Bound of trumpets and clarions;' which immediately inspired them with such a flow of spirits, that they are represented as sending up a shout that tore Hell's concave.' But when this ardour was once blown up, and they were to move in perfect phalanx, then the instruments are changed for flutes and recorders to the Dorian mood,' which composed them into a more cool and deliberate valour, so that they marched on with silence and resolution." 60. Breathing united force with fixed thought Mov'd on in silence.] Thus Homer makes the Grecians march on in silence breathing force, Iliad iii. 8. 567. -te through the armed files Darts his experienc'd eye.] Not unlike that in Shakspeare, Anth. and Cleop. act i. -those his goodly eyes That o'er the files and musters of the war Have glow'd like plated Mars. 575.- that small infantry Warr'd on by cranes;] All the heroes and armies that ever were assembled were no more than pygmies in comparison with these Angels. 589. -he above the rest, &c.] What a noble description is here of Satan's person! and how different from the common and ridiculous representations of him, with horns and a tail and cloven feet! and yet Tasso hath so described him, cant. iv. The greatest masters in painting had not such sublime ideas as Milton, and among all their Devils have drawn no portrait comparable to this; as every body must allow who hath seen the pictures or the prints of Michael and the Devil by Raphael, and of the same by Guido, and of the last judgment by Michael Angelo. 598and with fear of change Perplexes monarchs.] It is said that this noble poem was in danger of being suppressed by the Licencer on account of this simile, as if it contained some latent treason in it: but it is saying little more than poets have said under the most absolute monarchies; as Virgil, Georg. i. 464. 600. bis face Deep scars of thunder had intrench'd] Had cut into, had made trenches there, of the French trencher to cut. Shake ८ spear uses the same word speaking of a scar, "it was this very sword intrench'd it." All's Well that ends Well, act ii. 609.amerc'd] This word is not used here in its proper law-sense, of muleted, fined, &c. but as a strange affinity with the Greek word, to deprive, to take away, as Homer has used much to our purpose. The Muse amerced him of his eyes, but gave him the faculty of singing sweetly. Odyss. viii. 64. And I very well remember to have read the word used in the same sense somewhere in Spenser, but cannot at present turn to the place. 611.- -yet faithful bow thy stood] To see the true construction of this we must go back to ver. 605 for the verb. The sense then is this, to "behold the fellows of his crime condemned," yet how they stood faithful. 612. —as when Heaven's fire Richardson Harb scath'd, &c.] Hath hurt, hath damaged; a word frequently used in Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespear, and our old writers. This is a very beautiful and close simile; it represents the majestic stature, and withered glory of the Angels; and the last with great propriety, since their lustre was impaired by thunder, as well as that of the trees in the simile: and besides, the blasted heath gives us some idea of that singed burning soil, on which the Angels were standing. 619. Thrice be assay'd, and thrice Tears such as Angels weep, burst forth :] Like Homer's Ichor of the Gods which was different from the blood of mortals. This weeping of Satan on surveying his numerous host, and the thoughts of their wretched state, puts one in mind of the story of Xerxes weeping on seeing his vast army, and reflecting that they were mortal, at the time that he was hastening them to their fate, and to the intended destruction of the greatest p ople in the world, to gratify his own vain glory. 633. Hath emptied Heav'n,] It is conceived that a third part of the Angels fell with Satan, according to Rev. xii 4. "And his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven and cast them to the earth;" and this opinion Milton hath expressed in several places, ii. 692, v, 710. vi. 156: but Satan here talks big and magnifies their number, as if their "exile had emptied Heaven." 642. Which tempted our attempt,] This kind of jingle was undoubtedly thought an elegance by Milton, and many instances of it may be shown not only in his works, but I believe in all the best poets both ancient and modern, though the latter I am afraid have been sometimes too liberal of them. 647- -that he no less, &c.] Satan had owned just before, ver. 642, that they had been deceived by God's concealing his strength; he now says, he also shall find himself mistaken in his turn; he shall find our cunning such, as that though we have been overpowered, we are not more than half subdued. Richardson. 662. understood] Not expressed, not openly declared, and yet implied. Pearce. 664.drawn from the thighs] It may be observed here, that Milton, to keep up the dignity of language, has purposely avoided the trite phrase "drawn from the sides." 667.with grasped arms] The known custom of the Roman soldiers, when they applauded a speech of their general, was to smite their shields with their swords. Bentley. And the epithet "grasped," joined to "arms," determines the expression to mean "swords" only, which were spoken of a little before, ver. 664. Pearce. Mr. Upton is of opinion that Milton in what follows imitates both Spenser and Shakspeare. Queen, b. i. cant. 4. st. 40. Jul. Cæsar, aết v. Milton in his imitations scarcely ever confines himself to the beauties or expressions of one author, but enriches his diction with the spoils of many, and hence surpasses any one. 669. Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heav'n. Hurling defiance toward the visible Heaven is in effect hurling defiance toward the invisible Heaven, the seat of God and Angels. 671. Belch'd] So Virgil, Æn. iii. 570. says "eructans" of Etna, from which or from mount Vesuvius, or the like, our poet took the idea of this mountain. 673. That in hi: womb] A very great man was observing one day a little inaccuracy of expression in the poet's making this mountain a person and a male person, and at the same time attributing a "womb" to it: and perhaps it would have been bet er if he had written "its womb;" but "womb" is used in as large a sense as the Latin uterus," which Virgil applies to a stag, Æn. vii, 490. 674. The work of sulphur] For metals are supposed to consist of two essential parts or principles; mercury, as the basis or metallic matter; and sulphur as the binder or cement, which fixes the fluid mercury into a coherent malleable mass. See Chambers's Dict. of Sulphur. 678. Mammon.] This name is Syriac; and signifies riches. "Ye cannot serve God and Mammon," says our Saviour, Mat. vi. 24. and bids us "make to ourselves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness," Luke xvi. 9. and ver. II. "If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to your trust the true? Some look upon Mammon as the God of riches, and Mammon is accordingly made a person by our poet, and was so by Spenser before him, whose description of Mammon and his cave our poet seems to have had his eye upon in several places. 682. The riches of Heav'n's pavement trodden gold,] So Homer speaks of the pavement of Heaven, as if it was of gold, Iliad. iv. 2. And so the heavenly jerusalem is described by St. John, Rev. xxi. 21. " and the street of the city is pure gold." 684. -by bim first Men also, and by his suggestion taught,] Dr. Bentley says, the poet assigns as "two' causes "him" and "his suggestion," which are one and the same thing. This observation has the appearance of accuracy. But Milton is exact, and aliudes in a beautiful manner to a superstitious opinion, generally believed amongst the miners: that there are a sort of Devils which converse much in minerals, where they are frequently seen to busy and employ themselves in all the operations of the workmen; they will dig, cleanse, melt, and separate the metals. See G. Agricola de Animantibus Subterraneis, So that Milton poetically supposes Mammon and his clan to have taught the sons of earth by example and practical instruction, as well as precept and mental suggestion. Warbu ton. 694.- and the works of Memphian king ] He seems to allude particularly to the famous Pyramids of Egypt, which were near Memphis. 695. Learn how their greatest monuments of fame, And strength and art, &c.] This passage has been misunderstood by Dr. Bentley and others. The meaning is plainly thus," Learn how their greatest monuments of fame," and how their " strength and art are easily outdone," &c. 699. And bands innumerable] There were 360,000 men employed for twenty years upon one of the Fyramids, according to Diodorus Siculus, lib. i. and Pliny, lib. xxxvi. сар. 12. 702. a second multitude With wondrous art fo nded the massy ore,] The first band dug the metal out of the mountain," a second multitude on the plain hard by founded" or melted it; for "founded" it should be read as in the first edition, and not "found out" as it is in the subsequent ones; "founded" from "fundere," to melt, to cast metal. 704.-and scumm'd the bullion dross :] The word "bullion" does not signify " purified ore," as Bentley says; but ore boiled or boiling; and when the dross is taken off, then it is purified ore. Agreeably to this Milton, in his tract called" Of the Reformation of England," says. -" to extract heaps of gold and silver out of the drossy bullion of the people's sins." And Milton makes "bullion" an adjective here, though commonly it is a substantive; just as in v. 140. we have "ocean brim," and in iii. 284, “virgin seed.” And so "bullion dross" may signify the dross that came from the metal," as Spenser expresses it, or the dross that swam on the surface of the boiling ore. The sense of the passage is this; they "founded" or melted the "ore" that was in the 66 mass," by separating or severing" each kind, that is, the sulphur, earth, &c. from the metal; and after that, they "scumm'd", the "dross" that floated on the top of the boiling ore. Pearce. |