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Who from the terror of this arm fo late

115

Doubted his empire; that were low indeed,
That were an ignominy' and shame beneath
This downfall; fince by fate the strength of Gods
And this empyreal substance cannot fail,
Since through experience of this great event
In arms not worse, in forefight much advanc'd,
We may
with more fuccessful hope refolve
To wage by force or guile eternal war,
Irreconcileable to our grand foe,

120

Who now triumphs, and in th' excess of joy
Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven.
So fpake th' apoftate Angel, though in pain, 125
Vaunting aloud, but rack'd with deep despair:

and by obferving this punctuation, this whole paffage, which has perplex'd and confounded fo many readers and writers, is render'd plain and easy to be understood.

116. fince by fate, &c.] For Satan fuppofes the Angels to fubfift by fate and neceffity, and he reprefents them of an empyreal, that is a fiery fubftance, as the Scripture itself doth; He maketh his Angels fpirits, and his minifters a flame of fire. Pfal. CIV. 4. Heb. I. 7. Satan difdains to fubmit, fince the Angels (as he fays) are neceffarily immortal and cannot be deftroy'd, and fince too they are now improved in experience, and may hope to

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And him thus anfwer'd foon his bold compeer.
O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers,
That led th' imbattel'd Seraphim to war
Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds
Fearless, indanger'd Heav'n's perpetual king,
And put to proof his high supremacy,

Whether upheld by ftrength, or chance, or fate;
Too well I fee and rue the dire event,

130

That with fad overthrow and foul defeat
Hath loft us Heav'n, and all this mighty hoft
In horrible deftruction laid thus low,
As far as Gods and heav'nly effences

135

Can perish for the mind and fpi'rit remains
Invincible, and vigor foon returns,
Though all our glory' extinct, and happy state

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140

Here

fhould remark here the propriety of the word prpetual. Beelzerub doth not fay eternal king, for then he could not have boafted of indangering his kingdom: but he endevors to detract as much as he can from God's everlafting dominion, and calls him only perpetual king, king from time immemorial or without interruption, as Ovid fays perpetuum carmen, Met. I. 4.

primaque ab origine mundi Ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen.

What

Here fwallow'd up in endless mifery.

But what if he our conqu'ror (whom I now
Of force believe almighty, fince no lefs

144

Than fuch could have o'cr-power'd fuch force as ours)
Have left us this our fpi'rit and firength entire
Strongly to fuffer and fupport our pains,
That we may fo fuffice his vengeful ire,
Or do him mightier service as his thralls

By right of war, whate'er his business be,
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
Strength undiminish'd, or eternal being

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155

To undergo eternal punishment?

Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-Fiend reply'd.

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Fall'n Cherub, to be weak is miferable

Doing or fuffering: but of this be fure,
To do ought good never will be our task,
But ever to do ill our fole delight,
As bei'ng the contrary to his high will
Whom we refift. If then his providence
Out of our evil feek to bring forth good,

157. — to be weak is miferable Doing or Juffering:] Satan having in his fpeech boafted that the ftrength of Gods could not fail, ver. 116. and Peelzebub having faid, ver. 146. if God has left us this our ftrength entire to fuffer pain ftrongly, or to do him mightier Jervice as his thralls, what then can our strength avail us? Satan here replies very properly, whether we are to fuffer or to work, yet ftill it is fome comfort to have our ftrength undiminish'd; for it is a miferable thing, (fays he) to be weak and without ftrength, whether we are doing or fuffering. This is the fenfe of the place; and this is farther confirm'd by what Belial fays in II. 199.

To fuffer as to do
Our ftrength is equal Pearce.

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159. To do ought good never will be our task,] Dr. Bentley

would read it thus,

To do ought good will never be our task,

as of a smoother and ftronger accent: but I conceive that Milton

160

Our

intended to vary the accent of never and ever in the next verse.

169. But fee the angry victor bath

recall'd &c.] Dr. Bentley hath really made a very material objection to this and fome other paffages of the poem, wherein the good Angels are reprefented, as pursuing the rebel hoft with fire and thunderbolts down through Chaos even to the gates of Hell ; as being contrary to the account, which the Angel Raphael gives to Adam in the 6th book. And it is certain that there the good Angels are order'd to ftand fill only and behold, and the Meffiah alone expels them out of Heaven, and after he has expell'd them, and Hell has clos'd upon them, VI. 880.

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Our labor must be to pervert that end,
And out of good still to find means of evil;
Which oft-times may fucceed, so as perhaps
Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb
His inmoft counfels from their deftin'd aim.
But fee the angry victor hath recall'd
His ministers of vengeance and pursuit

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170

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perhaps they might think that a numerous hoft were really purfu

Chaos fpeaking thus, II. 996.

and Heav'n gates

Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands

Pursuing;

But what a condition was Chaos in
during the fall of the rebel Angels?
See VI. 871.

Nine days they fell; confounded
Chaos roar'd,

Thefe accounts are plainly contrary the one to the other: but the author doth not therefore contradicting. In one place indeed we have himfelf, nor is one part of his fcheme inconfiftent with another. For it should be confidered, who are the perfons that give these different accounts. In book the 6th the Angel Raphael is the speaker, and therefore his account may be depended upon as the genuin and exact truth of the matter. But in the other paffages Satan himself or fome of his Angels are the speakers; and they were too proud and obftinate ever to acknowledge the Meffiah for their conqueror; as their rebellion was rais'd on his account, they would never own his fuperiority; they would rather afcribe their defeat to the whole host of Heaven than to him alone; or if they did indeed imagin their purfuers to be fo many in number, their fears multiplied them, and it ferves admirably to exprefs how much they were terrified and confounded. In book the 6th 830. the noise of his chariot is compared to the found of a numerous hoft; and

And felt tenfold confufion in their fall

Through his wild anarchy, fo huge a rout

Incumber'd him with ruin.

We muft fuppofe him therefore
to fpeak according to his own
frighted and difturb'd imagination;
he might conceive that fo much

Ruin upon ruin, rout on rout,
Confufion worfe confounded

could

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