaws.
Then Heav'n and Earth renew'd, shall be made pure
To sanctity, that shall receive no stain :
Till then, the curse pronounced on both precedes. 640
He ended, and the heav'nly audience loud
Sung Halleluiah, as the sound of seas,
Through multitude that sung: Just are thy ways,
Righteous are thy decrees on all thy works ;
Who can extenuate thee ? Next, to the Son, 645
Destined Restorer of mankind, by whom
New Heav'n and Earth shall to the ages rise,
<J30. Draff: Waste matter.
635. Deatli and yawning Grave, ire. : Death and the Grave, meaning the
same, is a pleonasm, an abounding fulness of expression, which, adding force
and energy, and calling forth the attention, is a beauty common in the best
writel s. But not for that reason only has Milton used it ; the Scripture has
thus joined Death and the Grave, Hos. xiii. 14: 1 Cor. xv. 55: Rev. xx. 13,
where the word rendered " Hell" signifies also the Grave. R.
640. On both precede* : That is, on Heaven and Earth. (638) , by which
terms are meant the Earth and its atmosphere (647 ; Book II. 1004) , which
the sin of man had polluted, and which were to be renewed and devoted to
tanttity. Till sin and Death should be overcome by Messiah (634-37) , the
curse pronounced upon them proceed* (as Dr. Bentley alters the reading) .
With the common reading, precede*, Mr. Richardson explains the passage as
meaning, that the curse pronounced shall go before those ravagers, Sin and
Death, and shall direct and lead them on.
642. Sound of ttat, tft. : Rev. xir. i. 2.
643. Rev. xv. 3, 4 : xvi. 7 : xix. 6.
645. Extenuate thee : Lessen thee in honour.
647. To the age* rise : To age* of endlet* dale. XII. 549. Rite from the state
of conflagration (rait 1 d from the conflagrant matt, XII. 547, and tpringingfrvm
*he athtt, III. 334) .
BOOK x. 449
Or down from Heav'n descend. Such was their song,
While the Creator, calling forth by name
His mighty Angels, gave them several charge, 650
As sorted best with present things. The sun
Had first his precept so to move, so shine,
As might affect the earth with cold and heat
Scarce tolerable ; and from the north to call
Decrepit winter ; from the south to bring 055
Solstitial summer's heat. To the blank moon
Her office they prescribed ; to th' other five
Their planetary motions and aspects
Or dotcn. fyc. : This accords with John's description of the New Jerusalem
coming down from God out of Heaven, Rev. xxi. 2.
650-714. Several charge, ffc. : Here notice the command which the angels
received to produce the several changes in nature, and mar the beauty of
creation. They are represented as infecting the stars and planets with ma-
lignant influences, weakening the light of the sun, bringing down the winter
into the milder regions of nature, planting winds and storms in several quar-
ters of the sky, storing the clouds with thunder, and, in short, perverting the
whole frame of the universe to the condition of its criminal inhabitants. A
noble incident is embraced in those lines of this passage, in which we see the
angels heaving up the earth and placing it in a different posture towards the
sun from what it had before the fall of man : it is conceived with that sub-
lime imagination which was so peculiar to this great author. A.
655. From the south, $c. : This quarter was represented by the ancient
poets as the region of heat. Solstitial : Such as exists at the time of the sum-
mer solstice, about the 22d of June.
656. Blank : Pale, white, from the French word blane.
658. Aspects : The relative situations of the planets with respect to each
other, determined by the angle formed by the rays of light proceeding from
any two planets and meeting at the eye. There are five aspects ; textile,
when the planets thus viewed are 60 apart, or the sixth part of the Zodiac ;
square, quadrate or quartile, when their angular distance is 90, or fourth part
of the Zodiac ; trine, when a third part, or 120 ; opposite, or in opposition
when occupying an opposite position in the Zodiac, or 180 apart ; conjunc-
tion, when seen in the same part of the heavens. To this last aspect Milton re-
fers in the expression, join in synod (661) . Fixed : That is, the stars, in distinc-
tion from the planets, which, unlike the former, move in relation to each other.
The aspects above described, for ages were groundlessly supposed to exert
upon individuals and nations a controlling influence, favourable or disastrous ;
and it was the object of astrology, from these aspects, to attempt to predict
the fortunes of men. See Brande. Art. Astrology.
C c
450 PARADISE LOST.
In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite
Of noxious efficacy, and when to join 660
In synod unbenign ; and taught the fix'd
Their influence malignant when to show'r,
Which of them rising with the sun, or falling,
Should prove tempestuous ; to the winds they set
Their corners, when with bluster to confound 665
Sea, air, and shore, the thunder when to roll
With terror through the dark aereal hall.
Some say, he bid his Angels turn askance
The poles of earth twice ten degrees and more
From the sun's axle ; they with labour push'd 670
660. Of noxious efficacy, Ire. : If an unnecessary ostentation of learning be,
M Mr. Addison observes, one of our author's faults, it certainly must be an
aggravation of it when he not only introduces, but countenances, such en-
thusiastic, unphilosophical notions as this jargon of the astrologers is made
up of. THYER.
665. Their comer*, ffc. : Their individual, or separate places. When : We
must prefix "and taught them," as in 660-61. The thunder, (ft.: That is,
when to roll the thunder. Dark aerial hall : The sky darkened by the clouds
whence the thunder proceeds.
668. Bid hi* Angel*, c. : It was eternal tpring (IV. 268) before the fall ,
and he is now accounting for the change of seasons after the fall, and men*
tions the two famous hypotheses. Some toy it was occasioned by altering
the position of the Earth, by turning the poles of the Earth above 20 degrees
aside from the Sun's axle, he bid hi* angel* turn, Sfc. (668-70), and the poles
of the Earth are about twenty-three and a half degrees distant from those of
the ecliptic.
670. They with labour pushed oblique the centric globe (the Earth) ; It was
erect before, but is oblique now. Centric : As being the centre of the world
according to the Ptolemaic system, which our author usually follows.
Some toy again (671 ), this change was occasioned by altering the course of
the sun ; the tun wot bid turn rein* from the equinoctial road, in which he had
moved before, like dittant breadth in both hemispheres, to Taurut with the teven
Atlantic Sitter* ( 673-74 \ the constellation Taurus, with the seven stars in
his neck ; the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas and the Spartan Twin*; the sign
Gemini, Castor and Pollux, twin-brothers, and sons of Tyndarus, king of
Sparta, up to the Tropic Crab, the tropic of Cancer, the sun's furthest stage
northwards. Thence down amain (675) , Dr. Bentley reads a* much, as much
on one side of the equator as the other ; or, if altered, it may be read, thenct
down again by Leo and the Virgin, the sign Virgo and the Scale*, the constel-
BOOK X. 451
Oblique the centric globe. Some say, the sun
Was bid turn reins from th' equinoctial road
Like distant breadth to Taurus with the seven
Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins
Up to the Tropic Crab ; thence down amain 675
By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales,
As deep as Capricorn, to bring in change
Of seasons to each oliuie ; else had the spring
Perpetual smiled on earth with vernant flow'rs,
Equal in days and nights, except to those 680
Beyond the polar circles ; to them day
ffad unbenighted shone, while the low sun,
To recompense his distance, in their sight
.ffad rounded still th' horizon, and not known
Or east or west, which had forbid the snow 685
From cold Estotiland, and south as far
Beneath Magellan. At that tasted fruit,
The sun, as from Thyestean banquet, turn'd
lation Libra, at deep as Capricorn, the tropic of Capricorn, which is the sun's
furthest progress southwards. This motion of the sun in the ecliptic occa-
sions the variety of seasons, else had the spring perpetual smiled on earth with
vernant flowers (678-79), if the sun had continued to move in the equator.
N.
672. Turn reins : There seems to be an allusion here to the story of Phaeton,
who having obtained permission of the sun-god, his father, to guide for a
single day the chariot of the sun, grasped the reins, but was unable to keep
in their proper course the flame-breathing steeds.
673. To Taurus : Dr. Bentley reads, through Taurus, which Dr. Newton
approves, as answering to by Leo (676).
682. Unbenighted : Without night to succeed it.
686. Estotiland : A region in North America, near Hudson's Bay. Ma*
geUan : The straits near the southern extremity of South America. Beneath,
in the sense of beyond.
688 Thystean banquet : The legend is thus told : Astreus, a king of My-
cena;, had a quarrel with his brother Thyestes, but invited him to a feast in
token of reconciliation. At this feast he, however, indulged his revenge by
serving up the flesh of two sons of Thyestes whom he had killed, and while
Thyestes was eating, he caused the heads and hands of his slaughtered chil-
dren to be brought in and shown to him. The sun, it is said, at the sight of
452 PARADISE LOST.
His coarse intended ; else how had the world
Inhabited, though sinless, more than now, 690
Avoided pinching cold and scorching heat ?
These changes in the Heav'ns, tho' slow, produced
Like change on sea and land ; sideral blast,
Vapour and mist, and exhalation hot,
Corrupt and pestilent : now from the north 695
Of Norumbega, and the Samocd shore,
Bursting their brazen dungeon, arm'd with ice,
And snow, and hail, and stormy gust, and flaw,
Boreas, and Caecias, and Argestes loud,
And Thrascias, rend the woods, and seas upturn ; 700
With adverse blast upturns them from the south
Notus and Afer black, with thund'rous clouds
From Serraliona. Thwart of these as fierce
Forth rush the Levant and the Ponent winds,
Eurus and Zephyr, with their lateral noise, 705
Sirocco and Libecchio. Thus began
Outrage from lifeless things ; but Discord, first,
Daughter of Sin, among th' irrational,
Death introduced, through fierce antipathy.
Beast now with beast 'gan war, and fowl with fowl, 710
And fish with fish ; to graze the herb all leaving,
this horrible deed, checked his chariot in the midst of his course. See An-
thon, art. Atreus, and the " Agamemnon" of vEschylus.
693. Sideral blast : Pernicious influence of stars. An allusion to astrology.
696. Norumbega : A province of the northern Armenia. Samocd shore :
The northeast shore of Asiatic Russia.
699. Borea* : North wind. Caciat : E. N. E. Jlrgtttt* : N. W. Thrat-
cia* : N. N. W., the wind blowing from Thrace.
702. Notta: South wind. jSfer: S. W.
703. From Serraliona. or Lion-mountains, near Cape Verd, in Southwestern
Africa deriving their name from the storms which there roar like a lion.
Eurut and Zephyr (700) . East and West, bearing also the names Levant and
Ponent (rising and setting) , the one blowing from where the sun rises, the
other from where he sets. Sirocco and Libecchio (706) : Italian terms used
by seamen of the Mediterranean, for the Southeast and Southwest.
707. Outrage: Injury.
711. To graze the herb all leaving : This implies that beasts, fowl, and fish
BOOK x. 453
Devour'd each other ; nor stood much in awe
Of man, but fled him, or with count'nance grim
Glared on him passing. These were from without
The growing miseries, which Adam saw 715
Already in part, though hid in gloomiest shade,
To sorrow abandon'd, but worse felt within ;
And in a troubled sea of passion tost,
Thus to disburden sought with sad complaint :
miserable of happy ! Is this the end 720
Of this new glorious world, and me so late
The glory of that glory, who now, become
Accursed of blessed, hide me from the face
Of God, whom to behold was then my height
Of happiness ? Yet well, if here would end 725
all grazed before the fall, and immediately after began to devour one another
by classes : the fowl preyed upon fowl, fish upon fish, and beast upon beast.
Of the fish, Milton says, VIII. 404, that they "graze the sea-weed their
pasture."
713. But fled Aim, under the influence of fear. They did not stand in awe.
This would not have induced flight, being a mingled emotion of reverence
and affection.
714. These were from without, Sfc.: The transition to Adam here is very
easy and natural, and cannot fail of pleasing the reader. We have seen
great alterations produced in nature, and it is now time to see how Adam is
affected with them, and whether the disorders urithin are not even worse
than those without. N.
718. And in a troubled sea, Sfc. : A metaphor taken from a ship in a tem-
pest, unlading, disburdening, to preserve itself from sinking by its weight.
R.
7!?0. Of happy : From happy, from (being) happy. So (723) of blessed,
from (being) blessed. According to Webster, the primary meaning of the
preposition of is from, out of, proceeding from.
725. Milton's art is nowhere more shown than in his conducting the parts
of our first parents. The represenlation he gives of them, without falsify-
ing the story, is wonderfully contrived to influence the reader with pity and
compassion towards them. Though Adam involves the whole species in
misery, his crime proceeds from a weakness which every man is inclined to
I ardon and commiserate, as it seems rather the frailty of human nature than
of the person who offended. Every one is too apt to excuse a fault which
ne himself might have falkn into. It was the excess of love for Eve that
i.~> t PARADISE LOST.
The misery. I deserved it, and would bear
My own deserving* ; but this will not serve ;
All that I cat or drink, or shall beget,
Is propagated curse ! voice once heard
Delightfully, * Increase and multiply ;' 730
Now death to hear ! For what can I increase
Or multiply, but curses on my head ?
Who, of all ages to succeed, but feeling
The evil on him brought by me, will curse
My head ? Ill fare our ancestor impure ! 735
For this we may thank Adam ! but his thanks
Shall be the execration ! So besides
Mine own that bide upon me, all from me
Shall with a fierce reflux on me redound ;
On me, as on their natural centre, light 740
Heavy, though in their place. O fleeting joys
Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes !
Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man ? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me, or here place 745
In this delicious garden ? As my will
Concurr'd not to my being, it were but right
ruined Adam and his posterity. I need not add, that the author is justified
in this particular by many of the fathers, and the most orthodox writers.
A.
729. Propagated curie : Meat and drink propagate it by prolonging life ;
and children, by carrying it on beyond me.
739. Reflux : A flowing back.
740. At on their natural centre, <$rc. : There is a reference here to some
exploded notions in philosophy, which it is not easy, or worth while, to ex-
plain. Bishop Newton's explanation is about as unintelligible as the text
itself.
743-50. Did I requett Thee, ttc : The sentiments ascribed to Adam and
Eve in this Book, are adapted not only to interest the reader in their afflic-
tions, but to excite in him the tenderest feelings of humanity and commis-
eration. When Adam observes the several changes of nature produced
around him, he appears in a disorder of mind suitable to one who had for-
feited both his innocence and his happiness he is filled with horror, re-
morse, and despair in the anguish of his heart he expostulates with hia
Creator for having given him an unasked existence. A.
BOOK x. 455
And equal to reduce me to my dust ;
Desirous to resign and render back
All I received, unable to perform 760
Thy terms too hard, by which I was to hold
The good I sought not. To the loss of that,
Sufficient penalty, why hast thou added
The sense of endless woes ? Inexplicable
Thy justice seems ; yet, to say truth, too late 756
I thu contest : then should have been refused
Those terms whatever, when they were proposed.
Thou didst accept them. Wilt thou enjoy the good,
Then cavil the conditions ? And though God
Made thee without thy leave, what if thy son 760
Prove disobedient, and reproved, retort,
Wherefore didst thou beget me ? I sought it not.
Wouldst thou admit for his contempt of thee
That proud excuse ? yet him not thy election,
But natural necessity begot. 765
God made thee of choice his own, and of his own
To serve him : thy reward was of his grace ;
Thy punishment then, justly, is at his will.
Be it so, for I submit : his doom is fair,
That dust I am, and shall to dust return. 770
welcome hour whenever ! Why delays
His hand to execute what his decree
758. Thou didtt, ffc. : The change of persons, sometimes speaking of him-
self in the first, and sometimes to himself in the second, is very remarkable
in this speech, as well as the change of passions. In like manner he speaks
sometimes of God and sometimes to God. N.
783. All I: All of me. See, 792. A similar expression is used by
Horace in Book iii. Od. 30 : 6 :
' NOD omnis moriar ; multaque pars mei
Vitabit libitinam."
771-782. Why delays, $c. : Adam here recovers from his presumption,
owns his doom to be just, and begs that the death which is threatened him
may be inflicted on him. The whole speech is full of emotion, and varied
with all those sentiments which we may suppose natural to a mind so
broken and disturbed. The generous concern which our first father shows
in it for his posterity is suited to affect the reader, 723-735, 817-825. A.
PARADISE LOST.
Fix'd on this day ? Why do I overlive ?
Why am I mock'd with death, and lengthen'd out
To deathless pain ? How gladly would I meet 77fi
Mortality, my sentence, and be earth
Insensible ! How glad would lay me down,
As in my mother's lap ! There I should rest,
And sleep secure ; his dreadful voice no more
Would thunder in my ears ! No fear of worse 780
To me and to my offspring would torment me
With cruel expectation ! Yet one doubt
Pursues me still, lest all I cannot die ;
Lest that pure breath of life, the spirit of Man
Which God inspired, cannot together perish 785
With this corporeal clod ! then in the grave,
Or in some other dismal place, who knows
But I shall die a living death ! thought
Horrid, if true ! Yet why ? It was but breath
Of life that sinn'd. What dies but what had life 790
And sin ? The body, properly, hath neither.
All of me then shall die. Let this appease
The doubt, since human reach no further knows ;
For though the Lord of all be infinite,
Is his wrath also ? Be it, Man is not so, 795
But mortal doom'd. How can he exercise
Wrath without end on Man whom death must end ?
Can he make deathless death ? That were to make
Strange contradiction, which to God himself
Impossible is held ; as argument 800
Of weakness, not of pow'r. Will he draw out,
For anger's sake, finite to infinite,
784. Breath of lift: Gen. ii. 7.
792. Jttl of me then thall die : It is here taken for granted that the body is
mortal. This follows from the sentence, 769-70.
800. Argument: Proo
802. Finite to infinite, $c. : Adam had argued (794) that although the Lord
of all u infinite, and although his wrath should be so too, yet man is not in-
finite in duration, having been doomed to death (796) ; and hence, as death
terminates man's existence, it must terminate also the punishment inflicted.
BOOK z. 457
In punish'd Man, to satisfy his rigour,
Satisfy'd never ? That were to extend
His sentence beyond dust and Nature's law, 805
By which all causes else, according still
To the reception of their matter, act,
Not to th' extent of their own sphere. But say
That death be not one stroke, as I supposed,
Bereaving sense, but endless misery 810
From this day onward, which I feel begun
Both in me and without me, and so last
To perpetuity ! Ah me ! that fear
Comes thund'ring back with dreadful revolution
On my defenceless head ! Both Death and I 815
Am found eternal, and incorporate both !
He argues, further, that a deathless death is an absurdity, a contradiction in
terms. But will he, for anger's sake, give to the finite being of punished
man. infinity ? Will he, for the sake of satisfying his extreme rigour, give
to man a capacity which does not belong to him a capacity like his own ?
That would be a transcending of the sentence passed upon man, " Dust thou
art, and unto dust shall thou return." It would also transcend a law of
nature, by which all causes, act, (fc. (806-8) that is, by which all efficient
causes act according to the capacity of the recipient, (reception of their mat-
ter), and not to the extint of their own sphere or capacity.
This must have been Milton's meaning, if, as Newton supposes, he alludes
to the following scholastic axiom : " Omne efficiens agit secundum vires
recipientis, non suas." The school divinity of the middle ages, was much
studied and admired by some in Milton's day, and hence the acquaintance
with it he himself discovers ; yet, in our day, the greater part of it is held
of small account.
810. Bereaving tense: Taking away sensibility, and rendering incapable
of feeling, and, of course, of pain.
814. Comes thundering, tfc. : The thought is as fine as it is natural. The
sinner may invent ever so many arguments in favour of the annihilation and
utter extincticn of the soul ; but, after all his subterfuges and evasions, the
fear of a futu state, and the dread of everlasting punishment, will still pur-
sue him. He may put it off for a time, but it will return with dreadful revo-
lution ; and let him affect what serenity and gaiety he pleases, will, not-
withstanding, in the midst of it all, come thundering back on hit definceltu
head.*!.
816. And incorporate both: Lodged both together in one motfal body.
Rom. vii. 24, ' Who shall deliver m from the body of this death." H.
20
458 PARADISE LOST.
Nor I on my part single : in me all
Posterity stands cursed ! Fair Patrimony
That I must leave ye, Sons ! O were I able
To waste it all myself, and leave ye none ! 890
So disinherited, how could ye bless
Me, now your curse ! Ah, why should all mankind
For one man's fault thus guiltless be condemned,
If guiltless ? But from me what can proceed
But all corrupt, both mind and will depraved ; 825
Not to do only, but to will the same
With me ! How can they then acquitted stand
[n sight of God ? Him, after all disputes,
Forced, I absolve. All my evasions vain,
And reasonings, tho' through mazes, lead me still S30
But to my own conviction. First and last
On me, ine only, as the source and spring
Of all corruption, all the blame lights due ;
So might the wrath. Fond wish ! could thou support
That burden, heavier than the earth to bear, 835
Than all the world much heavier, though divided
With that bad Woman ? Thus, what thou desirest
And what thou fear'st, alike destroys all hope
Of refuge, and concludes thee miserable
Beyond all past example and future : 840
834. So might the wrath : A wish is here expressed, as in III. 34, " So
were I equalled with them in renown."
835-30. Heavier, tfc. : This word is elegantly arranged in these two lines,
" Heavier than the earth," " than all the world much heavier," presenting a
contrast, and a fine climax. The burden is not only heavier than the earth,
but heavjer than all the world the universe around it; not only heavier but
much heavier.
840. Beyond all pott example and future : The accent is upon the second
syllable of future, as in the Latin. As Adam is here speaking in great
agony of mind, he aggravates his own misery, anil concludes it to be greater
and worse than that of the fallen angels, or all future men. as having in him-
self alone the source of misery for all his posterity : whereas both angels
and men had only their own to bear. Satan wasjike him only as being the
ringleader; and this added very much to his remorse, as we read in I. G02.
N.
BOOK X. 459
To Satan only like, both crime and doom.
Conscience ! into what abyss of fears
And horrors hast thou driven me ! out of which
1 find no way ! from deep to deeper plunged !
Thus Adam to himself lamented loud 845
Through the still night, not now, as ere Man fell,
Wholesome, and cool, and mild, but with black air
Accompany'd, with damps and dreadful gloom,
Which to his evil conscience represented
All things with double terror. On the ground 850
Outstretch'd he lay, on the cold ground, and oft
Cursed his creation ; Death as oft accused
Of tardy execution, since denounced
The day of his offence. Why comes not Death,
Said he, with one thrice-acceptable stroke, 855
To end me ! Shall Truth fail to keep her word !
Justice divine not hasten to be just ?
But Death comes not at call ; Justice divine
Mends not her slowest pace for pray'rs or cries.
woods, fountains, hillocs, dales, and bow'rs ! 860
With other echo late I taught your shades
To answer, and resound far other other song !
Whom thus afflicted, when sad Eve beheld,
Desolate where she sat, approaching nigh,
841. Crime: As to crime.
846. The ttill night : Newton assigns various reasons for the opinion, that
this was some other night than that immediately alter the fall.
850. On the ground: Who can behold the father of mankind extended
upon the earth, uttering his midnight complaints, bewailing his existence
and wishing for death, without sympathizing with him in his distress ?
A.
861. With other echo : Alluding to a part of Adam's morning hymn, V.
202-5.
863. When tad Eve, fyc. : The part of Eve in this Book is no less passion-
ate, and apt to sway the reader in her favour. She is represented with great
tenderness as approaching Adam, but is spurned from him with a spirit of
upbraiding and indignation, conformable to the nature of man, whose pas-
sions had now gained the dominion over him. A.
460 PARADISE LOST.
Soft words to his fierce passion she assay'd : 865
But her with stern regard he thus repell'd :
Out of my sight, thou Serpent ! that name best
Befits thee with him leagued, thyself as false
And hateful ! nothing wants, but that thy shape
Like his, and colour serpentine, may shew 870
Thy inward fraud, to warn all creatures from thee
Henceforth, lest that too heav'nly form, pretended
To hellish falsehood, snare them. But for thee
I had persisted happy, had not thy pride
And wand'ring vanity, when least was safe, 875
Rejected my forewarning, and disdain 'd
Not to be trusted ; longing to be seen
Though by the Devil himself, him overweening
To o'er-reach ; but with the Serpent meeting
Fool'd and beguiled ; by him thou, I by thee, 880
To trust thee from my side ; imagined wise,
Constant, mature, proof against all assaults ;
And understood not all was but a show
Rather than solid virtue ; all but a rib
Crooked by nature, bent, as now appears, 885
More to the part sinister, from me drawn ;
Well if thrown out, as supernumerary
To my just number found. ! why did God,
872. Pretended to hellith faltehood : A Latin idiom, the literal sense oi
which is, held before, or in front of, hellith faltehood, as a covering.
876. Not, modifies to be trusted.
878. Overweening, Sfc. : Conceitedly thinking.
880. The meaning is : Thou by him wast fooled and beguiled ; I was
fooled and beguiled by thee, to trust thee from my side, accounted to be wise,
constant, &c., and I understood not, &r.
886. Sinitter : Left, wrong. Adam contemptuously refers to the crooked
rib out of which Eve was formed, and asserts that she, in her moral con-
duct, had become more crooked, more bent to the tinitter part, to the wrong
course, than the rib was crooked in its shape, which had been drawn from
him.
888. To my jiat number fmtnd : Namely twenty-four, twelve on each side.
Some writers have been of opinion that Adam had thirteen ribs on the left
tide, ami that out of the thirtenth rib God formed Ev : and it is to this
BOOK Z. 461
Creator wise, that peopled highest Heav'n
With Spirits masculine, create at last 890
This novelty on earth, this fair defect
Of nature, and not fill the world at once
With Men, as Angels, without feminine,
Or find some other way to generate
Mankind ? This mischief had not then befall'n, 895
And more that shall befall ; innumerable
Disturbances on earth, through female snares,
And straight conjunction with this sex : for either
He never shall find out fit mate, but such
As some misfortune brings him, or mistake ; 900
Or whom he wishes most shall seldom gain,
Through her perverseness, but shall see her gain'd
By a far worse ; or if she love, withheld
By parents ; or his happiest choice too late
Shall meet, already link'd and wedlock-bound 905
To a fell adversary, his hate or shame :
Which infinite calamity shall cause
To human life, and household-peace confound.
He added not, and from her turn'd. But Eve,
opinion that Milton here alludes, and makes Adam say, It was toell if this rib
was thrown out, as supernumerary to his just number. N.
O why did Gorf, fyc. : This thought was originally that of Euripides, who
makes Hippolytus in like manner expostulate with Jupiter for not creating
man without woman. Hippol. 616.
And Jason is made to talk in the same strain in the Medea, 573. And
such sentiments as these procured Euripides the name of the woman-hf.ter.
Nor are similar examples wanting in old English authors that Milton may
have read : in Thomas Brown's Religio Medici, sec. 9. and in Shakspeare's
Cymbeline, act 2, and Midsummer Night's Dream, act 1. N.
898. Straight : Intimate. For either, fyc. : I have often thought it was a
great pity that Adam's speech had not ended where these lines begin ; as he
could not very naturally be supposed at that time to foresee so very circum-
stantially the inconveniences which he describes. THYER.
909-46. He added not, (fc. : The following passage, wherein Eve is de-
scribed as renewing her addresses to Adam, and the whole speech that fol-
lows it, are exquisitely moving and pathetic. Adam's reconcilement to her
is worked up in the same spirit of tenderness. A.
462 PARADISE LOST.
Not so repulsed, with tears that ceased not flowing, 910
And tresses all disorder 'd, at his feet
Fell humble, and embracing them, besought
His peace ; and thus proceeded in her plaint :
Forsake me not thus, Adam ! Witness, Hear'n,
What love sincere, and rev'rence in my heart 915
I bear thee, and unweeting have offended,
Unhappily deceived ! Thy suppliant,
I beg, and clasp thy knees. Bereave me not,
Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid,
Thy counsel in this uttermost distress, 920
My only strength and stay. Forlorn of thee,
Whither shall I betake me ? where subsist ?
While yet we live, scarce one short hour perhaps,
Between us two let there be peace ; both joining,
As join'd in injuries, one enmity 925
Against a foe by doom express assign 'd us,
That cruel Serpent. On me exercise not
Thy hatred for this misery befall'n,
On me already lost, me than thyself
More miserable. Both have sinn'd ; but thou 930
Against God only ; I against God and thee ;
And to the place of judgment will return,
There with my cries importune Heav'n, that all
The sentence, from thy head removed, may light
On me, sole cause to thee of all this woe ; 935
Me, me only, just object of his ire !
918. Unwttting: Ignorant
921. Forlorn: Forsaken.
926. By doom expreu, tfc. : Gen. iii. 15, " I will put enmity," &c. In this
part of the poem Newton traces a close resemblance to some passages from
the " Adamiis Exsul" of Grotius, a Latin poem ; but, as usual, they have
undergone a high degree of improvement under the operations of Milton's
genius.
936-946. Af, me only: The repetition of the pronoun imparts great
pathos.
The scene here described may have been drawn from the counterpart of
it, a real one, in which himself and wife were the actors. His choice of
BOOK x. 463
She ended weeping ; and her lowly plight,
Immoveable till peace obtain 'd from fault
Acknowledged and deplored, in Adam wrought
Commiseration. Soon his heart relented 940
Tow'rds her, his life so late, and sole delight,
Now at his feet submissive in distress,
Creature so fair his reconcilement seeking,
His counsel, whom she had displeased, his aid ;
As one disarm'd, his anger all he lost, 945
And thus with peaceful words upraised her soon :
Mary Powell, as a wife, was quite hasty, and proved to be adverse to his
happiness. Being strongly attached, like all her family, to the royalist party,
and accustomed to the affluent hospitality of her father's house, she soon
became tired of a studious, recluse, and republican husband. After a month's
experience of her new life, she sighed for the gaieties she had left behind,
and, by the earnest request of her relatives, obtained permission to pay a
short visit to Forest Hill, her father's residence, in Oxfordshire. But when
the period fixed for her return arrived, she evinced no disposition to keep
her word, but, on the contrary, treated her husband's letter with silence, and
sent back his messenger with disdain. [Edinburgh Encyclopedia.] The
royalist party being now in the ascendant, the Powells were the more in-
clined, on that account, to break their connection with Milton, and Milton
was provoked to form the scheme of repudiating a wife who had deserted
him without just grounds. Probably to prepare the way for this act, he
wrote several treatises in vindication of divorce, on other grounds besides
adultery. He had begun, also, to pay addresses to another lady, with the
intention of seeking her hand in marriage. The Powells hearing of this,
and having met with disasters and losses in the recent defeat of the royalist
cause, were eager to bring about a reconciliation with the poet, who might
aid them in their now broken fortunes. Milton's wife repaired to the hoise
of one of his relatives, whom, as she knew, her husband often visited, and
awaited his arrival. Great was his surprise to meet her there, and especially
for such a purpose. It is said that she threw herself at his feet, confessed,
in the most humble manner, her fault, and, with flowing tears, supplicated
his forgiveness.
At first he appeared to be unmoved and inexorable ; but, at length, the
generosity of his temper, and the intercession of some mutual friends, con-
quered his anger, and a perfect reconciliation took place, with the promise
of oblivion of everything which had happened. Her relatives, on political
grounds, it is supposed, being of the opposite party from her husband, had,
probably, been the principal cause of these domestic troubles, though Milton
himself is suspected of a supercilious and haughty demeanour towards his
wife previous to this
464 PARADISE LOST.
Unwary and too desirous, as before,
So now of what thou know'st not, who desir'st
The punishment all on thyself ; alas,
Bear thine own first, ill able to sustain 950
His full wrath, whose thou fecl'st as yet least part,
And my displeasure bear'st so ill. If pray'rs
Could alter high decrees, I to that place
Would speed before thee, and be louder heard,
That on my head all might be visited ; 955
Thy frailty and infirmer sex forgiven,
To me committed, and by me exposed.
But rise, let us no more contend, nor blame
Each other, blamed enough elsewhere, but strive
In offices of love, how we may lighten 960
Each other's burden, in our share of woe ;
Since this day's death denounced, if aught I see,
Will prove no sudden, but a slow-paced evil,
A long day's dying to augment our pain,
And to our seed (0 hapless seed !) derived. 965
To whom thus Eve, recovering heart, reply 'd :
Adam, by sad experiment, I know
How little weight my words with thee can find,
Found so erroneous, thence by just event
Found so unfortunate ! nevertheless, 970
Restored by thee, vile as I am, to place
Of new acceptance, hopeful to regain
Thy love, the sole contentment of my heart
Living or dying, from thee I will not hide
What thoughts in my unquiet breast are risen, 975
Tending to some relief of our extremes,
Or end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable,
As in our evils, and of easier choice.
If care of our descent perplex us most,
Which must be born to certain woe, devour'd 980
977. Or end, tft. : Or to an end, though sharp and sad, yet tolerable, at m
9nr evilt, considering our ill situation, and of easier choice.
979. Dttcent: Descendants.
BOOK X. 465
By Death at last ; and miserable it is
To be to others cause of misery,
Our own begotten, and of our loins to bring
Into this cursed world a woeful race,
That after wretched life, must be at last 985
Food for so foul a monster ! In thy pow'r
It lies, yet ere conception, to prevent
The race unblest, to being yet unbegot.
Childless thou art, childless remain ; so Death
Shall be deceived his glut, and with us two 990
Be forced to satisfy his rav'nous maw.
But if thou judge it hard and difficult,
Conversing, looking, loving, to abstain
From love's due rites, nuptial embraces sweet,
And with desire to languish without hope, 995
Before the present object languishing
With like desire, which would be misery
And torment less than none of what we dread,
Then both ourselves and seed at once to free
From what we fear for both let us make short ; 1000
Let us seek Death, or he not found, supply
With our own hands his office on ourselves.
Why stand we longer shivering under fears,
That shew no end but death, and have the pow'r
Of many ways to die, the shortest choosing, 1005
Destruction with destruction to destroy ?
She ended here, or vehement despair
Broke off the rest ; so much of death her thoughts
Had entertain'd, as dyed her cheeks with pale.
But Adam with such counsel nothing sway'd, 1010
To better hopes his more attentive mind
Labouring had raised ; and thus to Eve reply'd :
990. Deceived hit glut: Cheated of that which he hopes to swallow.
1009. With pale: With paleness.
1011. More attentive mind: Attending more to what had passed, calling to
mind with heed their tentenct, 1030. N.
1012-96. To Evt replied: The arguments of Adam in opposition to Eve's
D D
466 PARADISE LOST.
Eve, tbj contempt of life and pleasure seems
To argue in thee something more sublime
And excellent than what thy mind contemns ; 1015
But self-destruction therefore sought, refutes
That excellence thought in thee, and implies,
Not thy contempt, but anguish and regre
For loss of life and pleasure overloved.
Or if thou covet death, as utmost end 1020
Of misery, so thinking to evade
The penalty pronounced, doubt not but God
Hath wi seller arm'd his vengeful ire than so
To be forestall'd ; much more I fear lest death
So snatch'd will not exempt us from the pain 1025
We are by doom to pay : rather such acts
Of contumacy will provoke the Highest
To make death in us live. Then let us seek
Some safer resolution, which methinks
I have in view, calling to mind with heed 1030
Part of our sentence, that thy seed shall bruise
The Serpent's head. Piteous amends ! unless
Be meant, whom I conjecture, our grand foe
Satan, who in the serpent hath contrived
Against us this deceit. To crush his head 1035
Would be revenge indeed : which will be lost
By death brought on ourselves, or childless days
Resolved, as thou proposest ; so our foe
Shall 'scape his punishment ordain'd, and we
Instead, shall double ours upon our heads. 1040
No more be mention 'd then of violence
Against ourselves, and wilful barrenness,
That cuts us off from hope, and savours only
Rancour and pride, impatience and despite,
Reluctance against God and his just yoke 1045
Laid on our necks. Remember with what mild
And gracious temper he both heard and judged,
in regard to suicide, and to remaining childless, display to great
advantage the reasoning powers of the poet.
BOOK x 467
Without wrath or reviling ! We expected
Immediate dissolution, which we thought
Was meant by death that day ; when lo ! to thee 1050
Pains only in child-bearing were foretold,
And bringing forth ; soon recompensed with joy,
Fruit of thy womb. On me the curse aslope
Glanced on the ground. With labour I must earn
My bread. What harm ? Idleness had been worse : 1055
My labour will sustain me. And lest cold
Or heat should injure us, his timely care
Hath unbesought provided, and his hands
Cloth 'd us, unworthy, pitying while he judged ;
How much more, if we pray him, will his ear 1060
Be open, and his heart to pity incline,
And teach us farther by what means to shun
Th' inclement seasons, rain, ice, hail, and snow !
Which now the sky with various face begins
To shew us in this mountain, while the winds 1065
Blow moist and keen, shatt'ring the graceful locks
Of these fair spreading trees ; which bids us seek
Some better shroud, some better warmth to cherish
Our limbs benumb'd, ere this diurnal star
Leave cold the night, how we his gather'd beams 1070
Reflected, may with matter sere foment,
Or, by collision of two bodies, grind
The air attrite to fire, as late the clouds
Justling, or push'd with winds, rude in their shock,
Tine the slant lightning, whose thwart flame driv'n down 1075
Kindles the gummy bark of fir or pine,
And sends a comfortable heat from far,
Which might supply the sun. Such fire to use,
1066. Graceful locks : Trees are here beautifully personified, in imitation
of Horace, Od. iv. 3: 11: " Spissae nemorura comae;" iv. 7:2: "Arbori-
busque comae."
1069. Diurnal ttar : The sun, the star of day.
1071. With matter tere foment, fyc. : With dry, withered matter, increase
the heat produced by the rays of the sun reflected from a mirror, ^En. i. 175-76,
' Stifceptique igncin fohis, atque arida circum
Nutnnieuta dedit, rapuitque in fomlU flammam."
468 PARADISE LOST
And what may else be remedy or cure
To evils which our own misdeeds have wrought, 1080
He will instruct us praying, and of grace
Beseeching him, so as we need not fear
To pass commodiously this life, sustain 'd
By him with many comforts, till we end
In dust : our final rest and native home. 1085
What better can we do, than to the place
Repairing where he judged us, prostrate fall
Before him, reverent, and there confess
Humbly our faults, and pardon beg, with tears
Watering the ground, and with our sighs the air 1090
Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign
Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek ?
Undoubtedly he will relent, and turn
From his displeasure ; in whose look serene,
When angry most he seem'd, and most severe, 1095
What else but favour, grace, and mercy shone ?
So spake our father penitent : nor Eve
Felt less remorse. They forthwith to the place
Repairing where he judged them, prostrate fell
Before him, reverent, and both confess'd 1100
Humbly their faults, and pardon begg'd, with tears
Watering the ground, and with their sighs the air
Frequenting, sent from hearts contrite, in sign
Of sorrow unfeign'd, and humiliation meek.
1075. Tine the tlant. $c. : Set on fire the oblique lightning, whose trans*
verse flame, &c. From tine comes the word tinder.
1090-1107. What better can we do, tec. : The turn here given to the senti-
ments and conduct of our first parents, administers great relief and pleasure
to the pious mind, while it furnishes a wholesome lesson to their sinful de-
scendants. It is material to observe, that they not only resolve to humble
themselves before their offended Maker, and to implore his pardon, but im-
mediately carry out their design. This primitive scene of penitence, the
first witnessed on earth, beautifully closes the Book.
BOOK XI.
THE ARGUMENT.
THE Son of God presents to his Father the prayers of our first parents,
now repenting, and intercedes for them ; God accepts them, but declares that
they must no longer abide in Paradise ; sends Michael with a band of Cheru-
bim to dispossess them ; but first to reveal to Adam future things ; Michael's
coming down; Adam shews to Eve certain ominous signs; he discerns
Michael's approach ; goes out to meet him ; the Angel denounces their de-
parture ; Eve's lamentation ; Adam pleads, but submits ; the Angel leada
him up to a high hill ; sets before him in vision what shall happen till the
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
PROBABLY there is less invention in this than in some other Books, bat
the descriptive parts are not less powerful, nor less important, instructive,
and awful in their topics. The Deluge was a trial of strength with the
ancients, since it forms so important a feature in Ovid's poems. So far as
there is invention in this Book, it lies in the selection of circumstances, in
picturesque epithets, and in moral, political, and religious reflections. It*
intellectual compass is vast and stupendous. Such a view opened upon
Adam of the fate of his posterity, as could only be conceived and compre-
hended by the splendid force of the poetical eye of Milton.
It is truly said that Milton everywhere follows the great ancients, and im-
prove* upon them. He despises all the petty gildings and artifices which
are so much boasted in modem poetry. His object is, to convey images and
ideas, not words ; and the plainer the words, so that they do not disgrace the
thought, the better. He would never sacrifice the force of the language to
the metre. The mark of this is, that when he had occasion to use the terms
of Scripture, he would not derange them for the sake of the rhyme. . B.
BOOK XL
THUS they in lowliest plight, repentant, stood
Praying ; for from the mercy-seat above
Prevenient grace descending, had removed
The stony from their hearts, and made new flesh
Regenerate grow instead, that sighs now breathed 5
Unutterable, which the Spirit of prayer
Inspired, and wing'd for Heav'n with speedier flight
Than loudest oratory : yet their port
Not of mean suitors ; nor important less
Seem'd their petition, than when the ancient pair 10
I. Repentant stood, Sfc.: Milton has shown a wonderful art in describing
that variety of passions which arise in our first parents upon the breach of
the commandment that had been given them. We see them gradually passing
from the triumph of guilt through remorse, shame, despair, contrition,
prayer, and hope, to a perfect and complete repentance. A.
3. Prevenient, $c. : Going before. Divine grace had preceded the act of
prayer, and prepared them for it by producing religious sensibility and ten-
derness.
8. Tet their port, $c. : Their behaviour. The yet refers us to the first part
of the second line. " Stood praying, yet their port," &c. : The intermediate
lines are to be regarded as included in a parenthesis.
II. In fable* old, tfc. : Milton has been often censured for his frequent
allusions to the Heathen Mythology, and for mixing fables with sacred
truths ; but it may be observed in favour of him, that what he borrows from
the Heathen Mythology, he commonly applies only by way of similitude;
472 PARADISE LOST.
In fables old, less ancient yet than these,
Deucalion and chaste Pyrrha, to restore
The race of mankind drown 'd, before the shrine
Of Themis stood devout. To Heav'n their pray'rs
Flew up ; nor miss'd the way, by envious winds 15
Blown vagabond or frustrate. In they pass'd
Dimensionless, through heav'nly doors ; then clad
With incense, where the golden altar fumed,
and a similitude from thence may illustrate his subject as well as from any-
thing else, especially since it is one of the first things that we learn at
school, and is made by the ancienU such an essential part of poetry, that it
can hardly be separated from it ; and no wonder that Milton was ambitious
of showing something of his reading in this kind, as well as in all others.
N.
12. Deucalion was a Thessalian prince, who, with his wife Pyrrha, escaped
the general flood that happened in his times, 1541, B c. This is one of the
first events recorded in profane history. All the inhabitants, except these
two, having been destroyed, they consulted the oracle of Themis, the God-
dess of Justice, to ascertain by what means the human race might be re-
stored. On being ordered to throw stones behind them, those thrown by
Deucalion became men, and those by Pyrrha womea. In this fable the
history of some partial inundation seems to be confounded with the tradition
of the universal deluge. In that beautifiul ode dedicated to Augustus (Book
i. 2) , in which richness of imagery and elegance of language vie with the
loftiest tone of morality, Horace thus alludes to the flood of Deucalion.
Terruit gentei, grare ne rediret
Saeculura Pyrrhz nora monstrt queitse
Omne cum Proteui pecui egit altoi
Viiere montei," fee.
BRANDS. FISRK.
14-20. To Heav'n their prayen, ire. : As the author never fails to give a
poetical turn to his sentiments, he describes the acceptance which these
prayers met with, in a short allegory formed upon that beautiful passage
in holy writ, Rev. viii. 3, 4. A.
16. Blown vagabond : Blown out of their proper course. Fruttrate : Frus-
tiated, brought to nothing, defeated.
It is a familiar expression with the ancient poets, as Newton informs us,
to say of such requests as are not granted, that they are dispersed and driven
away by the winds, Virg. JEn. xi. 794.
17. Dimtntionle$, ffc. : As these prayers were of a i>pi ritual nature, not
as matter that has dimensions, measure, and proportion, they passed through
Heaven's gates without any obstruction. R.
BOOK xi. 473
By their great Intercessor, came in sight
Before the Father's throne : then the glad Son 20
Presenting, thus to intercede began :
See, Father, what first fruits on earth are sprung
From thy implanted grace in Man ; these sighs
And pray'rs, which in this golden censer, mix'd
With incense, I thy priest before thee bring : 25
Fruits of more pleasing savour from thy seed
Sown with contrition in bis heart, than those
Which his own hand manuring, all the trees
Of Paradise could have produced, ere fall'n
From innocence. Now therefore bend thine ear 30
To supplication ; hear his sighs though mute.
Unskilful with what words to pray, let me
Interpret for him, me his Advocate
And propitiation. All his works on me,
Good or not good, ingraft ; my merit those 35
Shall perfect, and for these my death shall pay.
Accept me, and in me from these receive
The smell of peace tow'rd mankind. Let him live
Before thee reconciled, at least his days
Number'd, tho' sad, till death, his doom (which I 40
To mitigate thus plead, not to reverse)
To better life shall yield him ; where with me
All my redeem'd may dwell in joy and bliss ;
Made one with me as I with thee am one.
To whom the Father, without cloud, serene : 45
All thy request for Man, accepted Son,
Obtain : all thy request was my decree.
But longer in that Paradise to dwell,
The law I gave to nature him forbids :
Those pure immortal elements that know 50
No gross, no inharmonious mixture foul,
Eject him, tainted now, and purge him off
32. The order of the sense is : Let me interpret for him wuktlful with what
word* to pray, me hit, &c., 1 John ii. 1, 2.
38. The tmell of peace: The peace-offering, says Moses, is of a tweet
tavour unto the Lord, Lev. iii. 5.
474 PARADISE LOST.
As a distemper gross, to air as gross,
And mortal food ; as may dispose him bail
For dissolution wrought by sin, that first 55
Distemper'd all things, and of incorrupt
Corrupted. I at first with two fair gifts
Created him endow'd ; with happiness
And immortality : that fondly lost,
This other served but to eternize woe ; 60
Till I provided death ; so death becomes
His final remedy, and, after life,
Tried in sharp tribulation, and refined
By faith and faithful works, to second life,
Waked in the renovation of the just, 65
Resigns him up with Heav'n and Earth renew'd.
But let us call to synod all the Blest
Through Heav'n's wide bounds ; from them I will not hide
My judgments, how with mankind I proceed,
As how with peccant Angels late they saw, 70
And in their state, tho' firm, stood more confirm 'd.
He ended ; and the Son gave signal high
To the bright minister that watch'd. He blew
His trumpet (heard in Oreb since, perhaps,
When God descended, and perhaps Once more 75
To sound at general doom) : th' angelic blast
Fill'd all the regions. From their blissful bow'rs
Of amaranthine shade, fountain or spring,
By the waters of life, where'er they sat
In fellowships of joy, the sons of light 80
Hasted, resorting to the summons high,
And took their seats ; till from his throne supreme
Th' Almighty thus pronounced his Sov'reign will :
Sons ! like one of us Man is become,
53. Sin having rendered man gross, he is now to be Thrust out into the air
u gross, or impure, ill adapted to perpetuate life ; he is also condemned to
mortal food, or that which promotes mortality. See lines 234, 285.
74. Oreb : Horeb. Exod. xx. 18 ; 1 Cor. xv. 52 j 1 Then. iv. 16.
78. dmaranthint : Unfading, undecay ing, III. 353.
BOOK xi. 475
To know both good and evil, since his tasto 85
Of that defended fruit ; but let him boast
His knowledge of good lost, and evil got :
Happier, had it sufficed him to have known
Good by itself, and evil not all.
He sorrows now, repents, and prays contrite, 80
My motions in him. Longer than they move,
His heart I know how variable and vain
Self-left. Lest therefore his now bolder hand
Beach also of the tree of life, and eat,
And live for ever (dream at least to live 95
For ever) to remove him I decree,
And send him from the garden forth to till
The ground whence he was taken, fitter soil.
Michael, this my behest have thou in charge :
Take to thee from among the Cherubim 100
Thy choice of flaming warriors, lest the Fiend,
Or in behalf of Man, or to invade
Vacant possession, some new trouble raise.
Haste thee, and from the Paradise of God,
Without remorse, drive out the sinful pair, 105
(From hallow'd ground th' unholy), and denounce
To them and to their progeny, from thence
Perpetual banishment. Yet, lest they faint
At the sad sentence rigorously urged,
For I behold them soften'd, and with tears 110
Bewailing their excess, all terror hide.
86. Defended : Forbidden, from defendre, a French word.
91. Longer than, tfc. : After my motions within him cease.
99. Behest : Command. As Michael was the principal angel employe
in driving the rebel angels out of Heaven, so he was the most proper to expel
our first parents too out of Paradise. N.
105. Rrmont: Pity.
111. Their excess, tfc. : God is here represented as pitying our first parents,
and even while he is ordering Michael to drive them out of Paradise, orders
him at the same time to hide all terror ; and, for the same reason, he chooses
to speak of their offence in the slightest manner, calling it only an excess a
476 PARADISE LOST.
If patiently thy bidding they obey,
Dismiss them not disconsolate. Reveal
To Adam what shall come in future days,
As I shall thee enlighten. Intermix 115
My covenant in the Woman's seed renew'd ;
So send them forth, tho' sorrowing, yet in peace ;
And on the east side of the garden place
Where entrance up from Eden easiest climbs,
Cherubic watch, and of a sword the flame 120
Wide-waving, all approach far off to fright,
And guard all passage to the tree of life,
Lest Paradise a receptacle prove
To spirits foul, and all my trees their prey,
With whose stol'n fruit Man once more to delude. 125
He ceased ; and the Archangclic Pow'r prepared
For swift descent ; with him the cohort bright
Of watchful Cherubim. Four faces each
Had, like a double Janus : all their shape
Spangled with eyes, more numerous than those 130
Of Argus, and more wakeful than to drowse,
Charm'd with Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed
Of Hermes, or his opiate rod. Mean while
To re-salute the world with sacred light,
going beyond the bounds of their duty, by the same metaphor as sin is often
called trantgrestion. N.
128-33. Four facet each, tfc. : Ezekiel says that " every out had four facet,"
X. 14. The poet adds, u Four facet each had like a double Janut." Janus was a
king (afterwards a deity) of Italy, and is represented with two (aces, to de-
note his great wisdom, looking upon things past and to come ; and the men-
tion of a well-known image with two faces, may help to give us the better
idea of others with four. Ezekiel says, x. 12, "And their whole body, and
their backs, and their handt, and their wingt, were full of eye* round about. The
poet expresses it by a delightful metaphor, " Jill their thape tpangled with
eyet ;" and then adds by way of comparison, " More numerout than thote of
jlrgut a shepherd who had a hundred eyes ; " And more waktful than to
drowte," as he did, "charmed with Arcadian pipe, the pastoral reed" (132)
is, the pastoral pipe made of reeds, as was that of Hermet. or Mercury, who
was employed by Jupiter to lull Argus asleep, and kill him, or hit opiate rod
(133), the caduceus of Mercury, with which he could give sleep to whom
BOOK u. I 477
Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews imbalm'd 135
The Earth ; when Adam and first matron Eve
Had ended now their orisons, and found
Strength added from above, new hope to spring
Out of despair ; joy, but with fear yet link'd :
Which thus to Eve his welcome words renew'd : 140
Eve, easily may faith admit, that all
soever he pleased. With this pipe and this rod, he lulled Argus asleep, and
cut off his head. It is an allusion to a celebrated story in Ovid, Met. i.
625, &c. :
Centum luminibus cinctum caput Argus habitat. ''ic.
N.
Ovid is conceived to have been a favourite with Milton, among other
reasons from so many of his subjects having a relation to Scripture, such as
the creation, the deluge, the foreshowing of the destruction of the world by
fire, &c.
135. Levcothea leaked, ffc. : The white goddess, as the name in Greek im-
ports ; the same with Matuta in Latin, as Cicero affirms ; and this is the
early morning that ushers in the Aurora rosy with the sunbeams, according
to Lucretius, v. 655 :
" Tempore item certo roseam Matuta per oras
jKlheris Aurora defert. et lumina pandit."
This is the last morning in the poem the morning of the fatal day
whereon our first parents were expelled out of Paradise. According to the
best calculation we can make, this is the eleventh day of the poem ; we mean
of that part of it which is transacted within the sphere of day.
But Addison reckons only ten days to the action of the poem, supposing
that our first parents were expelled out of Paradise the very next day after
the fall. Bishop Newton shows this to be an error.
But indeed the poet is not very exact in the computation of time, and per-
haps he affected some obscurity in this particular, and did not choose to de-
fine, as the Scripture itself has not defined, how soon after the fall it was that
our first parents were driven out of Paradise. N.
140. Which refers to Adam. An ingenious writer, quoted by Newton,
descants upon the beauty of several of the lines that follow; of 141, in
which the last five words are alliterated with the same vowel, a ; of 1-1.1, in
the solemn pause after the first syllable, but, and the caesura upon the mono-
syllable vi that follows; of 150, in the word kneel' d, followed, as it is by a
pause, the effect of which is such, that we actually see Adam upon his knees
before the offended Deity, while, by the concluding words of the paragraph,
bending hi* ear, infinite goodness is visibly represented to our eyes, as inclin-
ing to hearken to the prayers of this penitent creature.
478 | PARADISE LOST.
, *
The good which we enjoy, from Heav'n descends ;
But that from us aught should ascend to Heav'n
So prevalent as to concern the mind
Of God high-blest, or to incline his will, 145
Hard to beliof may seem ; yet this will prayer,
Or one short sigh of human breath, upborne
Ev'n to the seat of God ! For since I sought
By prayer th' offended Deity to appease,
Kneel'd, and before him humbled all my heart, 150
Methought I saw him placable and mild,
Bending his ear ! Persuasion in me grew
That I was heard with favour ! Peace return 'd
Home to my breast, and to my memory
His promise, that thy seed shall bruise our foe ; 155
Which, then not minded in dismay, yet now
Assures me that the bitterness of death
Is past, and we shall live ! Whence hail to thce,
Eve, i ightly call'd mother of all mankind,
Mother of all things living ; since by thee 160
Man is to live, and all things live for Man !
To whom thus Eve, with sad demeanour meek ;
111 worthy I such title should belong
To me transgressor, who, for thee ordain'd
A help, became thy snare ! To me reproach 165
Rather belongs, distrust, and all dispraise !
But infinite in pardon was my Judge,
That I, who first brought death on all, am graced
The source of life ; next favourable thou,
Who highly thus to entitle me vouchsaPst, 170
Far other name deserving. But the field
To labour calls us, now with sweat imposed,
Though after sleepless night ; for, see, the morn,
146-7. Will prayer : Will prayer do. It will be up-borne.
157. The btitemett of death it patted: These are the words of A gag,
1 Sam. zv. 32.
159. Eve is from a Hebrew word signifying life or to live, and was applied
from the first in anticipation of the event of her becoming the " mother of
all living."
BOOK XI. 479
All unconcern'd with our unrest, begins
Her rosy progress smiling ; let us forth ; 175
I never from thy side henceforth to stray,
Where'er our day's work lies, though now enjoin'd
Laborious, till day droop. While here we dwell,
What can be toilsome in these pleasant walks ?
Here let us live, though in fall'n state, content. 180
So spake, so wish'd much-humbled Eve, but Fate
Subscribed not. Nature first gave signs, impress'd
On bird, beast, air ; air suddenly eclipsed
After short blush of morn : nigh in her sight
The bird of Jove, stoop'd from his aery tour, 185
Two birds of gayest plume before him drove.
Down from a hill the beast that reigns in woods,
First hunter then, pursued a gentle brace,
Goodliest of all the forest, hart and hind :
Direct to th' eastern gate was bent their flight. 190
Adam observed, and with his eye the chase
Pursuing, not unmoved, to Eve thus spake :
O Eve, some further change awaits us nigh,
175. Her rosy progress smiling: Compare 135. where Lcucothea is spoken
of as the most early morning that ushers in the Aurora. She was pale and
white before, but now she is rosy red, with the nearer approach of the sun-
beams. The expression of the morn's beginning her progress seems to be
copied from Shakspeare, Henry IV. Act. 3 :
" the heavenly harness'd team
Brfini his golden progress in the east." N.
182. Subscribed not : Did not agree to it ; from subscriber, to under-write.
185. The bird of Jove, ttoojjd, $c. : The eagle ; sometimes called the king
of birds, from his great strength, the elevation to which he flies, and the
rapidity of his movements. Stoop'd is a participle, and means, coming down
on hit prey. An event of this kind is sometimes represented by the poets as
ominous, as by Virgil, JEn. i. 393.
These omens, says Newton, have a singular beauty here, as they show the
change that is produced among animals, as well as the change that is going
to be made in the condition of Adam and Eve ; and nothing could be in-
vented more apposite and proper for this purpose. An eagle, pursuing two
beautiful birds, and a lion chasing a fine hart and hind, and both to the eastern
gate of Paradise, as Adam and Eve were to be driven out by the angel at
the eastern gate of Paradise.
193-211. Sonu further rhange, fa. : The conference of Adam and Ev if
460 PARADISE LOST.
Which Ileav'n by these mute signs in nature shews,
Forerunners of his purpose, or to warn 195
Us haply, too secure of our discharge
From penalty, because from death released
Some days. How long, and what till then our life
Who knows ? or more than this, that we are dust,
And thither must return, and be no more ? 200
Why else this double object in our sight,
Of flight pursued in th' air, and o'er the ground
One way the self-same hour ? Why in the east
Darkness ere day's mid-course, and morning light
More orient in yon western cloud, that draws 205
O'er the blue firmament a radiant white,
And slow descends, with something hcav'nly fraught ?
He err'd not ; for by this the heav'nly bands
Down from a sky of jasper lighted now
In Paradise, and on a hill made halt ; 210
A glorious apparitioa, had not doubt
And carnal fear that day dimm'd Adam's eye.
Not that more glorious, when the Angels met
Jacob in Mahanaim, where he saw
The field pavilion 'd with his guardians bright ; 215
fall of moving sentiments. Upon their going abroad, after the melancholy
night which they had passed together, they discover the lion and the eagle,
each of them pursuing their prey towards the eastern gate of Paradise.
There is a double beauty in this incident, not only as it presents great and
just omens, which are always agreeable in poetry, but as it expresses that
enmity which was now produced in the animal creation. The poet, to show
the like changes in nature, as well as to grace his story with a noble prodigy,
represents the sun in an eclipse. This particular incident has likewise a
fine effect upon the imagination of the reader in regard to what follows;
for at the same time that the sun is under an eclipse, a bright cloud descends
in the western quarter of the heavens, filled with a host of angels, and more
luminous than the sun itself. The whole theatre of nature is darkened
that this glorious appearance may shine with all its lustre and magnificence.
A.
209. Sky of j'tuper : Resembling the colours of the precious stone of that
name.
214. Mahanaim: Gen. xxxii. 1,2.
BOOK XI. 481
Nor that which on the flaming mount appear'd
In Dothan, cover'd with a camp of fire,
Against the Syrian king, who, to surprise
One man, assassin-like, had levied war,
War unproclaim'd. The princely Hierarch 220
In their bright stand there left his Pow'rs to seize
Possession of the garden ; he alone,
To find where Adam shelter'd, took his way,
Not unperceived of Adam, whom to Eve,
While the great visitant approach'd, thus spake : 225
Eve, now expect great tidings, which perhaps
Of us will soon determine, or impose
New laws to be observed ; for I descry
From yonder blazing cloud that veils the hill,
One of the heav'nly host, and by his gait 230
None of the meanest ; some great Potentate
Or of the Thrones above ; such majesty
Invests his coming ; yet not terrible,
That I should fear, nor sociably mild,
As Raphael, that I should much confide ; 235
But solemn and sublime ; whom not to offend,
With reverence I must meet, and thou retire.
He ended : and th' Arch- Angel soon drew nigh,
Not in his shape celestial, but as man
Clad to meet man. Over his lucid arms 240
A military vest of purple flow'd,
217. Dothan : 2 Kings vi. 13, 14.
219. One man: Elisha, who had provoked the anger of the king of Syria
by disclosing his designs to the king of Israel.
238-50. Th? archangel toon, tyc. : It may be observed how properly th
poet, who always suits his parts to the actors whom he introduces, has em-
ployed Michael in the expulsion of our first parents from Paradise. The
archangel, on this occasion neither appears in his proper shape, nor in the
familiar manner with which Raphael, the sociable spirit, entertained the
father of mankind before the fall. His person, his port, and behaviour, are
suitable to a spirit of the highest rank, and exquisitely described in this pas-
sage. A.
241. Purple: The colour worn by distinguished persons among the
21 E E
482 PARADISE LOST.
Livelier .than Melibcean, or the grain
Of Sarra, worn by kings and heroes old
In time of truce ; Iris had dipt the woof;
His starry helm unbuckled shcw'd him prime 245
In manhood where youth ended. By his side,
As in a gliat'ring zodiac, hung the sword,
Satan's dire dread ; and in his band the spear.
Adam bow'd low : He, kingly, from his state
Inclined not, but his coming thus declared : 250
Adam, HeavVs highest behest no preface needs :
Sufficient that thy pray'rs are heard, and Death,
Then due by sentence when thou didst transgress,
Defeated of his seizure, many days
Giv'n thee of grace, wherein thou may'st repent, 255
And one bad act, with many deeds well done,
May'st cover : well may then thy Lord,* appeased,
ancients. Near Melibaa, in Thessaly, was found a species of fish, from
which was extracted a celebrated scarlet dye.
242. Grain of Sarra : Dye of Tyre, Sarra being the earlier Latin name
of Tyre. This dye was derived from a shell-fish, and was highly valued.
This beautiful and highly-prized colour of purple, which was so ex-
tensively appropriated as the hue of royal robes, was known as a dye, in
the days of Moses. A later period, however, has been fixed for the dis-
covery of this dye, by fabulous antiquity. The honour has been given to
Tyrian Hercules. The tradition is, that when this hero was walking one
day on the sea shore, with a nymph of whom he was enamoured, his dog
found a shell, which, being pressed with hunger, he broke, and the liquid
which ran from the expiring fish within, stained his mouth with so beautiful
a colour, that the fair damsel, charmed with it, declared to her lover that
she would see him no more, till he brought her a dress dyed the same
colour. DUNCAN on the Seasons, vol. iv. 188.
244. 7m, t;c. : Irit was goddess of the rainbow. The clause means that
the threads crossing the warp had the colour of the rainbow, the most beau-
tiful of colours.
248. And in hit hand (was held) the spear : The verb hung applies well
only to tword.
254. Defeated in his intended act of teizurt.
251. Maytt cover : Good poetry, but corrupt theology. The blood of the
Messiah, and not our good deeds, forms tne only Scriptural covering lor our
bad deeds. It was with reference to the future shedding of that blood, that
BOOK XI. 483
Redeem thee quite from Death's rapacious claim ;
But longer in this Paradise to dwell
Permits not. To remove thee I am come, 260
And send thee from the garden forth, to till
The ground whence thou wast taken ; fitter soil.
He added not ; for Adam at the news
Heart-struck, with chilling gripe of sorrow stood,
That all his senses bound. Eve, who unseen, 265
Yet all had heard, with audible lament,
Discover'd soon the place of her retire.
unexpected stroke, worse than of Death !
Must I thus leave thee, Paradise ! thus leave
our first parents were admitted to favour, and redeemed from death in its
highest penal sense. Milton, in the Third Book (203-12, 227-41, 285-99)
has given the correct view of the divine method of covering our bad deeds.
258. Retire: Retirement
260. When Michael announces to Adam and Eve the necessity of their
immediate departure from the garden of Eden, the poet's art in preserving
the decorum of the two characters is very remarkable. Eve, in all the vio-
lence of ungovernable sorrow, breaks forth into a pathetic apostrophe to
Paradise. Adam expresses without a figure his regret for being banished
" from this happy place, our sweet
Recess,'' &c. 304.
The use of the apostrophe in the one case, and its omission in the other,
not only gives a beautiful variety to the style, but also marks that superior
elevation and composure of mind by which the poet had all along distin-
guished the character of Adam. BEATTIE.
269-79. Must I thus leave thee, Paradite : The highest degree of the figure
of personification, is that wherein inanimate objects are introduced, not only
as feeling and acting, but as speaking to us, or hearing and listening when
we address ourselves to them.
All strong passions prompt us to use this figure. Not only love, anger,
and indignation, but even those which are seemingly more dispiriting, such
as grief, remorse, and melancholy. For all passions struggle for vent, and,
if they can find no other object, will, rather than be silent, pour themselves
forth to woods, and rocks, and the most insensible things ; especially if these
be in any way connected with the causes and objects that have thrown the
mind into this agitation. Of this figure Milton has here furnished an ex-
tremely fine example, in the moving, tender, and womanly address which
Eve makes to Paradise, just before she is compelled to lav*> it BLAIR.
484 PARADISE LOST.
Thee, native soil ! these happy walks and shades, 270
Fit haunt of Gods ! where I had hope to spend,
Quiet though sad, the respite of that day
That must be mortal to us both ! flowVs,
That never will in other climate grow,
My early visitation, and my last 275
At e'en, which I bred up with tender hand
From the first opening bud, and gave ye names,
Who now shall rear ye to the sun, or rank
Your tribes, and water from th' ambrosial fount ?
Thee lastly, nuptial bower ! by me adorn'd 280
With what to sight or smell was sweet, from thee
How shall I part, and whither wander down
Into a lower world, to this obscure
And wild ? How shall we breathe in other air,
. t '
Less pure, accustom 'd to immortal fruits ? 285
Whom thus the Angel interrupted mild :
Lament not, Eve, but patiently resign
What justly thou hast lost ; nor set thy heart
.70-71. Fit haunt of godt: To men imbued with the spirit of the fall, to
whom the excitements of conflict and conquest are necessary, and who will
not be happy unless they can " ride in the whirlwind and direct the storm,"
the Paradise of Eden may seem insipid, and the loss of it no great privation,
merely as a condition of life. But to those to whom the strifes of men are
hateful ; who faint beneath the curse of life ; who are cut off from sun and
air by the necessities of daily toil ; or who groan under the burden of their
sins, the repose, the rest, the happiness of Eden, glorified by the presence of
God, appears beyond all measure inviting, and well may they cry, u Oh,
Adam, what hast tho i done, to lose thy children so fair a heritage." K.
272. Day: Period.
279. Jlmbrotial: Delightful. It is derived from a Greek word signifying
immortal. Ambrosia denoted the food on which the pagan gods were sup-
posed to subsist, and to which, along with nectar, their immortality was at-
tributed.
285. Arruttomtd to immortal fruit* : Accustomed to that which produces
immortai fruits. It is implied that the let* pure air of the obtrure and wild
regions of the lototr world, or less elevated parts of the earth around the hill
of Paradise, must produce less wholesome fruits and bring about an unhappy
change in their condition.
BOOK xi. 485
Thus over-fond, on that which is not thine ;
Thy going is not lonely ; with theo goes 290
Thy husband ; him to follow thou art bound.
Where he abides, think there thy native soil.
Adam by this from the cold sudden damp
Recov'ring, and his scatter'd spirits return 'd,
To Michael thus his humble words address'd : 295
Celestial, whether among the Thrones, or named
Of them the high'st, for such of shape may seem
Prince above princes ! gently hast thou told
Thy message, which might else in telling wound,
And in performing end us. What besides 300
Of sorrow, and dejection, and despair,
Our frailty can sustain, thy tidings bring ;
Departure from this happy place, our sweet
Recess, and only consolation left
Familiar to our eyes ; all places else 305
Inhospitable appear and desolate ;
Nor knowing us nor known : and if by prayer
Incessant I could hope to change the will
Of Him who all things can, I would not cease
To weary him with my assiduous cries. 310
But prayer against his absolute decree
No more avails than breath against the wind,
Blown stifling back on him that breathes it forth :
Therefore to his great bidding I submit.
This most afflicts me, that departing hence, 215
As from his face I shall be hid, deprived
315-33. Thi* matt afflicts, fyc.: Adam's speech abounds with thought*
which are equally moving, but of a more masculine and elevated turn than
those of Eve. Nothing can be conceived more sublime and poetical than
this passage. A.
The circumstance here named indicates the piety of Adam. The presence
of God was to him the chief attraction of Paradise. It is the chief attrac-
tion of Heaven, and on earth should be diligently sought. " Adam grieves,"
as Pope remarks, " that he must leave a place where he had conversed with
God and his angels ; but Eve laments that she shall never more behold the
fine flowers of Eden. Here Adam mourns like a man, and Eve like a
486 PARADISE LOST.
His blessed connt'nance. Here I could frequent
AVith worship place by place where he vouchsafed
Presence divine, and to my sons relate ; (g r)
On this mount he appear'd ; under this tree 320
Stood visible ; among these pines his voice
I heard ; here with him at this fountain talk'd.
So many grateful altars I would rear
Of grassy turf, and pile up every stone
Of lustre from the brook, in memory 325
Or monument to ages, and thereon
Offer sweet-smelling gums, and fruits and flow'rs.
In yonder nether world, where shall I seek
His bright appearances, or footstep trace ?
For though I fled him angry, yet recall'd 330
To life prolong'd and promised race, I now
Gladly behold, though but his utmost skirts
Of glory, and far off his steps adore.
To whom thus Michael, with regard benign :
Adam, thou know'st Heav'n his, and all the Earth ; 335
Not this rock only. His omnipresence fills
Land, sea, and air, and every kind that lives,
Fomented by his virtual pow'r and warm'd.
All th' earth he gave thee to possess and rule :
No despicable gift : surmise not then 340
His presence to these narrow bounds confined
Of Paradise or Eden. This had been
Perhaps thy capital seat, from whence had spread
325. In memory of the places where God appeared to himself ; in monu-
ment to future aget that is, to admonish or instruct posterity of the same
thing. The patriarchs were accustomed to raise altars, to remind them of
the places where God had condescended to reveal himself to them by some
acts of distinguishing favour, Gen. xi. 7 ; xxv. 25.
332. Skirtt : An allusion to Exod. xxxiii. 22, 23.
335. Hit: Is his.
337-38. Fomented by hi* virtual power: Advanced in growth by power
which it efficaciout, though not sensible, not exerted through material organs,
and///* every kind that live*. Acts zvii. 28 : "In him we live and move and
have our being."
BOOK xi. 487
Al generations, and had hither come
From all the ends of th' earth, to celebrate 245
And rev'rence thee, their great progenitor.
But this pre-eminence thou'st lost ; brought down
To dwell on even ground now with thy sons.
Yet doubt not, but in valley and in plain
God is as here, and will be found alike 350
Present, and of his presence many a sign
Still following thee, still compassing thee round
With goodness and paternal love, his face
Express, and of his steps the track divine :
Which, that thou may'st believe, and be confirm'd 355
Ere thou from hence depart, know I am sent
To shew thee what shall come in future days
To thee and to thy offspring. Good with bad
Expect to hear, supernal grace contending
With sinfulness of men ; thereby to learn 360
True patience, and to temper joy with fear
And pious sorrow, equally inured
By moderation either state to bear,
Prosperous or adverse : so shalt thou lead
Safest thy life, and, best prepared, endure 365
Thy mortal passage when it comes. Ascend
This hill. Let Eve (for I have drench'd h&.r eyes)
Here sleep below, while thou to foresight wak'bt ;
As once thou sleptst, while she to life was form'd.
To whom thus Adam gratefully reply'd : 370
Ascend ; I follow thee, safe Guide, the path
Thou lead'st me, and to the hand of Heav'n submit,
However chastening ; to the evil turn
My obvious breast, arming to overcome
353-54. Face express: Countenance revealed, or his t'avour manifested.
359. Supernal: Celestial.
367. Drenched her eyes : Made an application to her eyes.
373-74. Turn my obvious (unprotected, open) breast ; arming preparing,
to overcome by suffering ; as Virgil says :
" Quicquid erit, superand* omnii fortuaa fereiulo eit."
JEn. v. 710.
483 PARADISE LOST.
By suff 'ring, and earn rest from labour won, 375
If so I may attain. So both ascend
In the visions of God. It was a hill
Of Paradise the highest, from whose top
The hemisphere of earth in clearest ken
Stretch'd out to th' amplest reach of prospect lay. 380
Not higher that hill nor wider, looking round,
Whereon for different cause the Tempter set
Our second Adam in the wilderness,
To shew him all earth's kingdoms and their glory.
His eye might there command wherever stood 385
City of old or modern fame, the seat
376. So both ascrnd, Ift. : The angel leads Adam to the highest mo mt in
Paradise, and lays before him the hemisphere, as a proper stage for those
visions which were represented to be upon it. Adam's vision, unlike that
of Virgil's hero in the JEneid. is not confined to any particular tribe of man-
kind, but extends to the whole species. A.
336-410. It is not to be supposed that Milton in this passage seeks to dis-
play learning; for the kind of learning here employed is not of a very high
order; but his design was, by a detail of many particular countries and
prominent places, to impress more strongly on the mind of the reader the
statement made in the previous lines, or to give a more just idea of the
great extent of prospect afforded to the eye of Adam.
387. From the dettined walls, ffc. : He first takes a view of Asia, and there
of the northern parts, the dettined wall*, not yet in being, but designed to be
(which is to be understood of all the rest) : of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can,
the principal city of Cathay, a province of Tartary, the seat of the ancient
Chams ; and Samarcand, by Oxu, the chief city of Zagathaian Tartary
near the river Oxus. Temir't throne : The birth-place and royal residence
of Tamerlane.
From the northern he passes to the eastern and southern parts of Asia
(390) to Paquin, or Pekin, of Si'tuean king*, the royal city of China, the
country of the ancient Sin t- mentioned by Ptolemy, and thence to Jlgra and
Lahore, two great cities in the empire of the great Mogul, down to the golden
Chrrtonese (392) , that is, Malacca, the most southern promontory of the
East Indies, so called on account of its riches, to distinguish it from the
other Chersoneses, or peninsulas, or where the Pertian in Ecbatan tat. Ec-
batan. formerly the capital city of Persia, or tince in Hirpahan, the capital
city at present, or where the Ruttian Czar, the Czar of Muscovy, in Motco,
the metropolis of all Russia (formerly); or the tultan in Bisance (395), tbo
Grand Seignior, in Constantinople, formerly Byzantium. Turchestan born : As
the Turks came from Turchestan, a province of Tartary. He reckons theso
BOOK xi. 489
Of mightiest empire, from the destined walls
Of Cambalu, seat of Cathaian Can,
And Samarcand by Oxus, Temir's throne,
To Paquin of Sinzean kings, and thence 390
To Agra and Lahore of great Mogul,
Down to the golden Chersonese, or where
The Persian in Ecbatan sat, or since
In Hispahan, or where the Russian Czar
In Moscow, or the Sultan in Bizance, 395
Turchestan-born ; nor could his eye not ken
Th' empire of Negus to his utmost port
Ercoco, and the less maritime kings,
Mombaza, and Quiloa, and Melind,
And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm 400
Of Congo, and Angola farthest south :
Or thence from Niger flood to Atlas mount,
The kingdoms of Almansor, Fez, and Sus,
Morocco, and Algiers, and Tremisen :
On Europe thence, and where Rome was to sway 405
to Asia, as they are adjoining, and a great part of their territories lies ii
Asia. X.
396. Nor could hit eye, ffc. : He passes now into Africa. Nor could his eye
not ken (discover) M empire of Negus : The Upper Ethiopia, or the land of
the Abyssinians, subject to one sovereign, styled in their own language,
Negus, or king, and by the Europeans, Prester John, to his utmost port Ercoco,
or Erquico, on the Red Sea, the northeast boundary of the Abyssian empire.
and the less maritime kings, the lesser kingdoms on the sea coast, Mombaza,
and Quiloa, and Melind, all near the line (equinoctial) in Zanguebar, a great
region of the lower Ethiopia on the Eastern or Indian Sea, and subject to
the Portuguese. And, Sofala, thought Ophir (400), another kingdom and city
on the same sea, mistaken by some for Ophir, whence Solomon brought
gold, to the realm of Congo (401) , a kingdom in the lower Ethiopia on the
western shore, as the others were on the eastern, and Angola farthest south,
another kingdom south of Congo ; or thence from Niger flood (402) , the river
Niger, that divides Negroland into two parts, to Jltla* Mount in the most
western parts of Africa; the kingdoms of Jllmansor, the countries over which
Almantor was king, namely, Fez and Sus, Morocco and Algiers, and Tremisai,
all kingdoms in Barbary. N.
405. On Europe thence, fyc. : After Africa he eomes to Europe. Jlnd
where Rtme ica* to tway the world : The less is said of Europe as it is so well
21*
490 PARADISE LOST.
The world. In spirit perhaps he also saw
Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezume,
And Cusco in Peru, the richer seat
Of Atabalipa, and yet unspoil'd
Guiana, whose great city Geryon's sons 410
Call 1 Dorado ; but to nobler sights
Michael from Adam's eyes the film removed,
Which that false fruit, that promised clearer sight,
Had bred ; then purged with euphrasy and rue
The visual nerve, for he had much to see ; 415
And from the well of life three drops instill 'd.
So deep the pow'r of these ingredients pierced,
E'en to the inmost seat of mental sight,
That Adam, now enforced to close his eyes,
Sunk down, and all his spirits became entranced ; 420
But him the gentle Angel by the hand
Soon raised, and his attention thus recall'd :
Known. In spirit pcrhapt he also taw: He could not see it otherwise, as
America was on the opposite side of the globe ; rich Mexico in North Ame-
rica, the teat of Montczumt, who was subdued by the Spanish general, Cortez ;
and Cutco in Peru in South America, the richer teat of Atabalipa the last
emperor subdued by the Spanish general, Pizarro ; and yet vnipoiled Guiana
(410), another country of South America, not then invaded and spoiled, \chott
great city, namely, Manhoa, Geryon't ton*, the Spaniards from Geryon, an
ancient king of Spain, call El Dorado, or the golden city, on account of ita
riches and extent. N.
411. But to nobler tightt. Sfc. : These which follow are nobler tight*, being
not only of cities and kingdoms, but of the principal actions of men to the
final consummation of things; and to prepare Adam for these sights, the
angel removed the film from hit eyet, as Pallas removed the mists from the
eyes of Diomede, Iliad v. 127, and as Venus did from those of ^Eneas, JEn
ii. 604, arid as the same Michael did from those of Godfrey, Taseo, cant
xviii., stanz. 93. What follows of Adam's sinking down overpowered, ana
then being raised again by the hand gently by the angel, he has copied from
Daniel, x. 8, &c v or from Rev. i. 17. N.
414. Purged with euphraty and rue: Cleared the organs of bis sight with
rue, and euphraty or eye-bright, so named from its clearing virtue. H.
Rue was used in exorcisms, and is therefore called herb of grace by Shaks-
peare. N.
419. Enforced: Forced.
BOOK XI. 491
Adam, now ope thine eyes, and first behold
Th' effects which thy original crime hath wrought
In some to spring from thee, who never touch'd 425
Th' excepted tree, nor with the snake conspir'd,
Nor sinn'd thy sin ; yet from that sin derive
Corruption, to bring forth more violent deeds.
His eyes he open'd, and beheld a field,
Part arable and tilth, whereon were sheaves 430
New reap'd, the other part sheep-walks and folds ;
In tir midst an altar as the land-mark stood,
Rustic, of grassy sord. Thither anon
A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought
First fruits ; the green ear and the yellow sheaf, 435
Uncull'd, as came to hand. A shepherd next,
More meek, came with the firstlings of his flock
Choicest and best ; then sacrificing, laid
The inwards and their fat, with incense strow'd,
On the cleft wood, and all due rites perform'd. 440
422, &c. A prophetic history, or a revelation by vision, is here granted to
Adam respecting his future descendants.
430. Tilth: Tilled.
434. A tweaty reaper (Cain) , fyc. : Compare the account here given with
Gen. iv. 2, &c. The poet adds that Cain took the fruits unculled, as came to
hand, whereas Abel selected the choicest and best of his flock ; and in this
some interpreters have conceived the guilt of Cain to consist. The poet
too makes them offer both upon the same altar, for the word brought, in
Scripture (which Milton likewise retains), is understood of their bringing
their offerings to some common place of worship ; and this altar he makes
of turf, of grassy sord (sward) , as the first altars are represented to be, and
describes the sacrifice somewhat in the manner of Homer. The Scripture
says only, that " the Lord had respect unto Mel and to his offering ; but unto
Cain and to hi* offering he had not respect." The poet makes this respect to
Abel's offering to be a fire from Heaven consuming it. There are severa
instances of such acceptance in Scripture. Cain's was not so accepted ; for,
says the poet, hit was not sincere. N.
The more important reason for this non-acceptance was, that in Abel's case
there was the exercise of faith in God (probably in the predicted Messiah,
indicated by the kind of offering he presented an animal sacrifice) , while,
in that of Cain there was no such faith, nor outward manifestation of it.
Heb. xi. 4 : " By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain," &c. The poet himself barely alludes to this, indeed (458) .
492 PARADISE LOST.
His offering soon propitious fire from Heav'n
Consumed ; with nimble glance and grateful steam ;
The other's not, for his was not sincere ;
Whereat he inly raged, and as they talk'd,
Smote him into the midriff with a stone 445
That beat out life. He fell, and, deadly pale,
Groan'd out his soul with gushing blood effused.
Much at that sight was Adam in his heart
DismayM ; and thus in haste to th' Angel cry'd :
Teacher, some great mischief hath betall'n 450
To that meek man, who well had sacrificed '
Is piety thus and pure devotion paid ?
T' whom Michael thus (he also moved) reply'd:
These two are brethren, Adam, and to come
Out of thy loins. Th' unjust the just hath slain, 455
For envy that his brother's ofTring found
From Heav'n acceptance : but the bloody fact
Will be avenged, and th' other's faith approved.
Lose no reward, though here thou see him die
Rolling in dust and gore. To which our sire : 460
Alas ! both for the deed and for the cause !
But have J now seen Death ? Is this the way
I must return to native dust ? sight
Of terror, foul and ugly to behold !
Horrid to think ! how horrible to feel ! 465
To whom thus Michael : Death thou hast seen
In his first shape on Man ; but many shapes
442. dance : Shooting, darting.
462. But have I now Ken death : That curiosity and natural horror which
arises in Adam at the sight of the first dying man, is touched with great
beauty. A.
Neither he nor Eve had any such sad conception of death when, Book X.
1001, she said, u Let us seek death," &c. The form in which it now ap-
peared was indeed peculiarly shocking.
467-69. But many thapts of death, &fr. : Newton here quotes an illustrative
passage from Seneca- Pheniss*, Art. i. 151-53:
Ubique more eit
Mill* d hoc litui patent."
BOOK xi. 493
Of Death, and many are the ways that lead
To his grim cave, all dismal : yet to sense
More terrible at th' entrance than within. 470
Some, as thou saw'st, by violent stroke shall die,
By fire, flood, famine, by intemp'rance more
In meats and drinks, which on the earth shall bring
Diseases dire, of which a monstrous crew
Before thee shall appear ; that thou may'st know 475
What misery th' inabstinence of Eve
Shall bring on men. Immediately a place
Before his eyes appear 'd, sad, noisome, dark,
A lazar-house it seem'd, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseased, all maladies 480
Of ghastly spasm or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-sick agony, all fev'rous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone and ulcer, colic pangs,
Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy, 485
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence,
Dropsies and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans ; Despair
477. Immediately a place, Sfc. : The second vision sets before him the image
of death in a great variety of appearances. The angel, to give a general
idea of those effects which his guilt had brought upon his posterity, places
before him a large hospital, or lazar-house filled with persons lying under
all kinds of mortal diseases. A.
486. Atrophy : Defect of nutrition, producing emaciation.
487. Marasmut: Consumption accompanied with a wasting fever.
489. The breaks and pauses in this verse are admirable ; and this beauty
is improved by each period's beginning with the same letter d:
" Dire was the tossing, deep the groans ; Despair."
Substitute any other word in the room of dire or deep, and you will per-
ceive the difference, and then follows :
" And over them triumphant Death hii dart
Shook, but delay 'd to itrike."
As the image is wonderfully fine, so 11 is excellently expressed with the
solemn pause upon the first syllable of the line shook. One thinks that he
almost sees the dart shaking. X.
494 PARADISE LOST.
Tended the sick, busiest, from couch to couch ; 490
And over them triumphant Death his dart \
Shook, but delay'd to strike, though oft invoked
With vows, as their chief good and final hopo.
Sight so deform, what heart of rock could long
Dry-eyed behold ? Adam could not, but wept, 495
Though not of woman born. Compassion quell'd
His best of man, and gave him to tears
A space, till firmer thoughts restrain'd excess ;
And, scarce recov'ring words, his plaint renew'd.
miserable mankind ! to what fall . 500
Degraded ! to what wretched state reserved !
Better end here unborn. Why is life given
To be thus wrested from us ? Rather, why
Obtruded on us thus ? who if we knew
What we receive, would either not accept 506
Life offer'd, or soon beg to lay it down,
Glad to be so dismiss 'd in peace. Can thus
The image of God, in man created once
So goodly and erect, though faulty since,
To such unsightly suff 'rings be debased 510
Under inhuman pains ? Why should not man,
Retaining still divine similitude
In part, from such deformities be free,
And, for his Maker's image sake, exempt ?
Their Maker's image, answer'd Michael, then 515
494. Dfform: Deformed.
405. Mam ictpt, ffc. : This thought, as Mr. Walley observe*, is certainly
from Shakspeare, whose words Milton has preserved at the close of the
entence :
" I bad not 10 much of nan about me,
But all my mother came into my eyi,
And gave me up to lean."
Henry V. Act 4.
496. Qufird hit bett, tfc. : Subdued his strongest powers, or his utmost
power as a man.
502. Better end, $c. : It were better that you should end your existence
here, yet unborn that is, that you should be seen only in vision, and never
have existence.
BOOK xi. 495
Forsook them when themselves they vilify'd
To serve ungovern'd appetite, and took
His image whom they served, a brutish vice,
Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve.
Therefore, so abject is their punishment, 620
Disfiguring not God's likeness, but their own,
Or, if his likeness, by themselves defaced,
While they pervert pure Nature's healthful rules
To loathsome sickness ; worthily, since they
God's image did not rev'rence in themselves. 625
I yield it just, said Adam, and submit.
But is there yet no other way, besides
These painful passages, how we may come
To death, and mix with our connatural dust ?
There is, said Michael, if thou well observe 530
The rule of Not too much : by Temp'rance taught,
In what thou eat'st and drink'st ; seeking from thence
Due nourishment, not gluttonous delight,
Till many years over thy head return : ^
So may'st thou live till, like ripe fruit, thov +r,\f>. . ,, r 535
Into thy mother's lap, or be with ease >'
Gather'd, not harshly pluck'd ; for death mature.
This is old age ; but then thou must outlive
517. To serve ungoverned appetite : Appetite here is made a person, jlnd
look hit image whom they served : The image of ungoverned appetite. j$
brutish (degrading) vice: That was the principal occasion of the sin of Eve.
Inductive mainly to the sin of Eve : How different is this image from God's
image, as described IV. 291. N.
531. The rule of Not too much : " Ne quid nimis." N.
536. Mother's lap: The Earth. An allusion may here be made to an in-
cident mentioned by Livy, Book i. chap. 56, where Brutus is said to have
imprinted a kiss upon the earth, because she was the common mother of all
mortals.
538. But then thou must outlive, ifc. : There is something very just and
poetical in this description of the miseries of old age, so finely contrasted as
they are with the opposite pleasures of youth. It is indeed short, but vastly
expressive, and I think ought to excite the pity as well as the admiration
of the reader ; since the poor poet is here no doubt describing what he felt
at the time he wrote it, being then in the decline of life, and troubled with
various infirmities. TIIYKK.
496 PARADISE LOST.
Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty, which will change
To wither'd, weak, and grey. Thy senses then 540
Obtuse, all taste of pleasure must forego,
To what thou hast ; and for the air of youth,
Hopeful and cheerful, in thy blood will reign
A melancholy damp of cold and dry,
To weigh thy spirits down, and last consume 545
The balm of life. To whom our ancestor :
Henceforth I fly not death, nor would prolong
Life much, bent rather how I may be quit,
Fairest and easiest, of this cumb'rous charge,
Which I must keep till my appointed day 550
Of rend'ring up, and patiently attend
My dissolution. Michael replied :
Nor love thy life, nor hate ; but what thou liv'st
Live well ; how long, or short permit to Heav'n.
And now prepare thee for another sight. 555
He look'd, and saw a spacious plain, whereon
Were. Jents <f various hue : by some were herds
'Of caodt,7iftu^.er^ others, whence the sound
Of instruments; Ithat made melodious chime,
Was heard, of harp and organ ; and who moved 560
Their stops and chords, was seen. His volant touch
Instinct through all proportions low and high,
551. Attend : Wait for.
553-54. Nor lot*, ffc. : Campbell remarks that the dignity and authority
of the preceptive style receive no small lustre from brevity. How manv
important lessons are couched in these two lines !
554. Permit to Heav'n: "Permitte Divis," Hor. Od. i. 9: 9. N.
557. Tentt, iff. : Those of Cain's descendants.
558. Cattle, $c. : These belonged to Jabal.
558-97. Whence the tound, fr. : As there is nothing more delightful in
poetry than a contrast and opposition of incidents, the author, after this
melancholy prospect of death and sickness, raises up a scene of mirth and
love. The secret pleasure that steals into Adam's heart, as he is intent
upon the vision, is imagined with great delicacy. A.
560. Harp and organ : Invented by Jubal.
561. Volnnt: Flying, rapid. Inttinct Spontaneous, without effort
BOOK xi. 497
Fled and pursued transverse the resonant fugue.
In other part stood one who, at the forge
Labouring, two massy clods of iron and brass 566
Had melted (whether found where casual fire
Had wasted woods on mountain or in vale,
Down to the veins of earth, thence gliding hot
To some cave's mouth ; or whether wash'd by stream
From under ground) : the liquid ore he drain'd 570
Into fit moulds prepared ; from which he form'd
First bis own tools ; then what might else be wrought
Fusile, or grav'n in metal. After these,
But on the hither side, a different sort
From the high neighb'ring hills, which were their seat, 575
Down to the plain descended. By their guise,
Just men they seem'd, and all their study bent
To worship God aright, and know his works
Not hid ; nor those things last which might preserve
Freedom and peace to men. They on the plain 580
Long had not walk'd, when, from the tents, behold
A bevy of fair women, richly gay
In gems and wanton dress ! To th' harp they sung
Soft amorous ditties, and in dance came on.
563. Retonant fugue : A musical composition, in which the teveral parti
follow each other (from fuga, flight), each repeating the subject at a certain
interval, above or below the preceding part. BHANDK.
564. Stood one : Tubal-Cain, Gen. iv. 20-22.
573. Fusil : Flowing, in a melted state. Graven : Carve'd. After these :
As being the descendants of the younger brother. But on the hither side :
Cain having been banished into a more distant country. A different tort :
The posterity of Seth, wholly different from that of Cain. From the high
neighbouring hills which were their seat : Having their habitation in 1 he
mountains near Paradise. Down to the plain descended : Where the Cainites
dwelt. By their guise just men they wem'rf, Sfc. : The Scripture itself speaks
of them as the worshippers of the true God. And know his icorks not hid:
Josephus, and other writers, inform us that they were addicted to the study
of natural philosophy, and especially of astronomy (Antiq. lib. i. c. 2) . Nor
those things last which might preserve : Nor was it their last care and study to
know those things which might preserve freedom and peace to men. N.<
?>83. Bevy: Company.
F F
498 PARADISE LOST.
The men, though grave, eyed them, and let their eyes 586
Rove without rein, till in the amorous net
First caught, they liked, and each his liking chose :
And now of love they treat, till th' ev'ning star,
Love's harbinger, appeared ; then all in heat
They light the nuptial torch, and bid invoke 590
Hymen, then first to marriage rites invoked.
With feast and music all the tents resound.
Such happy interview, and fair event
Of love arid youth not lost, songs, garlands, flow'rs,
And charming symphonies, attached the heart 595
Of Adam, soon inclined t' admit delight,
The bent of nature ; which he thus expressed :
True opener of mine eyes, prime Angel blest,
Much better seems this vision, and more hope
Of peaceful days portends, than those two past : 600
Those were of hate and death, or pain much worse ;
Here Nature seems fulfilled in all her ends.
To whom thus Michael : Judge not what is best
By pleasure, though to nature seeming meet,
Created, as thou art, to nobler end, 605
Holy and pure, conformity divine.
Those tents thou saw'st so pleasant were the tents
Of wickedness, wherein shall dwell his race
Who slew his brother. Studious they appear
Of arts that polish life, inventors rare, 610
Unmindful of their Maker, though his Spirit
Taught them ; but they his gifts acknowledged none ;
Yet they a beauteous offspring shall beget ;
For that fair female troop thou saw'st, that seem'd
Of Goddesses, so blithe, so smooth, so gay, 615
587. Liking: Object of his liking.
588. Ev'ning ttar : Venus.
591. Hymen: The pagan god of marriage.
604. Pletuurt : By the pleasure it affords.
814. The construction is, for thou tawett that fair femalt troop that Meat At
BOOK . 499
Yet empty of all good, wherein consists
Women's domestic honour and chief praise ;
Bred only and completed to the taste
Of lustful appetence, to sing, to dance,
To dress, and troll the tongue, and roll the eye ; 620
To these that sober race of men, whose lives
Religious titled them the sons of God,
Shall yield up all their virtue, all their fame,
Ignobly to the trains and to the smiles
Of these fair atheists ; and now swim in joy, 625
Ere long to swim at large ; and laugh, for which
The world ere long a world of tears must weep.
To whom thus Adam, of short joy bereft :
O pity and shame, that they, who to live well
Enter'd so fair, should turn aside to tread 630
Paths indirect, or in the mid-way faint !
But still I see the tenor of Man's woe
Holds on the same, from Woman to begin..
From Man's effeminate slackness it begins,
Said th' Angel, who should better hold his place 635
By wisdom, and superior gifts received.
But now prepare thee for another scene.
He look'd, and saw wide territory spread
Before him ; towns and rural works between ;
Cities of men, with lofty gates and tow'rs, 640
Concourse in arms, fierce faces threat'ning war,
Giants of mighty bone, and bold emprise :
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed,
Single or in array of battle ranged
622. Sont of God: Descendants of Seth, Gen. vi. 1-4; but there are pas-
cages in this poem which countenance the exploded notion of the angels
being intended, III. 463 ; V. 447 ; also in Par. Reg. II. 178.
626-27. Sioim at large . . . world of tears : Witty allusions to the deluge,
which was occasioned by the depravity to which these unlawful or ill-
advised marriages gave rise, Gen. vi. 4-13.
637. Another tcene : That of war, which causes Adam to shed tears, and
pour forth most pathetic and just lamentations, 674-82.
642. Empriu: Enterprise.
500 PARADISE LOST.
Both horse and foot ; nor idly must'ring stood. 645
One way a band select from forage drives
A herd of beeves, fair oxen and fair kine,
From a fat meadow-ground ; or fleecy flock,
Ewes and their bleating lambs over the plain,
Their booty. Scarce with life the shepherds fly, 650
But call in aid ; which makes a bloody fray.
With cruel tournament the squadrons join :
Where cattle pastured late, now scatter'd lies
With carcases and arms th' insanguined field
Deserted. Others, to a city strong 655
Lay siege, encamp'd ; by battery, scale, and mine
Assaulting : others, from the wall, defend
With dart and javelin, stones and sulph'rous fire :
On each hand slaughter and gigantic deeds.
In other part the scepter'd heralds call 660
To council in the city gates. Anon
Grey-headed men and grave, with warriors mix'd,
Assemble, and harangues are heard ; but soon
In factious opposition, till at last
Of middle age one rising, eminent 665
In wise deport, spake much of right and wrong,
Of justice, of religion, truth and peace,
And judgment from above. Him old and young
Exploded, and had seized with violent hands,
Had not a cloud descending snatch'd him thence, 670
Unseen amid the throng : so violence
Proceeded, and oppression, and sword-law
660. Iliad xviii. 491, 509, 527, 550, &c.
661. The city gate* used to be the place for popular assemblies, and for
judic ; al business.
665. Of middle age : Not aa life is now measured. Enoch, here referred
to, was three hundred and sixty-five yean old at the time of his translation,
Gen. v. 23, which was only about half the usual duration then of human
life.
666. Deport : Deportment.
668. Judgment, $c. : Jude 14.'
669. Exploded : Rejected with disdain, cried down.
BOOK XI. 501
Through all the plain ; and refuge none was found.
Adam was all in tears, and to his Guide
Lamenting, turn'd full sad : what are these ? 675
Death's ministers, not men, who thus deal death
Inhumanly to men, and multiply
Ten thousand fold the sin of him who slew
His brother ! for of whom such massacre
Make they but of their brethren, men of men ? 680
But who was that just man, whom had not Heav'n
Rescued, had in his righteousness been lost ?
To whom thus Michael : These are the product
Of those ill-mated marriages thou saw'st ;
Where good with bad were match'd ; who of themselves 685
Abhor to join, and by imprudence mix'd,
Produce prodigious births of body or mind.
Such were these giants, men of high renown ;
For in those days might only shall be admired,
And valour and heroic virtue call'd ; 690
To overcome in battle and subdue
Nations, and bring home spoils with infinite
Man-slaughter, shall be held the highest pitch
Of human glory, and for glory done
Of triumph, to be styled great conquerors, 695
Patrons of mankind, (rods, and sons of Gods :
Destroyers rightlier call'd, and plagues of men.
Thus fame shall be achieved, renown on earth,
And what most merits fame in silence hid.
But he the seventh from thee, whom thou beheld'st 700
The only righteous in a world perverse,
And therefore hated, therefore so beset
With foes for daring single to be just,
And utter odious truth, that God would come
<J87. Prodigious births of body or mind : Milton leaves to the reader to
cnoose between the two interpretations, that these men were either of
gigantic stature and power, or of gigantic wickedness.
690. Called : Held in esteem.
C94. For glory done of triumph, fyc. : And shall be done for the glory of
triumph, for the purpose of lieing styled great conqutron, fa.
502 PARADISE LOST.
To judge them with his saints ; him the Most High, 705
Rapt in a balmy cloud with winged steeds,
Did, as thou saw'st, receive to walk with God,
High in salvation and the climes of bliss,
Exempt from death ; to shew thee what reward
Awaits the good, the rest what punishment : 710
Which now direct thine eyes, and soon behold.
He look'd and saw the face of things quite changed.
The brazen throat of war had ceased to roar :
All now was turn'd to jollity and game,
To luxury and riot, feast and danoe, 715
Marrying or prostituting, as befel,
Rape or adultery, where passing fair
Allured them : thence from cups to civil broils.
At length a reverend sire among them came,
And of their doings great dislike declared, 720
And testified against their ways. He oft
Frequented their assemblies, whereso met,
Triumphs or festivals, and to them preach'd
Conversion and repentance, as to souls
In prison under judgments imminent : 725
But all in vain : which when he saw, he ceased
Contending, and removed his tents far off:
Then from the mountain, hewing timber tall,
Began to build a vessel of huge bulk,
Measured by cubit, length, and breadth, and heighth; 730
Smear'd round with pitch, and in the side a door
Contrived ; and of provisions laid in large
711. Which is governed by the more remote verb behold.
712, &c. To keep up an agreeable variety in his visions, after having
raised in the mind of his reader the several ideas of terror which are con-
formable to the description of war, Milton passes on to those softer images
of triumphs and festivals, in that vision of voluptuousness and luxury which
ushers in the flood. A.
719. Sire: Noah.
732. Large : Largely. As in Latin, the adjective is often used by Milton
tor the adverb.
BOOK XI.
603
For man and beast ; when lo, a wonder strange f
Of every beast, and bird, and insect small,
Came sevens and pairs, and enter 'd in as taught 735
Their order : last, the sire and his three sons
With their four wives ; and God made fast the door.
Meanwhile the south wind rose, and with black wings
Wide hov'ring, all the clouds together drove
From under Heaven ; the hills, to their supply, 740
Vapour, and exhalation dusk and moist,
Sent up amain. And now the thickcn'd sky
Like a dark ceiling stood ; down rush'd the rain
^Impetuous, and continued till the earth
No more was seen. The floating vessel swum 745
Uplifted, and secure with beaked prow,
Rode tilting o'er the waves : all dwellings else
Flood overwhelm'd, and them with all their pomp
Deep under water roll'd ; sea cover'd sea,
Sea without shore : and in their palaces, 750
Where luxury late reign 'd, sea monsters whelp 'd
And stabled. Of mankind, so numerous late,
All left, in one small bottom swum imbark'd.
How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold
The end of all thy offspring, end so sad, 755
Depopulation ! Thee another flood,
Of tears and sorrow a flood, thee also drown'd,
And sunk thee as thy sons ; till gently rear'd
By th' Angel, on thy feet thou stood'st at last,
Though comfortless, as when a father mourns 760
738. The description of the deluge here given by Milton bears in many
particulars a great resemblance to the deluge of Deucaleon, described by
Ovid, Book i. 260-355 ; but with great judgment has he omitted everything
redundant or puerile in the Latin poet. A.
742. Amain : At once.
749. A new sea covered the old one.
753. All (that were) left.
754. The transition made by the poet from the vision of the deluge to the
Concern it occasioned in Adam, is exquisitely graceful, and copied after
Virgil ; vet the first thought ia rather in the spirit of Ovid.
604 PARADISE LOST.
His children, all in view destroy'd at once :
And scarce to th' Angel utter'dst thus thy plaint :
visions ill foreseen ! Better had I
Lived ignorant of future, so had borne
My part of evil only, each day's lot 765
Enough to bear ! those now, that were dispensed
The burden of many ages, on me light
At once, by my. foreknowledge gaining birth
Abortive, to torment me ere their being,
With thought that they must be ! Let no man seek 770
Henceforth to be foretold what shall befal
Him or his children : evil he may be sure, *
Which neither his foreknowing can prevent,
And he the future evil shall no less
In apprehension than in substance feel 775
Grievous to bear. But that care now is past ;
Man is not whom to warn : those few escaped
Famine and anguish will at last consume,
Wand'ring that watery desert. I had hope
When violence was ceased, and war on earth, 780
All would have then gone well, peace would have crown'd
With length of happy days the race of man ;
But 1 was far deceived : for now I see
Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste.
How comes it thus r Unfold, celestial guide, 785
And whether here the race of man will end.
To whom thus Michael : Those, whom last thou saw'st
In triumph and luxurious wealth, are they
First seen in acts of prowess eminent
And great exploits, but of true virtue void ; 790
Who, having spilt much blood, and done much waste,
Subduing nations, and achieved thereby
766. Ditptnted : Distributed, or dealt out in parcels, as the burden, &c.
769. Abortive: Premature.
773. Neither: Not. As in this instance, and frequently in Latin, this
word is not always followed by nor, but by and sometimes.
777. Ktraptd : That hav* FM-aprd. 784. (Tends) In nrrnpt.
BOOK XI. 505
Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey,
Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth,
Surfeit, and lust, till wantonness and pride 595
Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace.
The conquer'd also, and enslaved by war,
Shall, with their freedom lost, all virtue lose
And fear of God, from whom their piety feign'd
In sharp contest of battle found no aid 800
Against invaders ; therefore cool'd in zeal,
Thenceforth shall practice how to live secure,
Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords
Shall leave them to enjoy ; for th' earth shall bear
More than enough, that temperance may be try'd : 805
So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved,
Justice and temperance, truth and faith forgot
One man except, the only son of light
In a dark age, against example good,
Against allurement, custom, and a world 810
Offended ; fearless of reproach and scorn,
Or violence, he of their wicked ways
Shall them admonish, and before them set
The paths of righteousness, how much more safe,
And full of peace ; denouncing wrath to come 815
On their impenitence ; and shall return
Of them derided, but of God observed
The one just man alive. By his command
Shall build a wond'rous ark, as thou beheld'st
To save himself and household from amidst 820
A world devote to universal wrack.
No sooner he, with them of man and beast
Select for life, shall in the ark be lodged,
And shelter'd round, but all the cataracts
798. Shall with freedom hit, tfc. : Milton everywhere shows his love of
liberty; and here he observes very rightly that the loss of liberty u soon
followed by the loss of all virtue and religion. N.
809. Contrary to the example of others, good.
821. Devote: Devoted.
824. Cataract* : In lh Arabic, Septuagint, Syriac, and Latin versions 01
506 PARADISE T.08T.
Of Heav'n, set open on the earth, shall pour 825
Rain day and night ; all fountains of the deep,
Broke up, shall heave the ocean, to usurp
Beyond all bounds, till inundation rise
Above the highest hills : then shall this mount
Of Paradise, by might of waves, be moved 830
Out of bis place, push'd by the horned flood,
With all his verdure spoil'd, and trees adrift,
Down the great river to the opening gulf,
And there take root an island salt and bare,
The haunt of seals, and ores, and sea-mew's clang ; 835
To teach thee that God attributes to place
No sanctity, if none be thither brought
By men who there frequent, or therein dwell.
And now what further shall ensue, behold.
He look'd, and saw the ark hull on the flood, 840
Genesis, this is the translation of the word which, in the English version, is
endered icimlotrs.
826. Jill fountain* of the deep : The great reservoirs of waters under
ground.
829. It is the opinion of many learned men, that Paradise was destroyed
by the deluge, and our author describes it in a very poetical manner.
Puth'd by the horrid flood : So that it was before the flood became universal,
and while it poured along like a vast river ; for rivers, when they meet with
anything to obstruct their passage, divide themselves, and become horned, as
it were ; and hence the ancients have compared them to bulls :
Sic taunforii volvitur Aufidui."
Hor. Od. Iv. 14, 35,
Down the great river to the opening gulf: Down the river Tigris or Euphra-
tes, to the Persian Gulf. They were both riven of Eden, and Euphrates
particularly is called in Scripture, " the great rher, tht River Ettphrtittt,' 1
Gen. xv. 18. N.
835. Or:t : A species of whale. Clangor is the term which was used by
the Latins to express the noise occasioned by the flight of large docks of
birds.
836-37. A weighty and practical remark, deserving universal attention.
I think, says Mr. Thyer, that Milton here alludes to the manner of conse-
crating churches used by Archbishop Laud, which was prodigiously cla-
moured against by people of our author's thinking, as superstitious and
foolish.
840. The ark is called a hull, because destitute of masts and sails.
BOOK XII. 507
Which now abated ; for the clouds were fled,
Driven by a keen north-wind, that, blowing dry,
Wrinkled the face of deluge, as decay'd ;
And the clear gun on his wide watery glass
Gazed hot, and of the fresh wave largely drew, 845
As after thirst ; which made their flowing shrink
From standing lake to tripping ebb, that stole
With soft foot towards the Deep, who now had stopt
His sluices, as the Heav'n his windows shut.
The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground, 850
Fast on the top of some high mountain fix'd.
And now the tops of hills as rocks appear :
With clamour thence the rapid currents drive
Towards the retreating sea their furious tide.
Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies, 855
And after him, the surer messenger,
A dove, sent forth once and again to spy
Green tree or ground whereon his foot may light.
The second time returning, in his bill
An olive leaf he brings ; pacific sign. 860
843. Wrinkled the face, tfc. : The deluge is here personified, and repre-
sented with the wrinkles of old age, being about to disappear. The image,
though exact, is regarded as far-fetched.
844. The sun is next personified in a happier manner. He looks into the
diluvial ocean as his mirror. He drinks, as after thirst, of the fresh wave, the
process of rapid evaporation produced by the sun's rays being alluded to.
Wave is here put for waves, as we infer from the next line, which speaks of
their flowing.
847. The ebb, or reflux water, is here beautifully personified. He steals
with soft foot towards the deep. The deep is personified. He stops his
sluice* : The openings miraculously made, which let out his waters upon the
earth. The sacred writer (Gen. vii. 11; viii. 3), and the poet (826-28)
seem to suppose that, besides the ocean, there is an immense reservoir o
water enclosed in the earth. They call it the " Deep," the " Fountains of the
Deep ;" and to this source, and to the cataracts, or water-spouts of Heaven,
they attribute the deluge. Heaven (849) is personified also.
860. Pacific sign : Sign of peace, of God's mercy to mankind. The olive
was sacred to Pallas, and borne by those who sued for peace, as being the
emblem of it, and of plenty :
1'uril'tM : ijiit- inaiai lainmii pnrtendit olii .''
;*'.n viii. 118.
608 PARADISE LOST.
Anon dry ground appears, and from his ark
The ancient sire descends with all his train :
Then, with uplifted hands and eyes devout,
Grateful to Heav'n, over his head beholds
A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow 865
Conspicuous with three listed colours gay,
Betokening peace from God and covenant new.
Whereat the heart of Adam, erst so sad,
Greatly rejoiced, and thus his joy broke forth :
thou, who future things canst represent 870
As present, heav'nly Instructor, I revive
At this last sight ; assured that man shall live
With all the creatures, and their seed preserve.
Far less I now lament for one whole world
Of wicked sons destroyed, than I rejoice 875
For one man found so perfect and so just,
That God vouchsafes to raise another world
From him and all his anger to forget.
But say, what mean those colour'd streaks in Heav'n
Distended, as the brow of God appeased ? 880
Or serve they as a flow'ry verge to bind
The fluid skirts of that same watery cloud,
Lest it again dissolve and shower the earth ?
To whom the Arch- Angel : Dext'rously thou aim'st ;
So willingly doth God remit his ire, 885
Though late repenting him of man depraved,
Grieved at his heart, when looking down he saw
The whole earth fill'd with violence, and all flesh
Corrupting, each their way ; yet those removed,
Such grace shall one just man find in his sight, 890
That he relents, not to blot out mankind,
And makes a covenant never to destroy
866. Three lifted colour*: Three striped colours. Referring to the red,
yellow, and blue, which are the principal ones.
882-83. An ingenious thought.
886-87. Gen. vi. 6. A mode of speech not to be too literally interpret^
but designed strongly to express the Divine displeasure in view of man's
degeneracy.
BOOK XI. 509
The earth again by flood, nor let the sea
Surpass his bounds, nor rain to drown the world
With man therein or beast ; but when he brings 895
Over the earth a cloud, will therein set
His triple-coloured bow, whereon to look,
And call lo mind his covenant. Day and night,
Seed-time and harvest, heat and hoary frost,
Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new, 900
Both Heav'n and Earth, wherein the just shall dwell.
895. With man therein or beast : The last term is used in a wider sense,
aa comprehending also the birds.
BOOK XII.
THE ARGUMENT.
THK Angel Michael continues, from the flood, to relate what shall succeed,
then, in the mention of Abraham, comes by degrees to explain who that
Seed of the Woman shall be, which was promised Adam and Eve in the
fall; his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; the state of the
Church till his second coming ; Adam, greatly satisfied and comforted by
these relations and,promises, descends the hill with Michael ; wakens Eve,
who all this while had slept, but with gentle dreams composed to quietness
of mind and submission ; Michael in either hand -leads them out of Para-
dise, the fiery sword waving behind them, and the Cherubim taking their
stations to guard the place.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
THE Eleventh and Twelfth Books are built upon the single circumstance
of the removal of our first parents from Paradise ; but though this is not in
itself so great a subject as that in most of the foregoing Books, it is extended
and diversified with so many surprising incidents and pleasing episodes, that
these last two Books can by no means be looked upon as unequal parts of
this divine poem. It may be added, that, had not Milton represented our
first parents as driven out of Paradise, his fall of man would not have been
complete, and, consequently, his action would have been imperfect. A.
But there is another topic of remark which the concluding Book of Mil-
ton's divine poem suggests : it is his comparative affluence of invention. The
sentence upon Adam might have been attended by immediate expulsion ;
but how gracious is the divine condescension, to allow some interval of re-
flection, and, previously to ejectment, to fortify the minds of the repentant
pair with anticipated knowledge and distant consolation ! Thus the interest
of the poem is kept alive with the reader to the last line. The whole of
the Twelfth Book closely relates to Adam and his posterity ; and so deJight-
ful are these soothing hopes of happiness administered by the archangel,
that we, equally with Adam, forget that we are to quit Paradise, and are,
like him, heart-struck by the sudden warning, that " the hour is come, the
very minute of it ;" and attend the " hastening angel, to the gates of exclu-
'rion, with all the sad and lingering acquiescence of our first parents." E. B.
BOOK XII.
As one who in his journey bates at noon,
Though bent on speed, so here th' Arch-Anp ; paused
Betwixt the world destroy'd and world restorj,
If Adam aught perhaps might interpose ;
Then with transition sweet new speech resumes.
Thus thou hast seen one world begin and end ;
And man, as from a second stock, proceed.
Much thou hast yet to see, but I perceive
Thy mortal sight to fail ; objects divine
Must needs impair and weary human sense : 10
Henceforth what is to come I will relate,
Thou therefore give due audience and attend.
This second source of men, while yet but few,
And while the dread of judgment past remains
Fresh in their minds, fearing the Deity, 15
1. jS$ one, tft. : In the first edition, before the last Book was divided into
two, the narration went on without any interruption ; but upon that division
in the second edition, these first five lines were inserted. This addition be-
gins the Book very gracefully, and is, indeed (to apply the author's own
words) , a tweet trantitian. N.
9-10. Thy mortal fight to fail ', ffc . : A very handsome reason is hcrt
devised for discontinuing the vision and despatching the remaining part
of the history in the narrative form ; though, doubtless, the true reason wai
the difficulty which the poet would have found to shadow out so mixed and
complicated a story in visible objects. A.
BOOK XII. M3
With some regard to what is just and right
Shall lead their lives, and multiply apace,
Labouring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop,
Corn, wine, and oil : and from the herd or flock,
Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid, 20
With large wine-off'rings pour'd, and sacred feast,
Shall spend their days in joy unblamed, and dwell
Long time in peace, by families and tribes,
Under paternal rule, till one shall rise,
Of proud ambitious heart ; who not content 25
With fair equality, fraternal state,
Will arrogate dominion undeserved
Over his brethren, and quite dispossess
Concord and law of nature from the earth,
Hunting, (and men not beasts shall be his game,) 30
With war and hostile snare such as refuse
Subjection to his empire tyrannous :
A mighty hunter thence he shall be styled
Before the Lord, as in despite of Heav'n,
Or from Heav'n claiming second sov'reignty ; 35
16. With some regard, $c. : This answers to the silver age of the poets ;
the Paradisaical state is the golden one : that of iron begins soon (24) . R.
24. Till one shall rise, Sfc.: It is generally agreed that the first govern-
ments of the world were patriarchal, by families and tribes; and that Nim-
rod was the first who laid the foundations of kingly government among
mankind. Our author, therefore (who was no friend to kingly government
at the best), represents him in a very bad light, as a most wicked and inso-
lent tyrant ; but he has great authorities, both Jewish and Christian, to jus-
tify him for so doing. The Scripture says of Nimrod, Gen. x. 9. that " he
was a mighty hunter before the Lord." And this our author understands in
its worst sense of hunting men, and not beasts (30) , by persecution, oppres-
sion, and tyranny. The phrase, before the Lord, seems to be made use of by
way of exaggeration, and in a bad sense, as in Gen. xiii. 13; xxxviii. 7.
And St. Austin translates the phrase, against the Lord, to which opinion our
author conforms, as in despite of Heaven (34\ but then adopts the opinion of
others also, that before the Lord i the same as under the Lord, usurping all
authority to himself next under God, and claiming it, jure Divino, as was
done in Milton's own time ; or from Heaven claiming second sovereignty,
35. IT.
22* <* o
514 PARADISE LOST.
And from rebellion shall derive his name,
Though of rebellion others he accuse.
He with a crew, whom like ambition joins
With him or under him to tyrannize,
Marching from Eden tow'rds the west, shall find 40
The plain, wherein a black bituminous gurge
Boils out from under ground, the mouth of Hell :
Of brick, and of that stuff, they cast to build
A city and tow'r, whose top may reach to Heav'n ;
And get themselves a name, lest far dispersed 45
In foreign lands, their memory be lost ;
Regardless whether good or evil fame.
But God, who oft descends to visit men
Unseen, and through their habitations walks
r o mark their doings, them beholding soon, 50
Joines down to see their city, ere the tow'r
x/bstruct Heav'n-tow'rs ; and in derision sets
Upon their tongues a various spirit, to rase
36. Nimrod is derived from a word meaning to rebel.
37. Though of rebellion, (ft. : This was added by our author, probably not
without a \iew to his own time, when himself and those of his party were
stigmatized as the worst of rebels. N.
41. Gurge: Whirlpool. The Hebrew word chemar, which we translate
tlimt, is what the Greeks call atphaltos, and the Latins bitumen a kind of
pitch ; and that it abounded very much in the plain near Babylon that it
swam upon the waters that there was a cave and fountain continually
emitting it, and that this famous town, at this time, and the no less famous
walls of Babylon afterwards, were built with this kind of cement, is con-
firmed by the testimony of several profane authors. This black bituminous
gvrge, this pitchy pool, the poet calls the mouth of Hell not strictly speak-
ing, but by the came sort of figure by which the ancient poets call Ta narus,
or Avernus, the jaws and gate of Hell. Virg. Georg. iv. 467.
51. Coma doum to *, tfc. : Gen. xi. 5, &c. The Scripture here speaks
after the manner of men. And thus the heathen gods are often represented
as coming down to observe tlw actions of men, as in the stones of Lycaou,
Philemon. &c. N.
53. A variant tpirit : 2 CLion. xviii. 22. It is said that the Lord had put
a lying tpirit in the mouth of tne prophets, here he puts a various spirit in
the mouth of the builders a tpmc varying the sounds by which they would
express their thoughts one to aoou r, and bringing, consequently, M
whence the work is so called. K
BOOK XII 515
Quite out their native language, and instead
To sow a jangling noise of words unknown. 55
Forthwith a hideous gabble rises loud
Among the builders ; each to other calls,
Not understood, till hoarse, and all in rage
As mock'd, they storm. Great laughter was in Heav'n ;
And looking down to see the hubbub strange, 60
And hear the din ; thus was the building left
Ridiculous, and the work Confusion named.
Whereto thus Adam, fatherly displeased :
execrable son, so to aspire
Above his brethren, to himself assuming 65
Authority usurp'd ; from God not given.
He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,
Dominion absolute ; that right we hold
By his donation : but man over men
He made not lord : such title to himself 70
Reserving, human left from human free.
But this usurper, his encroachment proud
59. Great laughter teat in Heaven: The author varies the tense in seve-
ral places, and speaks of the future as past future, with regard to the time
when the angel is speaking ; but past., with regard to the time which he is
speaking of. Homer also represents the gods as laughing at the awkward
limping carriage of Vulcan in waiting. Iliad i. 599, which Pope thus trans-
lates :
' Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies.
And unextinpuislicil laughter shakes the skies. 1 '
But, as Mr. Thyer adds, it is rather too comic for the grave character of
Milton's gods, to be represented as peeping down and laughing, like a parcel
of mere mortals, to see the workmen puzzled and squabbling about their
work ; though there are such expressions even in Scripture. Ps. ii. 4 ;
Prov. i. 20, &c. N.
62. Jind the work Confusion namrd . For Babel in Hebrew signifies confu-
i'on, Gen. xi. 9. As the poet represents this confusion among the builders an
object of ridicide, so he makes use of some ridiculous words, such as are not
very usual in poetry, to heighten that ridicule, as jangling noise, hideous gab-
ble, ttrange hubbub. N.
71. Human left from, fyc. : That is, left mankind in full and free possession
of their liberty. Every reader must be pleased with the spirit of liberty
that breathes in this speech of our first ancestor. N
51fi PARADISE LOST
Stays not on man ; to God bis tow V intends
Siege and defiance. Wretched man ! what food
Will he convey up thither to sustain 76
Himself and his rash army, where thin air
Above the clouds will pine his entrails gross,
And famish him of breath, if not of bread ?
To whom thus Michael : Justly thou abhorr'st
That son, who on the quiet state of men 80
Such trouble brought, affecting to subdue
Rational liberty ; yet know withal,
Since thy original lapse, true liberty
Is lost, which always with right reason dwells
Twinn'd, and from her hath no dividual being ; 85
Reason in man obscured, or not obey'd,
Immediately inordinate desires
And upstart passions catch the government
From reason, and to servitude reduce
Man till then free. Therefore, since he permits 90
Within himself unworthy powers to reign
Over free reason, God in judgment just
Subjects him from without to violent lords ;
Who oft as undeservedly in tin all
His outward freedom. Tyranny must be, 95
Though to the tyrant thereby no excuse.
Yet sometimes nations will decline so low
From virtue, which is reason, that no wrong,
But justice, and some fatal curse annex'd,
Deprives them of their outward liberty, 100
Thir inward lost. Witness th' irrev'rent son
Of him who built the ark, who for the shame
73. To God hit tower inctnd* . This not being asserted in Scripture, but
only supposed by some writers, U better put into the mouth of Adam, than
of the angel. 1 wish the poet had taken the same care in 51.
84. Dire//* twinned, ffc. : Liberty and virtue (which it rouon, 98) are twn
ii$trrx, and the one hath no being divided from the other. N.
85. Dividual: Separate.
101. Son: Ham, Gen. ix. 23, 25.
BOOK XII. 517
Done to his father, heard this heavy curae,
* Servant of servants,' on his vicious race.
Thus will this latter, as the former world, 105
Still tend from bad to worse, till God at last,
Weary'd with their iniquities, withdraw
His presence from among them, and avert
His holy eyes ; resolving from thenceforth
To leave them to their own polluted ways ; 110
And one peculiar nation to select
From all the rest, of whom to be invoked,
A nation from one faithful man to spring :
Him on this side Euphrates yet residing,
Bred up in idol-worship. that men 115
(Canst thou believe ?) should be so stupid grown,
While yet the patriarch lived, who 'scaped the flood,
As to forsake the living God, and fall
To worship their own work in wood and stone
For Gods ! yet him God the Most High vouchsafes 120
To call by vision from his father's house,
His kindred, and false Gods, into a land
Which he shall shew him, and from him will raise
A mighty nation, and upon him shower
His benediction, so that in his seed 125
All nations shall be blest. He straight obeys,
Not knowing to what land, yet firm believes.
I see him, but thou canst not, with what faith
111. Nation: The Hebrew, which sprung from Abraham.
114. Yet residing: Not when the angel was speaking, but when God se
lected one peculiar nation, &c., 111-12.
115. Josh. xxiv. 2. As Terah, Abraham's father, was an idolater, I think
we may be certain that Abraham was bred up in the religion of his father,
though he renounced it afterwards, and, in all probability, converted his
father likewise ; for Terah removed with Abraham to Haran. and thore died.
See Gen. xi. 31, 32. N.
117. Terah, Abraham's father, was born two hundred and twenty-two
Tears after the flood, and Noah was living till the three hundred and fiftieth
year after it; so that idolatry had gained some ground before his death. S.
128. This is not, says Stebbing, a reverting to the former vision, as some
518 PARADISE LOST.
Ho leaves his Gods, his friends, and native soil,
Ur of Chaldaea, passing now the ford 130
To Haran : after him a curab'rous train
Of herds, and flocks, and numerous servitude ;
Not wand'ring poor, but trusting all his wealth
With God, who call'd him, in a land unknown.
Canaan he now attains : I see his tents 135
Pitch'd about Sechem, and the neighb'ring plain
Of Moreh ; there, by promise, he receives
Gift to his progeny of all that land,
From Hamath northward to the Desert south
commentators seem to suppose, but a mode of speaking natural to the angel,
to whom all the future was revealed.
It is well observed by Addison, that, as the principal design of this episode
was to give Adam an idea of the holy persori who was to reinstate human
nature in that happiness and perfection from which it had fallen, the poet
confines himself to the line of Abraham, whence the Messiah was to de-
scend. The angel is described as seeing the patriarch actually travelling to-
wards the land of promise, which gives a particular liveliness to this part of
the narrative.
Our poet, sensible that tbis long historical description might grow irksome,
has varied the manner of representing it as much as possible, beginning first
with supposing Adam to have a prospect of it before his eyes, next by mak-
ing the angel the relator of it, and lastly, by imitatii.- ^ the two former
methods, and making Michael see it as in a vision, anl give a rapturous en-
livened account of it to Adam. This gives great ea^e to the languishing at-
tention of the reader. Turin.
130. Ur: Situated in Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates, and about four
hundred miles northeast from Jerusalem. A short distance from Ur was
Haran, to which Abraham first removed. Ur signifies light or/irr, and re-
ceived this name from the worship of the sun and its symbol, fire, being
there practised.
132. Jlnd numerous ttnitudt : Many servants. The abstract for the con-
crete. N.
139. Hamath: Quite famous in the Bible as the northern limit of the land
of Israel. According to Coleman, it is a narrow pass between Lebanon and
Anti-Lebanon, at the head of the great Valley Code-Syria, above Baalbee,
at the head waters of the Orontes, which runs north and west one hundred
and fifty miles into the northeastern coast of the Mediterranean.
This river forms the natural boundary of the kingdom of Hamath on the
south, and the limit of the land promised to Israel on the north.
BOOK XII. 519
(Things by their names I call, tho' yet unnamed), 140
From Hermon east to the great western sea ;
Mount Hermon, yonder sea ; each place behold
In prospect, as I point them : on the shore
Mount Carmel : here the double-founted stream
Jordan, true limit eastward ; but his sons 145
Shall dwell to Senir, that long ridge of hills.
This ponder, that all nations of the earth
Shall in his seed be blest. By that seed
Is meant the great Deliv'rer, who shall bruise
The Serpent's head : whereof to thee anon 150
Plainlier shall be reveal'd. This patriarch blest,
Whom faithful Abraham due time shall call
A son, and of his son a grandchild leaves,
Like him in faith, in, wisdom, and renown.
144. Doubled-founted : The Jordan has its origin among the mountains
thirty or forty miles north of the Sea of Galilee. The original source is a
large fountain just above Hasbeiya, twenty miles from Banias, or Caesarea
Philippi, and the ancient idolatrous city of Dan, where again are large foun-
tains, which have usually been regarded as the head waters of the Jordan.
COLEMAN'S Geography of the Bible.
145. True limit eastward : Though the name of Canaan sometimes in-
cludes the whole land possessed by the twelve tribes, yet it appropriately
belongs to no more than the country westward of the River Jordan ; and
the Jews themselves make a distinction between the land promised to their
lathers, and the lands of Sihon and Og, which were to the eastward of the
river. Moses does the same, Deut. ii. 29, and the land on this side Jordan
was esteemed more holy than the land on the other.
146. Senir : Hermon, Deut. iii. 9, lying not far eastward of the sources of
the Jordan, moistened with copious dews. It stands pre-eminent among the
mountains of the land. It is thus described by an American missionary, Mr.
Thompson : *' Old Jebel Esh-Sheihh (the modern name) , like a venerable
Turk, with his head wrapped in a snowy tuiban, sits yonder on his throne in
the sky, surveying with imperturbable dignity the fair lands below ; and all
around, east, west, north, south, mountain meets mountain to guard and gaze
upon the lovely vale of the Huleh. What a constellation of venerable
names : Lebanon and Hermon, Bashan and Gilead, Moab and Judah, Sama-
ria and Galilee !"
152. Abraham: See Gen. xvii. 5. It means a father of many nationt
Hi name previously was jibram, signifying a great fathtr.
620 PARADISE LOST.
The grandchild with twelve sons increased, departs 155
From Canaan to a land hereafter call'd
Egypt, divided by the river Nile.
See where it flows, disgorging at seven months
Into the sea. To sojourn in that land
He comes, invited by a younger son, 160
In time of dearth ; a son whose worthy deeds
Raise him to the second in that realm
Of Pharaoh. There he dies, and leaves his race
Growing into a nation, and now grown
Suspected to a sequent King, who pecks 165
To stop their overgrowth, as inmate guests
Too num'rous ; whence of guests he makes them slaves
Inhospitably, and kills their infant males :
Till by two brethren (those two brethren call
Moses and Aaron) sent from God to claim 170
His people from inthralment, they return
With glory and spoil back to their promised land.
But first the lawless tyrant, who denies
To know their God, or message to regard,
Must be compell'd by signs and judgments diro. 175
To blood unshed the rivers must be turn'd ;
Frogs, lice, and flies must all his palace fill
With loath 'd intrusion, and fill all the land ;
His cattle must of rot and murrain die ;
Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss, 180
And all his people ; thunder mix'd with hail,
Hail mix'd with fire, must rend th' Egyptian sky,
And wheel on th' earth, devouring where it rolls ;
What it devours not, herb, or fruit, or grain
A darksome cloud of locusts swarming down 180
155. A Latin form of expression, as Plaut. "Cumque es aucta liberis."
158. Ste where itjlowt, Iff. : This pointing to the river adds a loveliness t
the narrative, and the ancient poets t-eldom mention the river without tak-
ing notice of it* teven moutht, Virg. JEn. vi. 800 ; Ovid Met. i. 422 ; ii. 256
N.
179. Murren: The spelling conformi to the Latin word murrena. N.
183. Whttl: Exodix. 23-4.
BOOK XII. 521
Must eat, and on the ground leave nothing green :
Darkness must overshadow all his bounds,
Palpable darkness, and blot out three days ;
Last, witK one midnight stroke, all the first-born
Of Egypt must lie dead. Thus with ten wounds 19C
The river-dragon tamed, at length submits
To let his sojourners depart, and oft
Humbles his stubborn heart : but still as ice
More harden'd after thaw, till in his rage
Pursuing whom he late dismiss'd, the sea 195
Swallows him with his host ; but them lets pass
As on dry land, between two crystal walls,
Awed by the rod of Moses so to stand
Divided, till his rescued gain'd their shore.
Such wondrous power God to his saint will lend, 200
Though present in his Angel, who shall go
Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire
(By day a cloud, by night a pillar of fire),
To guide them in their journey, and remove
Behind them, while th' obdurate king pursues. 205
All night he will pursue ; but his approach
Darkness defends between till morning watch
Then through the fiery pillar and the cloud
God, looking forth, will trouble all his host,
And craze their chariot-wheels : when by command 210
Moses once more his potent rod extends
Over the sea ; the sea his rod obeys ;
On their embattled ranks the waves return
188. Palpable : In the expressive language of the Bible, " Darkness that
may be felt." In the Latin Vulgate it reads, " Tarn dense ut palpari quc-
ant." Hence our author's word palpable.
191. The river-dragon is an allusion to the crocodile, the chief inhabitant
of the Nile. It was probably suggested by a sublime passage in the pro-
phecy of Ezekiel, commencing with, " Thus saith the Lord, Behold I am
against thee, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon," &c.
207. Darknen defend* between, fyc. : Darkness between them keep* off his
approach till, &c., Exod. xiv. 19, 20.
210. Craze : Crush, from the French tcrater.
522
PARADISE LOST
And overwhelm their war : the race elect
Safe towards Canaan from the shore advance 215
Through the wild desert, not the readiest way,
Lest, ent'ring on the Canaanite, alarm'd,
War terrify them inexpert, and fear
Return them back to Egypt, choosing rather
Inglorious life with servitude ; for life 220
To noble and ignoble is more sweet
Untrain'd in arms, where rashness leads not on.
This also shall they gain by their delay
In the wide wilderness ; there they shall found
Their government, and their great senate choose 225
Through the twelve tribes, to rule by laws ordain'd.
God from the mount of Sinai, whose gray top
Shall tremble, he descending, will himself
In thunder, lightning, and loud trumpets' sound,
Ordain them laws ; part such as appertain 230
To civil justice, part religious rites
Of sacrifice, informing them,T)y types
And shadows, of that destined Seed to bruise
The Serpent, by what means he shall achieve
Mankind's deliverance. But the voice of God 235
To mortal car is dreadful ! They beseech
That Moses might report to them his will,
And terror cease. He grants what they besought,
Instructed that to God is no access
Without Mediator, whose high office now 240
Moses in figure bears, to introduce
One greater, of whose day he shall foretell ;
214. War: Army.
216. The political cause of their long wanderings is given by Milton ; the
moral cause is emitted, for it was the design of the angel to comfort and not
to distress Adam by this recital, Exod. xiii. 17, 18.
227. Who$e gray top : It received this hue from the snow, the clouds, and
moke which enveloped it, Exod. xix.
230. Part tuck at appertain, Sfc. : It is singular that Milton here omits all
mention of the moral law, the delivery of which formed so impressive and
important a part of the proceedings at Sinai.
241. In figurt : As a type or representative.
BOOK xii. 523
And all the prophets in their age the times
Of great Messiah shall sing. The laws and rites
Establish'd, such delight hath God in men 245
Obedient to his will, that he vouchsafes
Among them to set up his tabernacle,
The Holy One with mortal men to dwell.
By his prescript a sanctuary is framed
Of cedar, overlaid with gold ; therein 250
An ark, and in the ark his testimony,
The records of his covenant ; over these
A mercy-seat of gold between the wings
Of two bright Cherubim; before him burn
Seven lamps, as in a zodiac, representing 255
The heav'nly fires ; over the tent a cloud
Shall rest by day, a fiery gleam by night,
Save when they journey ; and at length they come,
Conducted by his Angel, to the land
Promised to Abraham and his seed. The rest 260
Were long to tell how many battles fought,
How many kings destroy'd, and kingdoms won,
Or how the sun shall in mid Heav'n stand still
A day entire, and night's due course adjourn,
Man's voice commanding, Sun in Gibeon stand, 265
And thou moon in the vale of Aijalon,
Till Israel overcome ; so call the third
From Abraham, son of Isaac, and from him
His whole descent, who thus shall Canaan win.
255. Seven lamps as in a zodiac : That the lamps signified the seven planets,
and that, therefore, the lamps stood slope-wise, as it were, to express th
obliquity of the zodiac, is the gloss of Josephus, from whom, probably, Mil
ton borrowed it, Joseph. Antiq. lib. 3, c. 6, 7, and De Bel. Jud. lib. 5, c. 5.
N.
258. Save token they journey : How it was when they journeyed is set forth
in Exod. xl. 34, &c. The moving of the cloud, or of the pillar of fire was
an indication of the divine will, that the Hebrews should proceed on their
march. See also Exod. xiii. 21. The cloud, and the fiery gleam (257) were
the sublime ensigns and shields of that distinguished people, and Jehovah
WM their invisible leader.
524 PARADISE LOST.
Here Adam interposed : O sent from Heav'n, 270
Knlight'ncr of my darkness, gracious things
Thou hast reveal'd, those chiefly which concern
Just Abraham and his seed : now first I find
Mine eyes true opening, and my heart much eased,
Erewhile perplex 'd with thoughts what would become 275
Of me and all mankind ; but now I see
Hia day, in which all nations shall be blest ;
Favour unmerited by me, who sought
Forbidden knowledge by forbidden means.
This yet I apprehend not, why to those 280
Among whom God will deign to dwell on earth,
So many and so various laws are given :
So many laws argue so many sins
Among them. How can God with such reside ?
To whom thus Michael : Doubt not but that sin 285
Will reigu among them, as of thee begot ;
And therefore was law given them to evince
Their natural pravity, by stirring up
Sin against law to fight ; that when they see
Law can discover sin, but not remove, 290
Save by those shadowy expiations weak,
270. Here Adam interpoied : These interpositions of Adam have a very
good effect, for otherwise the continued narrative of the angel would appear
too long, and be tedious. N. -
274. Mine eyet true opening: For that was a false promise which the
tempter had made, Gen. iii. 5. N.
277. Hit : John viii. 56.
283. So many laic* argue, tfc. : The scruple of our first father, and the re-
ply of the angel, are grounded on St. Paul's Epistles, and particularly those
k> the Ephesians, Galatians, and Hebrews. Compare the following texts
with our author : Gal. iii. 19 ; Rom. vii. 7, 8 ; Rom. iii. 20 ; Heb. ix. 13, 14 ;
Heb. x. 4, 5 ; Rom. iv. 22-4 ; v. 1 ; Heb. vii. 18, 19 ; x. 1 ; Gal. iii. 11, 12,
">3; iv. 7; Rom. viii. 15.
How admirably, as Bishop Newton further remarks, hath our author, in a
few lines, summed up the sense and argument of these and more texts of
Scripture ! It is really wonderful how he could comprise so much divinity
*n so few words, and, at the same time, express it with such strength and
perspicuity.
BOOK xii. 526
The blood of bulls and goats, they may conclude
Some blood more precious must be paid for man ;
Just for unjust, that in such righteousness
To them by faith imputed, they may find 295
Justification towards God, and peace
Of conscience, which the law by ceremonies
Cannot appease, nor man the moral part
Perform, and, not performing, cannot live.
So law appears imperfect, and but given 300
With purpose to resign them in full time
Up to a better covenant, disciplined
From shadowy types to truth, from flesh to spirit,
From imposition of strict laws to free
Acceptance of large grace, from servile fear 305
To filial, works of law to works of faith.
And therefore shall not Moses, though of God
Highly beloved, being but the minister
Of law, his people into Canaan lead ;
But Joshua, whom the Gentiles Jesus call, 310
His name and office bearing, who shall quell
The adversary Serpent, and bring back,
Through the world's wilderness long wander'd man
Safe to eternal Paradise of rest.
Meanwhile they in their earthly Canaan placed, 315
Long time shall dwell and prosper, but when sins
National interrupt their public peace,
Provoking God to raise them enemies ;
From whom as oft he saves them penitent
By judges first, then under kings ; of whom 320
The second, both for piety renown'd
And puissant deeds, a promise shall receive
Irrevocable, that his regal throne
310. Jena: Acts vii. 45; Heb. iv. 8. Joshua in Hebrew, and Jena in
Greek, are the same name. The Septuagint renders the former by the lat-
ter, and in the passages here quoted the one is substituted for the other. Th
name means Saviour.
322. d promise, fyc. : Reference is made to 2 Sam. vii. 16, and Ps. Ixxxiz
34-30.
526 PARADISE LOST.
X
For ever shall endure. The like shall sing
All prophecy, that of the royal stock 325
Of David (so I name this King) shall rise
A Son, the Woman's Seed to thee foretold,
Foretold to Abraham, as in whom shall trust
All nations, and to kings foretold, of kings
The last ; for of his reign shall be no end. 330
But first a long succession must ensue,
And bis next son, for wealth and wisdom famed,
The clouded ark of God, till then in tents
Wand'ring, shall in a glorious temple enshrine:
Such follow him as shall be register 'd 335
Part good, part bad, of bad the longer scroll ;
Whose foul idolatries, and other faults
Heap'd to the popular sum, will so incense
God, as to leave them, and expose their land,
Their city, his temple, and his holy ark, 340
With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey
To that proud city, whose high walls thou saw'st
Left in confusion, Babylon thence call'd :
There in captivity he lets them dwell
The space of seventy years, then brings them back, 345
Remcmb'ring mercy, and his covenant sworn
To David, 'stablish'd as the days of Heav'n.
Return 'd from Babylon, by leave of kings
Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of God
They first re-edify, and for a while 35v
In mean estate live moderate, till grown
In wealth and multitude, factious they grow.
But, first, among the priests dissension springs !
Men who attend the altar, and should most
Endeavour peace. Their strife pollution brings 355
325. All prophecy : All the prophets.
338. Heap'd to the popular turn : Added to the people's ameum (of crime).
342. Thou tawttt : Not physically, but with the eye of the mind upon the
narration of the angel.
355. Their ttrife, ire. : It was chiefly through the contests between Jason
and Manelaus, high priests of the Jews, that the temple was polluted by
BOOK xn. 527
Upon the temple itself. At last they seize
The sceptre, and regard not David's sons ;
Then lose it to a stranger, that the true
Anointed King, Messiah, might be born
Barr'd of his right ; yet at his birth a star, 360
Unseen before in Heav'n, proclaims him come,
And guides the eastern sages, who inquire
His place, to offer incense, myrrh, and gold.
His place of birth a solemn Angel tells
To simple shepherds, keeping watch by night : 365
They gladly thither haste, and, by a choir
Of squadron'd Angels, hear his carol sung :
A virgin is his mother, but his Sire
The Pow'r of the Most High. He shall ascend
The throne hereditary, and bound his reign 370
With earth's wide bounds, his glory with the Heav'na.
He ceased, discerning Adam with such joy
Surcharged, as had like grief been dew'd in tears,
Without the vent of words, which these he breathed :
O prophet of glad tidings ! finisher 375
Of utmost hope ! now clear I understand
What oft my steadiest thoughts have search 'd in vain,
Why our great expectation should be call'd
The seed of Woman. Virgin Mother, hail !
High in the love of Heav'n, yet from my loins 380
Thou shalt proceed, and from thy womb the Son
Of God Most High ; so God with Man unites.
Needs must the Serpent now his capital bruise
Antiochus Epipbanes. See 2 Maccab. v., and Prideaux, and Davidson. At
last they $eize the sctptre(356) : Aristobulus, the eldest son of Hyrcanus, high
priest of the Jews, was the first who assumed the title of king after the
Babylonish captivity, B. c. 107. And regard not David" 1 * son*: None of the
family having had the government since the days of Zerubbabel. Then
lote it to a ttranger (358) : To Herod, who was an Idumean, in whose reign
Christ was born. See Josephus and Prideaux. N.
370. And bound hit reign : A beautiful parallel passage nav be read in
Virg. JEn. i. 287 :
' Imperium oceano. famam qui terminet aitrii >'
383. Capital bruite : Bruise on the head.
628 PARADISE LOST.
Expect with mortal pain. Say where and when 385
Their fight ; what stroke shall bruise the Victor's heel ?
To whom thus Michael : Dream not of their fight
As of a duel, or the local wounds
Of head or heel : not therefore joins the Son
Manhood to Godhead, with more strength to foil
Thy enemy ; nor so is overcome 390
Satan, whose fall from Heav'n, a deadlier bruise,
Disabled not to give thee thy death's wound :
Which he, who comes thy Saviour, shall recure,
Not by destroying Satan, but his works
In thee and in thy seed : nor can this be, 395
But by fulfilling that which thou didst want,
Obedience to the law of God imposed
On penalty of death, and suff'ring death,
The penalty to thy transgression due,
And due to theirs, which out of thine will grow : 400
So only can high justice rest appaid.
The law of God exact he shall fulfil,
Both by obedience and by love, though love
Alone fulfil the law. Thy punishment
He shall endure, by coming in the flesh 405
To a reproachful life and cursed death,
Proclaiming life to all who shall believe
In his redemption, and that his obedience
Imputed becomes theirs by faith, his merits
To save them, not their own, though legal works. 410
4*0. Due to their*. Ifc. : Punishment is due to men's actual transgressions,
enough the original depravity, the transgression of Adam, was the root of
them. R.
401. Jppaid: Satisfied.
410. To gave them, tfc. : I apprehend that the verb believe governs the rest
of the sentence, and I understand the passage thus : Proclaiming life to
all who thall believe in hit redemption, and shall believe that hit obediitve im
puted becomet theirs by faith, and shall believe hit merit* to tave them, not their
own, though legal work*. N.
Another, and perhaps better construction, may be suggested for the latter
part of this passage, commencing at hi$ merit* (409) , by simply supplying
(from 407) th word proclaiming. Proclaiming his merits to save, Ice.
BOOK xn. 329
For this he shall live hated, be blasphemed,
Seized on by force, judged, and to death condemn'd,
A shameful and accursed, nail'd to the cross
By his own nation, slain for bringing life ;
But to the cross he nails thy enemies ; 415
The law that is against thee, and the sins
Of all mankind, with him there crucify'd,
Never to hurt them more who rightly trust
In this his satisfaction. So he dies,
But soon revives ; death over him no power 420
Shall long usurp : ere the third dawning light
Return, the stars of morn shall see him rise
Out of his grave, fresh as the dawning light ;
Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems,
His death for man, as many as offer'd life 425
Neglect not, and the benefit embrace
By faith not void of works. This Godlike act
Annuls thy doom, the death thou shouldst have died,
In sin for ever lost from life. This act
Shall bruise the head of Satan, crush his strength, 430
Defeating sin and death, his two main arms,
And fix far deeper in his head their stings
Than temp'ral death shall bruise the Victor's heel,
Or theirs whom he redeems, a death-like sleep,
A gentle wafting to immortal life. 435
Nor after resurrection shall he stay
Longer on earth than certain times t' appear
To his disciples, men who in his life
Still follow'd him : to them shall leave in charge
To teach all nations what of him they learn 'd 440
And his salvation ; them who shall believe
Baptizing in the profluent stream, the sign
415. Enemiet : These are the law and the sins mentioned in the following
line. Col. ii. 14, is alluded to.
424. Thy raruom, (ft. : Adam is spoken of as a representative of the
human race ; so in 427.
423. An explanation it here made of the term ransom in the line there.
23 H u
630 PARADISE LOST.
Of washing them from guilt of sin to life
Pure, and in mind prepared, if so befall,
For death, like that which the Redeemer died. 445
All nations they shall teach ; for, from that day,
Not only to the sons of Abraham's loins
Salvation shall be preach'd, but to the sons
Of Abraham's faith, wherever through the world ;
Lo in his seed all nations shall be blest. 459
Then to the Heav'n of Heav'ns he shall ascend
With victory, triumphing through the air
Over his foes and thine ; there shall surprise
The Serpent, prince of air, and drag in chains
Thro' all the realm, and there confounded leave ; 455
Then enter into glory, and resume
His scat at God's right hand, exalted high
Above all names in Heav'n ; and thence shall come,
When this world's dissolution shall be ripe,
With glory and pow'r to judge both quick and dead ; 460
To judge th' unfaithful dead, but to reward
His faithful, and receive them into bliss,
Whether in Heav'n or Earth ; for then the Earth
Shall all be Paradise ; far happier place
Than this of Eden, and far happier days. 465
So spake th' Arch-Angel Michael, then paused,
As at the world's great period ; and our sire,
Replete with joy and wonder, thus reply'd :
Godncss infinite, Goodness immense !
That all this good of evil shall produce, 470
And Evil turn to good ! more wonderful
Than that which by creation first brought forth
Light out of darkness ! full of doubt I stand,
Whether I should repent me now of sin.
469. The poet has very finely represented the joy and gladness of heart
which rises in Adam upon his discovery of the Messiah. As he sees his
day at a distance through types and shadows, he rejoices in it ; but when he
finds the redemption of man completed, and Paradise again renewed, he hert
breaks forth in rapture and delight. A.
470. Of: Out of.
BOOK XII. 531
By me done and occasion'd, or rejoice 470
Much more, that much more good thereof shall spring,
To God more glory, more good-will to men
From God, and over wrath grace shall abound.
But say : if our Deliv'rer up to Heav'n
Must reascend, what will betide the few 480
His faithful, left among th' unfaithful herd,
The enemies of truth ? Who then shall guide
His people ? who defend ? Will they not deal
Worse with his followers than with hinl they dealt ?
Be sure they will, said the Angel ; but from Heav'n 485
He to his own a Comforter will send,
The promise of the Father, who shall dwell
His Spirit within them, and the law of faith,
Working through love, upon their hearts shall write,
To guide them in all truth, and also arm 490
With spiritual armour able to resist
Satan's assaults, and quench his fiery darts ;
What man can do against them, not afraid,
Though to the death, against such cruelties
With inward consolations recompensed, 495
And oft supported so as shall amaze
Their proudest persecutors ; for the Spirit
Poured first on his Apostles, whom he sends
T' evangelize the nations, then on all
Baptized, sha/l them with wondrous gifts endue 500 '
To speak all tongues, and do all miracles,
As did their Lord before them. Thus they win
Great numbers of each nation to receive
With joy the tidings brought from Heav'n. At length,
Their ministry perform'd, and race well run, 505
Their doctrine and their story written left,
They die ; but in their room, as they forewarn,
Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves,
Who all the sacred mysteries of Heav'n
To their own vile advantages shall turn 510
487-8. Shall dwell hit spirit within them: Shall cause his spirit (disposi-
tion or temper) to dwell within thHm : shall make them like Christ.
532 PARADISE LOST.
Of lucre and ambition ; and the truth
With superstitions and traditions taint,
Left only in those written records pure,
Though not but by the Spirit understood.
Then shall they seek to avail themselves of aaaaes fill
Places and titles, and with these to join
Secular pow'r ; though feigning still to act
By spiritual, to themselves appropriating
The Spirit of God, promised alike, and given,
To all believers ; and from that pretence, 520
Spiritual laws by carnal power shall force
1 In ev'ry conscience ; laws which none shall find
Left them inroll'd, or what the Spirit within
Shall on the heart engrave. What will they then
But force the Spirit of grace itself, and bind 525
His consort Liberty ? What but unbuild
His living temples, built by faith to stand,
Their own faith, not another's ? for on earth
Who against faith and conscience can be heard
Infallible ? Yet many will presume : 630
Whence heavy persecution shall arise
On all who in the worship persevere
Of spirit and truth ; the rest, far greater part,
Will deem in outward rites and specious forms
Religion satisfy 'd. Truths shall retire 535
Bestuck with sland'rous darts, and works of faith
Barely be found. So shall the world go on,
To good malignant, to bad men benign ;
Under her own weight groaning till the day
Appear of respiration to the just 540
And vengeance to the wicked, at return
522. Laws which none, tfc. : Laws neither agreeable to revealed nor natural
religion ; neither to be found in holy Scripture, nor written on their hearts by
, the Spirit of God, according to that Divine promise, Jer. xxxi. 33. N.
526. Hit contort liberty : " Where the spirit of the Lord is, the.-* is liberty,"
2 Cor. iii. 17.
527. Living templet: Christians are denominated by the Apostle Paul,
'' ttmplet of tiu Holy Ghott,'' 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17 ; vi. 19.
532. Of tpirit and truth : An allusion to John iv. 23.
BOOK XII.
533
Of him so lately promised to thy aid,
The Woman's Seed, obscurely then foretold ;
Now amplier known thy Saviour and thy Lord :
Last in the clouds from Heav'n to be reveal'd 543
In glory of the Father, to dissolve
Satan with his perverted world, then raise
From the conflagrant mass, purged and refined,
New Heav'ns, new Earth, ages of endless date
Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love, 650
To bring forth fruits, joy, and eternal bliss.
He ended ; and thus Adam last reply'd :
How soon hath thy prediction, Seer blest,
Measured this transient world, the race of time,
Till time stand fix'd ! Beyond is all abyss, 555
Eternity, whose end no eye can reach.
Greatly instructed, I shall hence depart,
Greatly in peace of thought, and have my fill
Of knowledge, what this vessel can contain ;
Beyond which was my folly to aspire. 560
Henceforth I learn that to obey is best,
And love with fear the only God ; to walk
As in his presence ; ever to observe
His providence, and on him sole depend,
Merciful over all his works, with good 565
Still overcoming evil, and by small
Accomplishing great things ; by things deem'd weak
Subverting worldly strong, and worldy wise
By simply meek ; that suffering for truth's sake
Is fortitude to highest victory, 670
And to the faithful, death the gate of life :
Taught this by his example, whom I now
Acknowledge my Redeemer ever blest.
To whom thus also th' Angel last reply'd :
546. To diftolvt So/an, tfc. : This verb more appropriately applies to world
than to Satan, and must be taken in a stricter sense in its application to the
former than to the latter. The expression is derived from 2 Pet iii. 11, 12,
" Seeing then that all these things shall be dittolvcd," &c.
.574. Latt replied : This is the last speech of the angel, as the foregoing
534 PARADISE LOST.
This having learn'd, thou hast attained the sum 575
Of wisdom ; hope no higher, though all the stars
Thou knew'st by name, and all th' ethereal pow'rs,
All secrets of the deep, all Nature's works,
Or works of God in Heav'n, air, earth, or sea,
And all the riches of this world enjoy'dst, 580
And all the rule, one empire : only add
Deeds to thy knowledge answerable ; add faith,
Add virtue, patience, temperance ; add love,
By name to come call'd Charity, the soul
Of dl the rest : then wilt thou not be loath 585
To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess
A Paradise within thee happier far.
Let us descend now therefore from this top
Of speculation ; for the hour precise
Exacts our parting hence : and see the guards, 590
By me encamp'd on yonder hill, expect
Their motion, at whose front a flaming sword,
In signal to remove, waves fiercely round.
We may no longer stay. Go, waken Eve :
Her also I with gentle dreams have calm'd, 595
Portending good, and all her spirits composed
To meek submission. Thou at season fit
Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard,
Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,
The great deliv'rance by her seed to come 600
(For by the Woman's seed) on all mankind :
That yc may live, which will be many days,
Both in one faith unanimous, though sad,
With cause, for evils past ; yet much more cheer'd
With meditation on the happy end. 605
He ended, and they both descend the hill ;
Descended, Adam to the bower, where Eve
one is the last speech of Adam ; and they are both introduced in the same
manner.
588. Top of tptrulation : High eminence commanding a most extensive
prospect. It may further have reference to the vision* and predictions ther
offered to Adam.
BOOK wi. 535
Lay sleeping, ran before ; but found her waked ;
And thus with words not sad she him received :
Whence thou returns't, and whither went'st, I know: 610
For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,
Which he hath sent propitious, some great good
Presaging, since with sorrow and heart's distress
Weary'd I fell asleep ; but now lead on ;
In me is no delay. With thee to go, 615
Is to stay here ; without thee here to stay,
Is to go hence unwilling ; thou to me
Art all things under Heav'n, all places thou,
Who for my wilful crime art banish'd hence.
This further consolation yet secure 620
I carry hence : though all by me is lost,
(Such favour I unworthy am vouchsafed)
By me the promised Seed shall all restore.
So spake our mother Eve ; and Adam heard
Well pleased, but answer'd not ; for now too nigh 625
Th' Arch-Angel stood, and from the other hill
608. Found her wak'd : Newton notices an inconsistency with the Argu-
ment, which relates that Adam wakens Eve ; but may he not have waked
her by his running to the bower where she lay sleeping.
609. The poem ends very nobly. The last speeches of Adam and the
archangel are full of moral and instructive sentiments. The sleep that fell
upon Eve, and the effects it had in quieting the disorders of her mind, pro-
duce the same kind of consolation in the reader, who cannot peruse this last
beautiful speech which is ascribed to the mother of mankind, without a
secret pleasure and satisfaction. A.
611. Jldvise: Admonish, give information, Numb. xii. 6. Adam had a
vision, and Eve a dream ; and God was concerned in both.
616. It to stay here, Sfc. : She is now come to that temper of mind in
which she thinks it Paradise wherever her husband is, as the angel had
taught her before, XI. 290. So that the author makes woman's Paradise to
be in company with her husband, but man's to be in himself, 587. N.
624-34. Heliodorus, in his ^Ethiopics, acquaints us, that the motion of the
gods differs from that of mortals, as the former do not stir their feet, nor
proceed step by step, but slide over the surface of the earth by a uniform
swimming of the whole body. The same kind of motion is here poetically
attributed to the angels who were to take possession of Paradise. A.
536 PARADISE LOST.
To their fix'd station, all in bright array
The cherubim descended ; on the ground
Gliding meteorous, as evening mist
Risen from a river o'er the mari>h jrl; 630
And gathers ground fast at the labourer's heel
Homeward returning, Hii'li in front advanced,
The brandish 'd sword of God before them blazed
Fierce as a comet ; which with torrid heat,
And vapour as the Libyan air adust, 635
Began to parch that temperate clime : whereat
In either hand the hast'ning Angel caught
Our ling'ring parents, and to th' eastern gate
Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain ; then disappcar'd. 640
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise (so late their happy seat)
Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate
With dreadful faces throng'd and fiery arms.
Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon : 645
The world was all before them where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow,
630. Marith: Marsh, from the French marais, or the Latin maritatt,
rushes commonly growing in such a situation. The word occurs in
1 Maccab. ix. 42, 45; also in Shakspeare, Henry VI. Act. 1.
635. Mutt : Scorched, fiery.
637-41. An allusion is here made to the incident of Lot and his family
being conducted by the angel from the doomed Sodom, Gen. xix. 15-26.
643. Flaming brand: Milton had called it a sword before, XI. 120, "and of
a sit-ord the flame;" and XII. 633, and brand here does not signify what we
commonly mean by it, but a tword, as it is used in the Faery Queen of
Spenser: "Which steely brand that all other swords excelled ;" and
also in other more recent authors. Brando, in Italian, signifies a sword; so
called, as Junius thinks, because men fought with burnt stakes and firebrands
before arms were invented. N.
647. Providence their guide: As Michael, who had hitherto conducted
them by the hand was departed Yrom them, they had no guide to their steps
but the general guidance of Providence to keep them safe and unhurt. P.
BOOK sir. -*>37
Through Eden took their solitary way.
649. Solitary way : It was solitary, not in regard to any companions whom
they had met with elsewhere, but because they were here to meet with no
object of any kind they were acquainted with, XI. 305. P. Or it was sol-
itary in reference to the companionship of Michael.
647-49. It has been objected to these lines, that they end the poem in too
sorrowful a manner, and that they are inconsistent with other passages in
this Book, which describe the joy, the peace, and consolation of our first
parents. But these emotions, as Dr. Pierce remarks, are represented always
as arising in our first parents from a view of some future good, chiefly of the
Messiah ; while the thought of leaving Paradise was always a sorrowful
one to them", 613, 638, 645, 603.
As to the first-named objection, there is, says Newton, no more necessity
that an epic poem should conclude happily, than there is that a tragedy
should conclude unhappily. There are several instances of a tragedy ending
happily ; and with as good reason, an epic poem may terminate fortunately
or unfortunately, as the nature of the subject requires; and the subject of
Paradise Lost plainly requires something of a sorrowful parting, and was in-
tended, no doubt, for terror as well as pity to inspire us with the fear of
God, as well as with commiseration of man.
Newton further calls us to observe the beauty of the numbers in these
concluding lines the heavy dragging of the first line, which cannot be pro-
nounced but slowly, and with several pauses :
" They | hand in hand, | with waml'ring steps, | and slow,'' |
and then the quicker flow of the last line, with only the usual pause in the
middle. As if our first parents had moved heavily at first, being loath to
leave their delightful Paradise; and afterwards mended their pace, when
they were at a little distance. At least this is the idea which the numbers
convey. The varying of the pauses, is the life and soul of all versification,
in all languages. It is this chiefly which makes Virgil's verse better than
Ovid's, and Milton's superior to that of any other English poet ; and it is for
want of this chiefly that the French heroic verse can never come up to the
English. There can be no good poetry without music, and there can be no
music without variety.
638
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.
No just heroic poem ever was, or can be made, whence one great moral
may not be deduced. That which reigns in Milton is the most general and
most useful that can be imagined. It is, in short, this : THAT OBEDIENCE TO
THE WILL OP GOD MAKES MEN HAPPY, AND THAT DISOBEDIENCE MAKES
THEM MISERABLE. This is obviously the moral of the principal story
which 'turns upon Adam and Eve, who continued in Paradise while they
kept the command that was given them, and were driven out of it as soon
as they transgressed. This is likewise the moral of the principal episode,
which shows us how an innumerable multitude of angels fell by their
disobedience.
Besides this great moral, which may be regarded as the soul of the story,
there is an infinity of under-morals, which may be drawn from the several
parts of the poem, rendering this work more useful and instructive than any
other poem in any language. A.
Throughout the whole poem the author discovers himself to have been a
most critical reader, and a most passionate admirer, of holy Scripture. Hi
it indebted to Scripture infinitely more than to Homer and Virgil, and all
other book* whatever. Not only his principal story, but all his episodes are
founded on Scripture. The Scripture has not only furnished him with the
noblest hints, raised his thoughts, and fired his imagination, but has also
very much enriched his language, given a certain solemnity and majesty to
his diction, and supplied him with many of his choicest, happiest expres-
sions. Let men, therefore, learn from this instance to reverence those sacred
writings. If any man can pretend to deride or despise them, it must be said
of him at least, that he has a taste and genius the most different from Mil-
ton's that can be imagined. Whoever has any true taste and genius, we are
confident, will esteem this poem the best of modern productions, and the
Scriptures the best of all ancient ones. N.
539
THE LIFE OF MILTON A GREAT EPIC ITSELF.
LET us glance for a moment at what was even finer than Milton's trans-
cendent genius his character. His life was a great epic itself. Byron's
life was a tragic comedy ; Sheridan's was a brilliant farce ; Shelley's was a
wild, mad, stormy tragedy ; Keats' life was a sad, brief, beautiful lyric ;
Moore's has been a love song ; Coleridge's was a " Midsummer Night's
Dream ;" Schiller's was a harsh, difficult, wailing, but ultimately victorious
war ode, like one of Pindar's ; Goethe's was a brilliant, somewhat melo-
dramatic, but finished novel ; Tasso's was an elegy ; but Milton, and Milton
alone, acted as well as wrote an epic complete in all its parts high, grave,
sustained, majestic. His life was a self-denied life. "Susceptible," says
one, " as Burke, to the attractions of historical prescription, of royalty, of
chivalry, of an ancient church, installed in cathedrals and illustrated by old
martyrdoms, he threw himself, the flower of elegance, on the side of the
reeking conventicle the side of humanity, unlearned and unadorned." It
was a life of labour and toil ; labour and toil unrewarded, save by the secret
sunshine of his own breait, filled with the consciousness of divine approba-
tion, and hearing from afar the voice of universal future fame.
It was a life of purity. Even in his youth, and in the countries of the
south, he seems to have remained unsullied. Although no anchorite, he was
temperate. Rapid in his meals, he was never weary of the refreshment of
music ; his favourite instrument, as might have been expected, being the
organ. It was a life not perfect ; there were spots on his fame acerbities
of temper, harshness of language, peculiarities of opinion, which proved him
human, and grappled him with difficulty to earth, like a vast balloon ere it
takes its flight upward.
It was the life of a patriot, " faithful found among the faithless, faithful
only he ;" and Abdiel, that dreadless angel, is just Milton transferred to the
skies. It was, above all, the life of a Christian; it was the life of prayer,
of faith, of meek dependence, of perpetual communing with Heaven.
Thus faintly have we pictured John Milton. Forgive us, mighty shade!
wherever thou art, mingling in whatever choir of adoring spirits, or engaged
540 PARADISE LOST.
in whatever exalted ministerial service above, or whether present now
among those " millions of spiritual creatures that walk the earth ;" forgive
us the feebleness, for the take of the sincerity of the offering, and reject it
not from that cloud of incense which, with enlarging volume, and deepening
P^fP"""i, is ascending to thy name, from every country, and in every lan-
guage!
In fine, we tell not our readers to imitate Milton's genius : that may be
too high a thing for them ; but to imitate his life the patriotism, the sin-
cerity, the manliness, the purity, and the piety of his character. When con-
sidering him, and the other men of his day. we are tempted to say, "There
were giants in those days," while we have fallen on the days of little men ;
nay, to cry out with her of old, " I saw gods ascending from the earth, and
one of them is like to an old man, vhote face it covered with a mantle." la
those days of rapid and universal change, what need for a spirit so pure, so
wise, so sincere, and eo gifted as his ! and who will not join in the language
of Wordsworth ?
'* Milton ! thnu shouldit be living it (his hour.
England hath need of thee. She it fen
Of stagnant water*. We are selfish men.
O, raise ui up ! Return to us again.
' Thy soul was like a star ; and dwelt apart ;
Pure as the naked heaven*, majestic, free.
So didjtt thou travel on life'* common way.
In cheerful godlines* ; ami yet thy heart
The luw lie>t duties on itself did lay."
GlLFILLA)f.
STRICTURES UPON DR. JOHNSON'S CRITICISM.
Johnson's criticism, inserted in his " Life of Milton, 7 ' is so universally
known, that I shall not repeat it here ; it shows the critic to have been a
master of language, and of perspicuity, and method of ideas; it has not,
however, the sensibility, the grace, and the nice perceptions of Addison : it
is analytical and dry. As it does not illustrate any of the abstract positions
by cited instances, it requires a philosophical mind to feel its full force ; it
has wrapped up the praises, which were popularly expressed by Addison, in
language adapted to the learned. The truth is, that Johnson's head was
more the parent of that panegyric than his heart. He speaks by rule ; and
by rule he is forced to admire. Rules are vain to which the heart does not
assent. Many of the attractions of Milton's poem are not at all indicated
by the general words of Johnson. From Addison's critique we can learn
distinctly its character and colours ; we can be taught how to appreciate ;
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 541
and can judge by the examples produced, how far our own sympathies go
with the commentator. We cannot read, therefore, without being made
converts, where the comment is right. It is not only in the grand outline
that Milton's mighty excellence lies : it is in filling up all the parts even to
the least minu'.KP. The images, the sentiments, the long argumentative
passages, are all admirable, taken separately; they form a double force, as
essential parts of one large and magnificent whole. The images are of two
sorts, inventive and reflective ; the first are, of course, of the highest order.
If our conceptions were confined to what reality and experience have im-
pressed upon us, our minds would be narrow, and our faculties without light.
The power of inventive imagination approaches to something above hu-
manity : it makes us participant of other worlds and other states of being.
Still mere invention is nothing, unless its quality be high and beautiful.
Shakspeare's invention was in the most eminent degree rich ; but still it was
mere human invention. The invention of the character of Satan, and of
the good and bad angels, and of the seats of bliss, and of Pandemonium, and
of Chaos, and of the gates of Hell, and of Sin and Death, and other super-
natural agencies, is unquestionably of a far loftier and more astonishing
order.
Though the arts of compositions, carried one step beyond the point which
brings out the thought most clearly and forcibly, do harm rather than good,
yet up to this point they are of course great aids ; and all these Milton pos-
sessed in the utmost perfection: all the strength of language, all its turns,
breaks, and varieties all its flows and harmonies, and all its learned allu-
sions, were his. In Pojw there is a monotony and technical mellifluence :
in Milton there is strength with harmony, and simplicity with elevation.
He is never stilted, never gilded with tinsel, never more cramped than if he
were writing in prose ; and. while he has all the elevation, he has all the
freedom of unshackled language. To render metre during a long poem tin-
fatiguing, there must be an infinite diversity of combinations of sound and
position of words, which no English bard but Milton has reached. John-
son, assuming that the English heroic line ought to consist of iambics, has
tried it by false tests : it admits as many varied feet as the Odes of Horace ;
and so scanned, all Milton's lines are accented right.
If we consider the " Paradise Lost" with respect to instruction, it is the
deepest and the wisest of all the uninspired poems which were ever written; and
what poem can do good which does not satisfy the understanding? Of al-
most all other poems it may be said, that they are intended more for delight
than instruction ; and instruction in poetry will not do without delight ; yet
when to the highest delight is added the most profound instruction, what
fame can equal the value of the composition? Such, unquestionably, is the
compound merit of the u Paradise Lost." It is a duty imperative on him
who has an intellect capable of receiving this instruction, not to neglect the
cultivation of it: in him who understands the English language, the neglect
to study this poem is the neglect of a positive duty : here is to be found in
combination what can be learned no where else.
542 PARADISE LOST.
Before such a performance all technical beauties sink to nothing. The
question is : Are the ideas mighty, and just and authorized f and are they
adequately expressed ! If this is admitted, then ought not every one to read
this poem next to the Bible ! So thought Bishop Newton. Bat Johnson
has the effrontery to assert, that though it may be read as a duty, it can give
no pleasure ; for this Newton seems to have pronounced by anticipation the
stigma due to him. Is any intellectual delight equal to that which a high
and sensitive mind derives from the perusal of innumerable passages in
every Book of this inimitable work of poetical fiction ! The very story
never relaxes : it is thick-wove with incident, as well as sentiment, and ar-
gumentative grandeur. SIR E.
THE METRICAL STRUCTURE OF PARADISE LOST.
The measure (says the author himself) is English heroic verse, without
rhyme, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin ; rhyme being no
necessary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verse, in longer works
especially, but the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter
and lame metre ; graced indeed since by the use of some famous modern
poets, carried away by custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance,
and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part
worse than else they would have expressed them. Not without cause,
therefore, some both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note have rejected
rhyme both in longer and shorter works, as have also, long since, our best
English tragedies, as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no
true musical delight ; which consists only in apt numbers, fit quantity of
syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one verse into another,
not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned
ancients, both in poetry and all good oratory. This neglect then of rhyme
so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so perhaps to vul-
gar readers, that it rather is to be esteemed an example set, the first in
English, of ancient liberty recovered to heroic poem, from the troublesome
and modern bondage of rhyming.
INDEX.
BOOK I.
Page. Lin*.
Introductory remarks 12
The subject proposed Man's disobedience and its effects . 16 1
Satan, the prompter of man's revolt from God 18 27-35
Satan's rebellion in Heaven and his expulsion 19 8649
His place of punishment the fiery gulf 20 52-75
Satan's address to Beelzebub 22 84-1 24
Beelzebub's answer 24 128-155
Satan's reply 25 157-191
Satan's vast stature 26 192-227
His survey of the infernal world, and his indomitable
spirit of rebellion SO 242-270
Satan's shield and spear described 82 283-296
The calling and the gathering of his routed legions 32 299-350
Heathen idols, the representatives of evil spirits 36 364-391
A description of the leaders of the infernal army 36 381-521
The bloody Moloch 37 892-405
The obscene Chemos, or Peor 38 406^18
Baalim and Ashtaroth. The nature of spirits 39 419^*37
Astoreth, or Astarte. Thammuz 40 437-457
Dagon. Rimmon 41 457-476
Osiris, Iris, Orus 41 476-489
Belial 42 490-505
The gods of Greece and Rome 43 507-521
Satan's army reorganized and put in battle array 44 531-587
The person of their dauntless commander described .... 46 587-608
Satan harangues his army, and rouses them to attempt
the recovery of heaven 48 622-662
The character and agency of Mammon, or Pluto 50 678-699
The Pandeinonian Palace, constructed by Mulciber, or
Vulcan 52 710-751
The council held in Pandemonium 54 755-797
The characters in Paradise Lost 66
Objection to mythological allusions considered 57
The character of Milton's Satan 57
544
I50ZZ.
BOOK II.
tuc*. UM.
Introductory remarks -60
Satan's speech from the throne in Pandemonium 61 1-42
Moloch's character, and his speech advocating war with
Heaven 63 43-105
Belial's character, and hU speech diwuading from war.. . 65 108-225
Mammon advises not to tight, but to make the best of
their present condition 70 229-283
Beelzebub described ; his speech, wherein he urges a hoc-
tile attempt on the residence of man 72 299-41 6
None but Satan dare.* to explore the way to it ; his
speech on proposing to undertake the enterprise 76 417-605
The council breaks up, and its members separate until
their chief shall return 80 506-527
The various employments and amusement* in which they
engage till that event may occur 80 528-618
The scenery of Hell 83 570-628
Satan's journey from Hell towards Earth 87 629-1055
The monsters Sin and Death 87 647-676
The altercation between Death and Satan 90 674-726
Sin interposes to prevent a threatened contest 92 724745
The biography of Sin and Death 93 746-814
Satan explains to them hid malicious design upon man's
integrity and happiness 95 817-844
Sin opens for Satan the gates of Hell, but cannot again
close them 97 871-889
The confused regions of Night and Chaos thus disclosed. . 99 890-927
Satan's voyage through these horrid realms 100 917-1055
His interview and speech at the court of Chaos 103 959-1009
He proceeds on his adventurous voyage 105 1010-1055
Poetic diction of Milton 108
BOOK III.
The argument and introductory remarks Ill
Apostrophe to Light 114 1-56
The Almighty Father surveying the whole creation .... 118 56-79
He addresses the Son concerning Satan's designs against
man 119 80-184
He predicts the fall of man, asserts his free-agency, and
entire responsibility 120 92-181
He reveals his purpose of grace to (alien man, which u
approved by the Son of God 121 181-166
INDEX.
545
He describes to the Son the plan of his future conduct
towards man, and the method of redemption 123 166-212
He asks who will undertake to expiate man's sin 124 213-221
The Son of God declares his readiness to make atonement
in hia behalf 124 227-265
His amazing love to man, and filial obedience 126 266-273
The Father accepts his offer to atone for man's sin, and
unfolds the manner and influence of the atonement. . . 128 274341
The angels worship the Father and the Son in view of
man's proposed redemption 129 341-410
Satan alights upon the outside of the organized universe,
of which a description is given 132 418-441
The Limbo of Vanity, or Paradise of Fools 133 442-497
Satan descries at a distance the gate of Heaven 138 601-525
Ho discovers also a passage to Paradise his feelings in
view of it 138 526-554
His flight among the stars, and his landing upon the sun. 140 561-587
The sun described its structure and influence 142 588-621
Satan beholds on the sun an angel, and transforms him-
self into a young cherub 144 621-644
He holds an interview with the angel Uriel 145 645-735
Hia passage from the sun to our earth 148 736742
Milton's Satan his portrait drawn 149
BOOK IV.
The argument and introductory remarks 151
Satan's premeditated attempt on man 153 1-31
His soliloquy in view of the sun 154 32-113
The cause of his fall from Heaven and happiness 155 40-61
Satan the first hypocrite 157 J 14-130
He approaches Eden, of which a general description is
given 158 131-171
He leaps into Paradise and ascends the Tree of Life . 160 172-204
A particular and exquisite description of man's happy
residence 162 205-287
Adam and Eve described as they first appeared to Satan . 168 288-355
Satan's soliloquy on view of Adam and Eve in their prim-
itive state 171 358-392
He descends from the Tree of Life and assumes several
animal shapes 172 395-408
He listens to Adam's discourse with Eve on Qod's pro-
hibition of the Tree of Knowledge 173 41 1-489
Eve's reply to Adam. Her conjugal lovo and beauty. .. 174 440-504
546
INDEX.
Satan's soliloquy upon what they say. His envy of their
happiness 177 606-535
The station of Gabriel, chief guardian angel of Paradise. 178 689-554
The approach of Uriel, and his speech warning of Satan's
design 179 555-675
The first evening in Paradise. Adam and Eve's dis-
course upon their happy lot, and upon the heavenly
luminaries 182 697-688
The blissful bower of our first parents , 185 689-719
Their worship of God upon first occupying it 187 720-735
Wedded love, and the author's praise of it 188 736-775
Gabriel's charge to Uzziel, Ithuriel, and Zephon, to search
the garden 190 776-796
Ithuriel and Zephon discover Satan in the assumed form
ofatoad 192 797-813
He starts up in his original form, and a sharp controversy
ensues 192 813-976
He prepares for a terrible combat with Ithuriel and his
band, but the Almighty prevents it 198 977-1015
Difficulties in executing the portrait of our first
parents 201
BOOK V.
The argument and introductory remarks 202
Adam, on awaking, finds Eve still asleep, and with a dis-
composed countenance , . 203 1-15
He awakes her, and she relates a dream (the product of
Satan's agency) that had disturbed her mind 204 15-94
The affectionate and soothing address of Adam to Eve in
relation to this dream 208 95-128
Their noble hymn in praise of the Deity 210 153-208
God's charge to Raphael to warn Adam of bis danger of
temptation to apostasy 214 224-246
Raphael's descent to Paradise on this mission 214 246-297
The preparations of Adam and Eve for entertaining the
heavenly messenger 218 298-349
Adam invites the angel to his bower, and the invitation
is graciously accepted .' 220 '850-387
The discourse held with Raphael on various subject* . . . 222 895-907
Raphael's curious account of the nature of spirits and
mode of support 228 404-443
His discourse on the perfection, variety, and gradual
economy of the creation 225 468-543
INDEX.
547
Page. Lint.
On obedience, as a Juty of choice, not of necessity 228 620-543
On the revolt and defeat of the fallen angels 230 577-897
The inauguration of God the Son 231 600-617
The employments of the holy angels in Heaven 231 618-657
The inauguration of the Son of God the occasion of the
revolt of the first archangel, thence called Satan 233 657-710
Satan's conspiracy discovered ; its overthrow committed
to the Son of G*od 235 711-742
The assembling of Satan's party, and the arrogant speech
delivered by him 237 743-802
The eloquent speech of the faithful Abdiel in opposition
to Satan 239 803-849
Satan's reply to Abdiel 241 853-871
Abdiel's fearless rejoinder, and his departure 242 876-907
On Miltcn'e portrait of the angels and devils 243
BOOK VI.
The argument and introductory remarks 345
The retreat of Abdiel from Satan's party 246 1-28
The plaudits V*>8towed upon his fidelity to God 248 29 13
Gabriel and Michael ordered to lead out an army against
the rebel angels 249 4455
The meeting of the hostile parties 250 56-113
Soliloquy of Abdiel on view of Satan at the head of the
rebel army 252 114-126
The mutual addresses of Abdiel and Satan before the
battle 253 131-188
Satan is struck down by Abdiel, and the armies advance
to a general contest 255 189-245
Satan and Michael contend in words and in arms 258 245-353
The prowess and victories of Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, and
Abdiel 262 354-885
The rout of Satan's army 263 386 4 17
Satan's artful speech to his companions in arms 265 418-445
Nisrook's reply 266 446-468
Satan's answer to Nisrock, in which he proposes the use
of artillery 267 469-495
Artillery and ammunition provided 268 496-523
The engagement of the second day begins 269 524
The advance of the new artillery, and its prodigious
execution 271 568-608
The derisive speeches on the retreat of the celestial army. 273 609-627
The celestial angels rally again, and hurl mountains and
hilla upon their foes 274 634-669
648
INDEX.
The Son of God commissioned to be the leader of the
third day's engagement 276 669-746
The Messiah, or Son of God, comes forth alone in his
chariot to cast his foes out of Heaven 278 746-838
The complete overthrow of Satan's army 283 838-877
Messiah's triumphal return and glad reception 285 878-892
Raphael's advice to Adam, founded on his narrative .... 285 893-9 K!
BOOK VII.
The argument and introductory remarks 287
Invocation to Urania, the heavenly Muse 289 1-39
The apostasy in Heaven was related to Adam as a warn-
ing against apostasy 298 40-80
Raphael is requested to give to Adam an account of the
creation, the manner and design of it 294 80-108
Raphael's answer 296 109-640
The address of the Eternal Father to his Son, proposing
the creation of the world 297 131-173
The angels rejoice at this announcement 299 174-191
The Son of God enters upon this great performance. His
person, equipage, <tc., in the work of creation, and the
work itself, described 300 192-557
His grand reascent to Heaven after creating the world,
and the hymns of angels thereupon 821 557-634
BOOK VIII.
The argument and introductory remarks 325
The impression which Raphael's discourse made on our
first parents 828 1-13
Adam inquires respecting the motions of the heavenly
bodies 329 13-38
Eve withdraws and goes among the fruits and flowers . . 330 39-63
Raphael's discourse on the motion, appearances, and influ-
ences of the heavenly bodies. He describes the Ptole-
maic and Copernican hypotheses 331 66-178
Conversation between Adam and Raphael 337 179-248
Adam gives an account of himself and of objects about
him, <fcc., on his creation 340 249-311
Account of his first view of the Divine Presence, and in-
troduction into Paradise, tc. 342 311-356
Adam's conversation with God thereon, and on his sol- i .
itude there.. . 346 357-451
INDEX.
549
Pip*. LIB*.
Adam's sleep, on the formation of ETC, described 350 452-480
His first view of Eve ; his passionate regard for her .... 352 481-559
Appropriate admonitions thence suggested by Raphael. . 856 660-594
Question of Adam, and answer of Raphael, concerning
love, and the expression of it in spirits celestial 857 595-643
Raphael's excellent advice on parting with Adam 358 630-653
BOOK IX.
The argument and introductory remarks 360
The author's introduction to the scenes about to be
related 364 1-47
Satan, having compassed the earth, returns to Paradise
by night, in a mist, in order to his temptation 867 61-76
He selects the serpent as the instrument for tempting Eve. 369 76-96
Soliloquy of Satan at this juncture 370 99-178
He enters the serpent, and inspires him with intelligence. 373 179-190
Morning in Eden : the morning worship of our first parents. 374 192-202
Adam's conversation with Eve preceding the temptation
(on Satan's subtlety, the means to resist it, <fcc.) 374 205-384
Eve, with the reluctant permission of Adam, withdraws
from him to the groves 382 385-411
Satan rejoices to find her alone in a retired and charming
spot, which is described 383 412^162
Satan's soliloquy in view of her 386 472493
In form of a beautiful serpent he approaches Eve : the
artifices he employs, and the conversation he holds
with Eve 387 494-732
The serpent falsely declares how he became endowed
with the-gift of speech 390 667-645
He sets aside the scruples of Eve against partaking of
the fruit of the forbidden tree 393 647-732
Eve debating whether to yield to the reasonings of the
tempter 396 736-779
She eats the forbidden fruit : its immediate effects shown
in her soliloquy 398 780-838
The care and anxiety of Adam for her in her absence. . . 401 838-847
He meet* her returning with the forbidden fruit 401 847-855
She apologizes for her long absence, and tempts Adam to
share the fruit with her 402 856-895
His soliloquy lamenting her transgression 403 896-916
Conversation between them in relation to her trans-
gression 404 920
Against his better knowledge, Adam shares in that
transgression 407 996-9
550
I.fDKX.
Fan.
The earth was convulsed a second time at this event . . . 407 1000-4
The demoralizing effects of this transgression upon our
first parents . . 407 1004-1066
Shame, remorse, mutual resentments and accusations
follow 410 1067-1189
BOOK X.
The argument and introductory remarks 415
Han's transgression being known, the guardian angels for-
sake Paradise and carry a report to Heaven 420 1-31
Speech of Ood the Father on the subject of Adam's fall . 4 20 34-02
The Son of Ood appointed the judge of men ; his answer
to the Father, and his descent to Eden 422 56-97
The offenders summoned to his presence and put on
trial 423 97-123
The offence of Adam and Eve investigated 424 124-156
Sentence passed on the serpent ; how verified 425 163196
Sentence passed on our first parents 427 192-208
The Son of God compassionately clothes them, and re-
ascends to Heaven 427 209-228
Sin's speech to Death upon Adam's apostasy 429 235-263
Death's answer, and high gratification 431 264-281
Death and Sin make a bridge from Hell, through chaos,
to the earth 431 282-324
They meet Satan on his return to Hell from Paradise. . . 434 825-351
Tin- congratulatory speeches that ensue 435 352-409
The journey of Sin and Death to Paradise, and its
influences 437 410-414
Satan's return to Pandemonium and report of his success. 437 414-503
The degradation of Satan and other evil angels, com-
pelled to assume the form of serpents 441 504-547
They are further punished with an illusion of the forbid-
den fruit 443 547-584
Sin and Death arrive at Paradise, and discourse with
each other 445 685-609
The Almighty addresses the celestial angels respecting
the entrance of Sin and Death into our world 447 616-640
Thev reply in joyful hallelujahs, and receive commands
to mar the beauty of creation 448 641-714
Adam's soliloquy upon the sentence pronounced on him . 453 720-862
His repulsory speech to Eve on attempting to console
hisgrief 460 867-908
Eve's humble and pathetic speech in reply 461 909-936
The relenting of Adam, and full reconciliation to his wife. 463 937-965
INDEX.
551
The counterpart in the history of Milton and his wife,
Mary Powell 462 (note.)
Eve proposes to Adam that each shall commit suicide. . . 464 96(5-1006
Adam declines the proposal, and recommends submission
to God's will, and repentance 465 1010-1096
Both become penitent, and seek divine forgiveness 468 1097-1104
BOOK XI.
The argument and introductory remarks 469
The penitent prayers of our first parents 471 1-20
The intercession of the Son of I Jtnl in their behalf, and
the Father's acceptance 473 22-71
The angels are called together, and some are charged
with the expulsion of man from Paradise 474 72-133
The morning of the day of expulsion ; Adam and Eve
converse upon the efficacy of prayer 476 133-180
Ominous changes in nature noticed by them, and their
reflections thereon 479 181-207
Michael, with his celestial band, arrives in Paradise ; hU
appearance ; his message concerning the expulsion. . . . 480 208-262
The sorrowful lamentings and reflections of our first
parents in view of their expulsion 483 263-338
Michael's speech to Adam, and Adam's reply, on this
painful subject 486 334-376
The archangel leads Adam to the highest mount in Para-
dise to give him a view of the scenes of future events. 488 376-422
He discovers to him (in vision) what should happen to
the time of the flood 491 423-901
The story of Cain and Abel 429-465
Death with its causes, and the variety of its forms 492 466-555
Vision of the social and civil state of the antediluvian
world 497 556-673
The story of Enoch 500 661-712
Explanation sought, and given, of the enormities of that
period 501 674-718
The story of Noah 502 719-753
The flood 503 738-862
The rainbow, and God's covenant '. 508 863-901
BOOK XII.
The argument and introductory remarks 510
Michael's narrative of events posterior to the flood 512 1-651
The patriarchal government 512 13-24
552
I1TDKI.
tyranny, and the building cf Babel 513 24-101
The story of Ham 616 101-1 13
Of Abraham and the patriarchs .'. . 617 114-163
Of the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt, and their
deliverance 620 163-223
Of the settlement of their civil and sacred economy in
the wilderness, and establishment in Canaan 522 224-279
Of their various ritual laws, their reason, use, Ac. 624 280-314
Of their government by judges and kings 525 815-334
Of t heir captivity in Babylon 526 835-344
Of their return thence ; after dissensions ; the birth and
kingdom of the Messiah 626 845-371
Of Messiah his life, passion, resurrection; mission of the
Apostles, Ac. 627 875-465
Of the mission of the Holy Ghost, gift of tongues, Ac. . . . 631 485-504
Of the Apostles' successors (false teachers, Ac.) ; their
ambition, Ac. ; the effects, and Messiah's coming to
judgment 631 504-551
Adam's reply to Michael, including resolutions of future
obedience, dependence on God, Ac. 533 652-573
Michael's last reply and advice 533 674-605
Eve's observations to Adam on quitting Paradise 635 610-628
The departure, under Michael's guidance 635 624-649
Concluding observations 538
The life of Milton a great epic itself 689
Strictures upon Dr. Johnson's criticism 540
The metrical structure of the poem 543
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