93 O, how unlike the place from whence they fell! And thence in heav'n call'd Satan,—with bold words 2 3 "If thou be'st he,—but 0, how fall'n! how chang'd "Cloth'd with transcendent brightness, didst outshine "And hazard in the glorious enterprise, 66 66 66 Join'd with me once,4 now misery hath join'd In equal ruin; into what pit, thou seest, "From what height fall'n! so much the stronger prov'd "Tartarus ipse Bis patet In praceps tantum, lenditque sub umbras, Whereas Milton trebles it. Altogether bis conceptions of hell are immeasurably greater than theirs. The Ταρταρον ηερόεντα, the σιδερεαι τε πύλαι, και χαλκεον ουδος, and the "lugentes campi;" "horrisono stridentes cardine portæ," are insignificant, compared with his description.—(N.) l Some say Beelzebub signifies "the god of flies." He was worshipped at Ecron, a city of the Philistines, (2 Kings i. 2,) and was believed to guard the people from the flies in thai hot district. Apollo, in the Iliad, is called Smintheus, or the god of mice, on similar grounds. Beelzebub is called, in Malt. xii. 24, "the prince of devils;" hence he is appropriately represented by Milton as the "nearest mate" of Satan. "Satan" means "enemy" in Hebrew, s C|audian, Rapt. Proserp. ii. 328:— "Insolill rumpunt tenebrosa silentla canlus.' Stat, Theb. iv. 426: — Vacuusque silenlia serrat horror." > Isa. xiv. 12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morn!" En. ii. 274:— "Hei mihi! qualis crat! quantum mutatus ab illo 1 Qui reuiit spoliis indulus Acblllls." The commentators say that, as "equal ruin" cannot answer to "glorious enterprise," which, in the construction, follows "hazard," (for Milton placed a comma after enterprise,) the reading should be "and (not in) equal ruin." The following passage is quoted as parallel, Ov. Metam. i. 351.— "0 soror, 0 conjux, o fœmina sola superstcs, Quam commune mihi genus, et patruelis origo, I see no necessity for disturbing tbe text. It is much more likely that Milton meant to make "ruin" to answer to "enterprise," and both lo depend on "joined," by his using "in" in the latter clause; than that his punctuation was correct, but that his language was classically absurd. Nothing is more common in Milton, than to change the order of the words in the several clauses of a sentence, even though these clauses may refer lo one leading word. The question is, which is the more likely event—that, in his blindness, bad punctuation was introduced, or, that he wrote objectionable English? The commentators think that Satan here exhibits his haired and scorn, by disdaining 121 "The force of those dire arms? i Yet not for those, "Nor what the potent victor in his rage "Can else inflict, do I repent, or change, "Though chang'd in outward lustre, that flx'd mind,. "That durst dislike his reign; and, me preferring, "And shook his throne. What though the field be |pst? Who, from the terror of this arm, so late 4 "Since, through experience of this great event,— to use the name of (be Almighty, though he must acknowledge his superiority. I rather think the point of the line consists, not in omilling the name of God, but in pointing out the cause of his accidental superiority, bis thunder; so 258:—"Whom thunder hath made greater." i The unbending and proud spirit of Prometheus may be recognised in this passage. Esch. Prom. Vinct. 891. Ριπτέσθω μεν αιθαλουσα φλόξ, Λευκοπτέρω δε νιφάδι και βροντήμασι 21. e. whatever else there is, besides steadfast hale, unyielding and unconquered will, which cannot be overcome. These, he says, are not overcome, and cannot be. These are bis glory, and that glory can never be extorted from him. "Si quid aliud quod vinci nequit." In the first editions this line was printed interrogatively.—(P.N.) I So Escb. Prom. Vinct. 1002. Εισελθετώ σε μηποθ', ως εγω Διός Λυσαι με δέσμων των δε του παντός δέω. Drawn from the Empyreum, the seat of pure lire. Psalm civ. 4: "He maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." 145 1 "Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy "0 Prince! 0 chief of many throned Powers! 3 2 "Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate; 66 In horrible destruction laid thus low, "As far as gods and heav'nly essences "Can perish; for the mind and spirit remains "Though all our glory extinct, and happy state "But what if He our Conqueror (whom I now "Of force believe almighty, since no less "Than such could have o'erpower'd such force as ours) 1 Tupavvis, generally the act of tyrannizing, here means absolute power. Milton, when speaking in his own person, 42, called it the monarchy of God; but Satan characteristically uses a harsher name.—(Th.) Callender, an excellent critic, while quoting the following parallel passages, pronounces (I think correctly) Milton's verse superior, in the brevity and energy of expression, and justness of thought, arising from the nature of the foregoing speech, and Satan's present misery. Mn. i. 212:— Talia voce refert, curisque Ingentibus æger Spem vultu gimulat,—premit altum corde dolorem." Theocril. Idyl. i. 95: & Κύπρις γελαρισα Λαθρα μεν γελαρισα, βαρυν δ' ανά θυμον έχουσα, Homer has applied a similar description to Juno: He does not call him eternal king, for, if he were so, his throne could not be endangered; but perpetual king, i. e. one reigning only from time immemorial, without interruption. (See v. 637.) Ovid. Met. i. 4: 44 ——“ prlmaquc ab orlgine mundt Ad mea perpeluum deducile tempora carmen."—(N.) Like a bright light. So, metaphorically, Æn. iv. 322 :— --"To propter eundem Extinctus pudor, et, qua sola sldera adiham, "Extinct" here is, be extinct; so, after, "swallowed" means, be swallowed up. I.e. by force, or from necessity. So ßi« is used in Greek. 174 66 66 "Have left us this our spirit and strength entire, 66 2 Whereto with speedy words th' Arch-fiend replied: 66 Doing, or suff'ring; but of this be sure, "His ministers of vengeance and pursuit 4 "Back to the gates of heav'n: the sulph'rous hail, "Of Heav'n receiv'd us falling; and the thunder, 1 Prom. Vinct. 219: Ταρταρου μελαμβαθης κευθμών. So, txex Tt/mejTv, Homer. There is a peculiar propriety in the words here, as (he last words of Beelzebub startled Salan.—(N.) 3 In the spirit of what he himself said, lie, he replies to what Beelzebub said, 146, etc. He says it is an advantage to have our strength entire; for whether we are to act or suffer, it is a miserable thing to be weak. So ii. 199: "To suffer, as to do, our strength is equal." "Doing or suffering," is here the absolute case.—(P.) The account by Chaos, ii. 996, corresponds with this. But Bentley shows that these are contradicted by Raphael's account, vi. 860, when it is said that Messiah pursued them only to the bounds of heaven, and then returned; and 882, that the saints stood witnesses. Newton well replies, that from the confusion of Satan, after he woke from his trance, when he lay "confounded," 54, and of Chaos, who was equally "confounded," vi. 871, they spoke from their own disturbed and frightened imagination. And as, vi. 830, the sound of Messiah's chariot is compared to the sound of "a numerous host," they may well fancy that a host was engaged in the pursuit. Besides, as the rebellion was raised on account of the preference shown to Messiah, Satan's pride might have induced him to ascribe his defeat rather to the whole host of heaven than to him alone.—(N.P.T.) 5 The meaning of this passage is plain. The surge bad been laid in consequence of the blowing over, or cessation, of the hail. But I think the construction is very unusual in English. When the hail blew over, or ceased, it did not exist, and therefore could not, strictly speaking, be said to have laid in the surge. However, there are examples of such a mode of expression in the classics. So En. r.:—"Placidi straverunt æquora venti." "Wing'd with red lightning and impetuous rage, "Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, "Save what the glimm'ring of these livid flames "There rest, if any rest can harbour there; 66 And, reassembling our afflicted pow'rs, "Consult how we may henceforth most offend "Our enemy—our own loss how repair— "How overcome this djre calamity— "What re-enforcement we may gain from hope "If not —what resolution from despair." Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate, With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blaz'd: his other parts besides, Prone on the flood,7 extended long and large, Lay floating many a rood; in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, 198 Titanian, or Earth-born, that warr'd on Jove, i "His" and "bellow" show a peculiar beauty, as they exhibit the personification of the thunder as a terrible monster. » Satiated. So after, 193, "uplift," for uplifted. 3 So Shakspeare, Rich. II. act v. sc. l.:— "Here let us rest, if this rebellions earth 4"Afflicted" is generally used by Milton in the sense of afllictus, routed, dashed down, broken.—(R.) 5 Bentley says "if not" makes the construction ungrammalical, and proposes "if none." But it is a common classical mode of phrase, like tin minut, si de un, and is quite admissible here. The sentiment here is similarly expressed in Seneca, Med. 163, "Qui nihil potest sperare, nihil desperet." 6 Milton seems to have had the following passages in view the description of the old dragon, Fairy Queen, I. xi. 14. "His blazing eyes, like two bright shining shields, So Virgil, speaking of the serpents, Æn. ii. 206 :— "Pectora quorum inter fluctus arrecta, jnbæque Sanguineæ exsuperant undas; pars cætera pontum 1 The number of monosyllables, and the slow and encumbered motion of the feet in this line, as in lines 202, 209, must strike the reader as beautifully expressive of the subject—a vast, prostrate body. So Spenser, Fairy Queen, I. ii. 8. describes the old dragon, "that with his largeness mcasurelh much land." Virgil, En. vi. 596, describes the giant as extending over nine acres, "Per tola novcm cui jugera corpus porrigilur." But the indefinite description which Milton gives is far better, in my opinion, than the precise specification of dimensions in Virgil, as the reader's imagination is not confined to any particular measure. |