977. Were it I thought, &c., i. e. "Were it the case that I thought that the death which has been menaced would ensue (follow) this attempt of mine, I would alone sustain the worst, and not persuade thee: I would rather die deserted (without Adam's company) than oblige thee with a fact (bind thee down, render thee liable to punishment by an action) pernicious to thy peace; chiefly assured (I would do so especially because I I have been assured) in a remarkable way, so lately, of thy love so true, so faithful, so unequalled."

988. On my experience, i. e. relying, trusting on my experience. 992. of choice, by preference. Adam had preferred eating, so as to be involved in Eve's fate, to refraining and enjoying his reward without her.

994. – for such compliance, &c., i. e. for such wicked compliance best merits such recompense. Adam was doing wrong in complying, and he was rewarded with what involved him in guilt. 998. -not deceiv'd, &c. See 1 Timothy ii. 14.

1001.

1002.

second groan. See line 783.

mutt'ring is not the absolute case, but qualifies sky.

BOOK X.

Line 93. -due at their hour, coming at their appropriate hour. 95. The ev'ning cool. See Genesis iii. 8.

101.

gether.

thickest trees, i. e. where the trees grew closest to

106. Where obvious, &c., i. e. where formerly duty coming to meet me appeared without my needing to seek for it; obvious is here used in its classical sense of meeting, fronting.

111. Love was not, &c. Milton with great beauty represents the eating of the forbidden fruit as producing in our first parents mutual accusations, and setting them at variance with each other.

115. Whence, i. e. in consequence of the multitude of bad feelings that were now struggling in his bosom.

120. still, always. The reader will observe that Milton, by a slight variation of the expressions, manages to describe

the whole transaction relative to the sentence on our first parents almost in the very words of Scripture.

126.

to undergo myself the total crime, i. e. to undergo alone all the punishment due to the crime.

129. - her faith to me remains, while she remains faithful, steadfast in her love to me.

141. And what she did, &c., i. e. "And as to what she did, whatever it was in itself, the mere fact of her doing it seemed to justify it:" doing is here a noun.

143. gave. The nominative to this word is in reality woman in line 137, but from its distance, it is repeated again in she; woman thus becomes what is called in the classics " hanging or independent nominative."

147.

but equal, i. e. even equal to thee. Milton's views as to the inferiority of woman even in Paradise have been already alluded to.

149.

153.

made of thee and for thee. See 1 Cor. xi. 8, 9.

and her gifts, &c., i. e. "and her gifts (her endowments) were such as seemed well (looked well) when under government, but were unseemly to bear rule (did not look well when usurping authority over Adam)."

156.

157. 165.

· person, thy character, occupation.

in few, in a few words, briefly.

unable to transfer, &c., i. e. "Christ proceeded to pass judgment on the serpent, though it was only a brute, because he was unable to transfer the guilt on him who made the serpent an instrument of mischief, and polluted it from the end of its creation." Satan had, immediately after he had succeeded in seducing Eve from her obedience, quitted Paradise, in order to announce to his followers his success.

168. -justly then, &c., i. e. "the serpent was then justly cursed, because it was vitiated in its nature."

169. — more to know, &c., i. e. "Man had no concern in knowing more than that the serpent was cursed by God, since he knew not that anything more, any higher agent than the brute serpent was implicated in his temptation; nor, if he had known more, would that have altered his offence; his guilt would still have been as great."

171. yet God at last, &c., i. e. "Though judgment was pronounced merely on the serpent, yet God at last (in the end

of the sentence) applied his doom to Satan, who had been the first (the principal agent) in sin."

173. Though, &c., i. e. " The doom on Satan was however pronounced in mysterious terms, judged as then (in these circumstances) best."

See Colossians ii. 15.

See Psalms lxviii. 18.
See Ephesians ii. 2.

184. Saw Satan fall, &c. See Luke x. 18. 186. Spoil'd Principalities, &c. 187. Captivity led captive, &c. 189. The realm itself of Satan. 190. tread at last under our feet. See Romans xvi. 20. 198. This line contains twelve syllables. In reading, thou hast must be pronounced as one word, as also to the. There is a considerable amount of awkwardness in the metre of the whole passage, occasioned by Milton's laudable desire to use in a subject of such moment only those words that are authorized by Scripture. 204. Unbid, spontaneously.

Line 84.

BOOK XI.

sons, a term here applied to the angels, in imitation of Job xxxviii. 7; i. 6, &c.

86.

defended fruit, fruit from which he was debarred; let him boast, &c., i. e. "let him boast that his knowledge of good has been lost, and a knowledge of evil acquired."

90. He sorrows now, &c. At the close of the preceding book, the poet represents our first parents as humbly confessing their faults before God, and praying for forgiveness.

91. My motions in him, i. e. "motions (emotions, feelings) caused in him by me;" longer than, &c., i. e. "after they have ceased to move, I know how variable and vain his heart is when left to itself."

95. dream at least, &c. As divines are not agreed as to the probable consequences of Adam's eating of the tree of life, and dispute whether Genesis iii. 22 is to be understood literally or ironically, Milton does not decide the question, but contents himself with propounding both views.

99. Michael. Commentators have all admired Milton's judgment in selecting Michael for the task of expelling our first parents from Eden; not Raphael, with whom they had so much kindly intercourse just before their fall.

102.

of Paradise.

in behalf of man, to keep man from being driven out

105. —remorse, pity on account of their misery and contrition. all terror hide, conceal everything that would terrify them, discharge thy duty as mildly as possible.

111.

113. Dismiss them not disconsolate, not without some consolation. 114. reveal to Adam what shall come, &c. The hint which God thus gives Michael naturally prepares us for the contents of the last two books of Paradise Lost, in which the angel reveals to Adam, partly by vision, partly in words, the destiny of his descendants to the end of time. The introduction of some such conclusion was necessary to the perfection of the poem as a work of art. Had it ended with the tenth book, as in the first edition it did, the mind would have been burdened with a painful feeling of disappointment. Satan was then triumphant, God frustrated, and Adam and Eve, the hero and heroine of the poem, reduced to misery and ruin. As a counterpoise to this, Milton added the last two books, in which, with infinite skill, he shows us that the triumph of Satan was only temporary, and that

"all his malice serv'd but to bring forth Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shown On man by him seduc'd; but on himself

Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance pour'd."—1. 217.

115. - intermix, i. e. mix with your narrative the promise of my covenant being renewed in the seed of the woman. 119. Where entrance, &c. It was on the east side of the garden that the gate was, and there of course the access was easiest. See Book IV. 178.

124. To spirits foul, i. e. lest the evil spirits coming from hell to the earth might harbour in Paradise.

127. 129.

cohort, band; supply prepared to go.

Janus, an ancient god, usually represented with two faces: a double Janus would therefore of course have four faces. Milton's authority for this statement is Ezekiel x. 14.

130. Spangled with eyes, glittered, was covered with eyes. 131. Argus. According to ancient fables, Argus had a hundred eyes, of which only two went to sleep at a time; the rest kept watch. He was employed by Juno to watch Io. Hermes (Mercury) was sent by Jupiter to slay Argus, which

he succeeded in doing by playing on his lute to him, which caused him to sleep, and then stroking his eyes with his rod, which threw him into profound repose. Milton says that the eyes of the angels would not have been made drowsy by any such appliances.

132. Arcadian pipe. Arcadia was a district in the centre of the Peloponnesus. The pipe is called Arcadian either because Arcadia abounded in shepherds who played on that instrument, or because it was the residence of Pan, who invented the pipe. Pastoral reed, Mercury's flute, which was made of reeds.

133. his opiate rod. The rod of Mercury, called his caduceus, was entwined by serpents, and was capable of lulling asleep any one whom he touched with it; hence it is styled opiate.

634.

BOOK XII.

metéorous, like a meteor.

marish, another form of marsh,

gathers ground, gains ground.

torrid heat, &c., i. e. "which began to parch the clime that had been hitherto temperate, with torrid heat and vapour adust as the air of Libya." Our first parents now for the first time began to feel the alteration in the temperature; Adust, burnt, scorched. Libya, a country in the north of Africa west of Egypt.

640. - subjected, lying below.

646. Many commentators are of opinion that the conclusion would be improved by changing the order of the four last lines, placing the last two before the two that precede them.

648. wand'ring, because, though Providence was their guide, they had yet no particular place in view as an abode.

649. Through Eden. The poet does not say that they left Eden; solitary, here used figuratively, in the sense of dull, lonely: perhaps also reference is made to the fact that the angel had left them to themselves, and that the guard of angels that had watched over them in Paradise had now abandoned them.