Among the groves, the fountains, and the flowers That open now their choiceft bofom'd smells, Referv'd from night, and kept for thee in store. So cheer'd he his fair fpoufe, and fhe was cheer'd; But filently a gentle tear let fall 130 From either eye, and wip'd them with her hair; So all was clear'd, and to the field they haste. But first, from under fhady arborous roof. Ver. 129. So cheered he his fair spouse, and she was cheer'd;] A manner of fpeaking that occurs in Jeremiah xx. 7. "Thou haft deceived me, and I was deceived." NEWTON. Ver. 132. Two other precious drops &c.] Compare the weeping Florimel of Spenfer, Faer. Qu. iii. vii. 9. "With that adowne out of her christall eyne "Few trickling tears the foftly forth let fall, And the lamenting Venus of Shak fpeare, in his poem of Venus and Adonis: "Here overcome, as one full of despair, "She veil'd her eye-lids, which like Лuices stopp'd Ver. 137. But first, from under fhady arborous roof Soon as they forth were come &c.] In Milton's own editions a comma stands after roof; which pointing is followed by Tickell, Fenton, and Bentley. Dr. Pearce first noticed this miftake, which represents the hymn of Adam and Eve as faid by them, at one and the fame time, from under the roof, and in the open fight of the fun. This contradiction is obviated by his punc tuation of the paffage; of which he also gives this conftruction: Soon as they forth were come to open fight 145 "But firft, they lowly bow'd adoring, v. 144, as foon as they were come forth from under the roof of the arbour." TODD. Ver. 139. and the fun, who, fcarce up-rifen, With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim, Shot parallel to the earth his dewy ray,] Here are expreffions fimilar to the following in Spenfer, as Mr. Callander alfo has obferved, F. Q. v. ix. 35. "As the bright funne, what time his fierie teme And Faer. Qu. i. v, 2. "And Phoebus, fresh as brydegroom to his mate, "Came dauncing forth, fhaking his deawie hayre." TODD. Ver. 145. each morning duly paid in various ftyle;] As it is very well known that our author was no friend to fet forms of prayer, it is no wonder that he afcribes extemporary effufions to our first parents; but even while he attributes strains unmeditated to them, he himself imitates the Pfalmift. NEWTON. He has expreffed the fame notions of devotion, as Mr. Thyer has obferved, in fimilar terms, B. iv. 736, &c. And it has been faid of the poet, that he did not in the latter part of his life ufe any religious rite in his family, But, as Dr. Gillies remarks, unless the proof be very clear, he, who obferves how careful Milton is to mention the worship of Adam and Eve, B iv. 720, B. v, 157, B. ix. 197, and B. xí. 136, will not be easily induced to believe that he entirely neglected the worship of God in his family. Topp. In various style; for neither various style Flow'd from their lips, in profe or numerous verse, More tuneable than needed lute or harp 150 To add more fweetness; and they thus began. These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty! Thine this univerfal frame, Thus wonderous fair; Thyfelf how wonderous then! Ver. 150. 155 numerous verfe,] An ex preffion in P. Fletcher's Pifc. Eclogues, 1633, p. 2. "I learnt to fing “ Among my peers, apt words to fitly binde "In numerous verfe." TODD. Ver. 153. Thefe are thy glorious works, &c.] The author has raised our expectation, by commending the various style, and holy rapture, and prompt eloquence, of our first parents; and indeed the hymn is truly divine, and will fully anfwer all that we expected. It is an imitation, or rather a fort of paraphrafe, of the 148th Pfalm, and (of what is a paraphrafe upon that) the Canticle placed after Te Deum in the Liturgy, “O all ye works of the Lord, blefs ye the Lord, &c." which is the Song of the three children in the Apocrypha. NEWTON. Ver. 155. Thyfelf how wonderous then!] From Wisd. xiii. 3, 4, 5. "With whofe beauty, if they being delighted, took them to be Gods; let them know how much better the Lord of them is: for the firft Author of beauty hath created them. But if they were astonished at their power and virtue, let them understand by them how much mightier he is that made them. - For by the greatnefs and beauty of the creatures, proportionably the Maker of them is feen." NEWTON. Unspeakable, who fitst above these heavens In these thy loweft works; yet thefe declare See alfo Pfalm viii. 1, cv. 2. I must here also refer the reader to Heywood's meditation fubjoined to the first book of his Hierarchie of Angels, fol. 1635, p. 55. Where the Deity is characterised in a manner likely to ftrike the devoutly poetical imagination of Milton: "the All-Potent, folely Immenfe, "Surpaffing fence; "Unspeakable, Infcrutable, Eternall, "Lord over all." DUNSTER. Ver. 160. Speak, ye who best can tell, &c.] He is unspeakable, v. 156. No creature can fpeak worthily of him as he is; but speak, ye who are best able, ye Angels, ye in Heaven; on Earth join all ye Creatures, &c. NEWTON. Ver. 162. day without night,] According to Milton there was grateful viciffitude like day and night in Heaven, B. vi. 8. And we presume that he took the notion from Scripture, Rev. vii. 15. They are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple." But ftill it was day without night, that is, without fuch night as ours, for the darkness there is no more than "grateful twilight: Night comes not there in darker veil." See ver. 645, of this book. NEWTON. Day without night is from Rev. xxi. 25. "There fhall be no night there." See alfo ch. xxii. 5, Isaiah lx. 20, and Zech. xiv. 7. DUNSTER. Ver. 163. Circle his throne rejoicing;] See the note on Milton's Scazontes, Ad Salfillum, ver. 4. T. WARTON. On Earth join all ye Creatures to extol Him first, him last, him midst, and without end, Fairest of stars, last in the train of night, 166 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 foul, Ver. 165. Him first, him last, him midft,] As in Theocritus, Idyllium xvii. 3. — ἐνὶ πρώτοισι λεγέσθω, Καὶ πύματος, καὶ μέσσος. And then how has Milton improved it, by adding and without end! as he is celebrating God, and Theocritus only a man. NEWTON. Theognis is here more worthy of citation than Theocritus, ΓΝΟΜ, ΕΛΕΓ. Ι. 3. Αλλ' αἰεὶ πρῶτόν τε, καὶ ὕςατον, ἔντε μέσοισι Απίσω, Or Orpheus, ПEPI EOY, Poet. Gnomie. edit. Paris, 12mo. 1627, p. 127. Αρχὴν αὐτὸς ἔχων, ἅμα δὲ μέσον, ἠδὲ τελευτήν. TODD. Ver. 166. Fairest of stars,] So Homer calls it, Iliad xxii. 318. Εσπερος, ὃς κάλλισος ἐν ἐρανῷ ἴσαται ἀτήρ. Laft in the train of night: Ovid fpeaks much in the fame manner, Met. ii. 114. "diffugiunt ftellæ, quarum agmina cogit "Lucifer, et cæli ftatione noviffimus exit." NEWTON. Ver. 168. Sure pledge of day, &c.] Homer, Il. xxiii. 226. *Ημος δ' Εωσφόρος εἶσι, φόως ἐρέων ἐπὶ γαῖαν, Οι τε μέτα κροκόπεπλος ὑπεὶρ ἅλα κίδναται Ἠώς, See alfo Ovid, Epift. xviii. 112, Faft. v. 547. And Virgil, Æn. ii. 802. Hence Lucifer or the Dawn is called by Marino; " Forier del bel mattin," Adon. C. i. 20. DUNSTER. |