435

And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light;
Our prifon ftrong; this huge convex of fire,
Outrageous to devour, immures us round
Ninefold; and gates of burning adamant,
Barr'd over us, prohibit all egrefs.
Thefe pafs'd, if any pafs, the void profound
Of uneffential Night receives him next
Wide gaping, and with utter lofs of being 440
Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
If thence he 'scape into whatever world,
Or unknown region, what remains him lefs
Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape?
But I fhould ill become this throne, O Peers, 445

"Sed revocare gradum, fuperáfque evadere ad auras,
"Hoc opus, hic labor eft." NEWTON.

Dante was here in Milton's mind; for the afcent from Hell is thus defcribed, Inferno, C. xxxiv. 95.

"La via è lunga, e'l cammino è malvagio." TODD.

Ver. 436. Ninefold;] As Styx flows nine times round the damned, in Virgil, Æn. vi. 439.

Ibid.

"novies Styx interfufa coercet." NEWTON.

and gates of burning adamant,] Alluding to the gates of hell, in Virgil, Æn. vi. 552.

"Porta adverfa ingens, folidóque adamante columnæ." NEWTON.

Ver. 438.

the void profound] Inane profun

dum, as Lucretius has it in feveral places. NEWTON.

Ver. 439. Of uneffential Night] Uneffential, void of being; darkness approaching nearest to, and being the beft refemblance of, non-entity. HUME.

Ver. 445. But I fhould ill become this throne, O Peers, &c.] The whole fpeech, from this line, is wonderfully beautiful in

And this imperial fovranty, adorn'd

With fplendour, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd

And judg'd of publick moment, in the shape
Of difficulty, or danger, could deter
Me from attempting. Wherefore do I affume 450
These royalties, and not refuse to reign,
Refufing to accept as great a fhare

Of hazard as of honour, due alike

455

To him who reigns, and so much to him due
Of hazard more, as he above the reft
High honour'd fits? Go,therefore,mighty Powers,
Terrour of Heaven, though fallen! intend at
home,

every respect. But the reason why I have quoted it, is, to show how the poet fupports Satan's

"Monarchal pride, confcious of higheft worth,"

as he expreffes it. In the line,

But I fhould ill become this throne, O Peers,

I have no doubt but he had in view the fpeech of Sarpedon in Homer; in which indeed the thought is Homer's, That a king, being most honoured, fhould likewife expofe himself moft to danger, But Milton has given it fo much of the rhetorical caft, and dreffed it fo up with fentences and enthymemas, after the manner of Demofthenes, who, as I have faid elfewhere, was his model for fpeeches, that Homer is hardly to be found in it.

LORD MONBODDO.

Ver. 457. intend] Lord Monboddo is of opinion, that the word intend is here ufed in it's proper fignification of bent, or application, to any thing; in which sense the Latins fay, intendere animum. And Mr. Steevens, in a note on Timon of Athens, A. ii. S. ii. proves, that to intend and to attend had anciently the fame meaning: "And fo intending other

While here shall be our home, what beft may ease The prefent mifery, and render Hell

460

465

More tolerable; if there be cure or charm
To refpite, or deceive, or flack the pain
Of this ill manfion: intermit no watch
Against a wakeful Foe, while I abroad
Through all the coafts of dark deftruction seek
Deliverance for us all: This enterprise
None fhall partake with me. Thus faying rofe
The Monarch, and prevented all reply;
Prudent, left, from his refolution rais'd,
Others among the chief might offer now
(Certain to be refus'd) what erft they fear'd; 470
And, fo refus'd, might in opinion ftand
His rivals; winning cheap the high repute,
Which he through hazard huge must earn. But
they

Dreaded not more the adventure, than his voice
Forbidding; and at once with him they rofe: 475
Their rifing all at once, was as the found
Of thunder heard remote.

bend

Towards him they

ferious matters," that is, regarding, turning their notice to, other things. TODD.

Ver. 465.

This enterprife

None fhall partake with me.] The abruptnefs of Satan's conclufion is very well expreffed by the speech breaking off in the middle of the verse. NEWTON.

Ver. 476. Their rifing all at once, was as the found

Of thunder heard remote.] A lefs correct and judicious author would have compared their rifing to loud thunder; but Milton compares it to thunder heard at a distance, which is a

481

With awful reverence prone; and as a God
Extol him equal to the Higheft in Heaven:
Nor fail'd they to exprefs how much they prais'd,
That for the general fafety he defpis'd
His own: For neither do the Spirits damn'd
Lofe all their virtue; left bad men fhould boast
Their fpecious deeds on earth,which glory excites,
Or close ambition, varnish'd o'er with zeal.
Thus they their doubtful confultations dark
Ended, rejoicing in their matchless Chief;

Ver. 478.

485

found not loud or ftrong, but awful, and very like that produced by the movement of a great multitude. LORD MON BODDO, and as a God Extol him] Hefiod, Theog. 91. Ερχόμενον δ ̓ ἀνὰ ἄσυ, θεὸν ὡς, ἱλάσκονται Aidói edixin. STILLINGFLEET.

Ver. 482.

For neither do the Spirits damn'd Lofe all their virtue ;] Dr. Newton here obferves, that as Milton has drawn Satan with fome remains of the beauty, fo he reprefents him likewife with fome of the other perfections, of an Archangel; following the rule of Ariftotle in his Poeticks, ch. xv. That the manners should be as good as the nature of the fubject would possibly admit. For the fame reafon he describes the fallen Angels as not destitute of every virtue; but difplaying firm concord, and publick fpirit. Dr. Pearce fuppofes the poet to have introduced this remark of the Devils not lofing all their virtue, as a check to the boasting of bad men; and to have had in view Ephef. ii. 8, 9. "By grace ye are faved through faith; Not of works, left any man should boaft:" Not, that they were faved not of works, on purpofe left any man should boaft; but St. Paul puts them in mind of that, and made that remark to pre vent their boafting. See Par. Reg. B. i. 379, &c. Topp.

Ver. 487.

in Homer, Il. vii. 214.

rejoicing in their matchlefs Chief:] So

Τὸν δὲ καὶ Αργεῖοι μέγ' ἐγήθεον εἰσορόωντες. STILLINGFLEET,

As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds Afcending, while the north-wind fleeps, o'erfpread

Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element 490 Scowls o'er the darken'd landskip fnow, or shower; If chance the radiant fun with farewell fweet Extend his evening-beam, the fields revive,

-

Ver. 489. while the north-wind fleeps,] So Homer expreffes it, Iliad v. 524, ὄφρ' ΕΥΔΗΣΙ μίνος Βορίας, that wind generally clearing the fky, and difperfing the clouds. Every body must be wonderfully delighted with this fimilitude. The images are not more pleasing in nature, than they are refreshing to the reader after his attention to the foregoing debate. There is a fimile of the fame kind in Homer, but applied upon a very different occafion, Iliad xvi. 297. There are also fimilies of the fame nature in the fortieth Sonnet of Spenfer, as Mr. Thyer has obferved; in Boethius De Confol. L. i.: and in Dante's Inferno, C. xxiv. NEWTON.

I am forry to find Dr. Newton speaking of the reader as requiring refreshment after his attention to the debate, as it seems to imply that he might be fatigued with it. That I conceive to be impoffible; as every perfon, capable of tafting the more eminent beauties of this poem, muft receive fupreme delight from the masterly manner in which the poet has accomplished the debate, and the wonderful variety of matter and fentiment that he has thrown into it, fo as to preclude the poffibility of the reader's attention being fated or fatigued. Dunster.

Ver. 490. Heaven's cheerful face,] Spenfer, Faer. Qu. ii. xii. 34. "And heavens chearefull face enveloped." THYER.

Crafhaw, in his Verfes on the death of Mr. Herrys, prefents us with fimilar fcenery:

-

"a ruddy ftorm, whofe fcoul

"Made Heavens radiant face look foul." TODD. Ver. 492. If chance the radiant fun with farewell fweet

Extend his evening-beam,] Perhaps this delightful paffage is one of the finest inftances of picturefque poetry, which