ELDER BROTHER.

Yes, and keep it ftill,

Lean on it fafely; not a period

Shall be unfaid for me: against the threats

Of malice or of forcery, or that power

Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm,
Virtue may be affail'd, but never hurt,

Surpris'd by unjuft force, but not inthrall'd;

585

Yea even that which mischief meant most harm,
Shall in the happy trial prove moft glory:
But evil on itself fhall back recoil,

And mix no more with goodness, when at last
Gather'd like feum, and fettled to itself,

It shall be in eternal reftlefs change

Self-fed, and felf-confumed: if this fail,

The pillar'd firmament is rottennefs,

590

595

And earth's bafe built on ftubble. But come let's on. Against th' oppofing will and arm of Heaven

concerning the power of virtue. Thyer. 597. Self-fed, and felf-confumed:] This image is wonderfully fine. It is taken from the conjectures of aftronomers concerning the dark fpots, which from time to time appear on the furface of the fun's

600

May

body, and after a while difappear again, which they fuppofe to be the fcum of that fiery matter, which first breeds it, and then breaks thro' and confumes it. Warburton.

598. The pillar'd firmament] See Paradife Regain'd, IV. 455. and the note there.

605. — or

May never this just sword be lifted up;

But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt
With all the grifly legions that troop

Under the footy flag of Acheron,

Harpyes and Hydra's, or all the monftrous forms
'Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out,
And force him to restore his purchase back,
Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,
Curs'd as his life.

604

And Shakespear in Macbeth, A&t 1.
Sc. 2.

Till he unfeam'd him from the
nave to th' chops.

I know Mr. Warburton reads here

- from the nape to th' chops, but if any alteration were neceffary, and fupports it very ingeniouily; I fhould rather read

Till he unfeam'd him from the chops to th' nave.

Nay Shakespear carries it so far as to make Coriolanus cleave men

down

SPIRIT.

Alas! good ventrous Youth,

I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise;
But here thy fword can do thee little stead;
Far other arms, and other weapons must

Be thofe that quell the might of hellish charms:
He with his bare wand can unthred thy joints,
And crumble all thy finews.

down from head to foot. Coriolanus, A& 2. Sc. 6.

-his fword, (death's ftamp) Where it did mark, it took from face to foot.

But notwithstanding thefe inftances,
I believe every reader will agree
that Milton alter'd the paffage
much for the better in the edition
of 1645-

Or drag him by the curls to a
foul death,
Curs'd as his life.

610. and bold emprife ;] See the fame, Paradife Loft, XI. 642. Spenfer ufes the word, Faery Queen,

B. 2.

Cant. St.

3. .35.

610

290. Taffo, Cant. 15. St. 49. Richardfen. Before the poet had corrected this line, he had written,

But here thy feel can do thee
Small avail.

614. He with his bare wand can
unthred thy joints,

And crumble all thy finews.] He had written at first,

He with his bare wand can une
quilt thy joints,
And crumble every finew.

ELDER BROTHER.

Why prethee, Shepherd,

How durft thou then thyfelf approach fo near,

As to make this relation?

SPIRIT.

Care and utmost shifts

615

620

How to fecure the Lady from furprifal,
Brought to my mind a certain fhepherd lad,
Of small regard to fee to, yet well fkill'd'
In every virtuous plant and healing herb,
That spreads her verdant leaf to th' morning ray:

He lov'd me well, and oft would beg me fing,
Which when I did, he on the tender grafs
Would fit, and hearken ev'n to extafy,
And in requital ope his leathern scrip,
And show me fimples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties:
Amongst the rest a small unfightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull'd me out;

625

630

The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,

But in another country, as he faid,

Bore a bright golden flow'r, but not in this foil:

and Mr. Warburton propofes to read light efteem'd: and Mr. Seward in Note 25 upon the Faithful Shepherdefs has very ingenioufly reformed the whole paffage thus.

But in another country, as he
faid,

Bore a bright golden flow'r, but
in this foil
Unknown and light efleem'd.

The middle verfe indeed hath a re-
dundant fyllable; and before I had
feen or heard of Mr. Seward's
emendation, I had propofed either
to leave out the monofyllable not,

Bore a bright golden flow'r, but

in this foil Unknown and like efteem'd; or to leave out the monofyllable

Unknown,

but, to avoid its recurring in two lines together,

But in another country, as he faid,

Bore a bright golden flow'r, not in this foil:

Unknown, and like efteem'd,&c. But then on the other hand it must be faid, that fuch redundant or hypercatalectic verfes fometimes occur in Milton. We had one a little before, ver. 605.

Harpyes, and Hydra's, or all the monftrous forms.

And for like efteem'd I think it may be defended without any alteration. Unknown and like esteem'd, that is Unknown and unefteem'd. Unknown and efteem'd accordingly. 635-- clouted

L 2