17 That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd And chiefly Thou, O SPIRIT!" that dost prefer several leagues off, and therefore could not be called secret; besides, sacred hill is common among poets in several languages. But it is successfully answered by Pearce and Newton, that Horeb and Sinai are two summits of one mountain; Sinai being the highest, which, says Josephus, in his Jewish Antiquities, iii. 5, "cannot be seen without straining the eyes;" hence it may be called secret; that it is said in Exod. xix. and Ecclus. xlv. and other places, when God gave the law of Moses on the top of Sinai, it was covered with dark clouds and thick smoke, and the people were not to come near it till after a given signal, and even then they were only to come to a certain boundary, but not to ascend it on pain of death; besides, secret may be classically used in the sense of secretus, set apart, or separate, (secretosque pios.-En. viii. 670.) Furthermore, by the rules of good poetry, a particular epithet, as descriptive of a peculiar circumstance, is to be preferred to a general one. Milton, xii. 227, in reference evidently to the clouds and smoke, says, "Sinai, whose gray top shall tremble." So that secret is evidently the correct reading, in whatever sense it is to be taken. As Horeb and Sinai are used for one another in Scripture, (see Exod. iii. 1; Acts vii. 30,) the poet does not determine on which of them the inspiration was given (though he seems to incline to the latter), therefore he mentions both. 1 Moses, who, after his flight from Egypt, married the daughter of Jethro, a prince of Arabia, and tended his flocks, before he led the Jews from Egypt, and wrote Genesis; perhaps he uses the epithet figuratively, (Psalm lxxvii. 20,) "Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron." 2 Close to. So b. iii. 354. Siloa was a rivulet that flowed near the temple of Jerusalem, Isa. viii. 6. So Milton invokes the muse that inspired David and the prophets on Mount Sion, on which stood the royal palace and the ark, and at Jerusalem, as well as Moses. The temple is called the oracle of God, as the high priest occasionally received there the gift of inspiration; particularly when for public purposes he consulted the Divine will by Urim and Thummim. 3 It is not unusual with poets to boast of the novelty and boldness of their poetic flights. o Lucretius, i. 925. Aonia, the ancient name of Baotia, contained Parnassus, Helicon, and other places, supposed to be the haunt of the Muses. Milton means here, that his flight will be far above that of the ancient poets. (See ix. 13.) So, Paradise Regained, i. 14, he invokes the muse" to tell of deeds above heroic." The commentators, especially Todd, make a distinction between rhime here, which means poetry in general (from 0uos), and rime in the preface, where it is six times mentioned, and always without an h, and where it is defined "the jingling sound of like endinge." Todd further shows that Spenser, in his "Verses to Lord Buckhurst," placed before his Faery Queen, and in b. i. c. 6. st. 13, of that poem, also uses rhime for verse. 5 Milton here invokes the Holy Ghost, in conformity with a belief, for which he had Before all temples the upright heart and pure, And justify the ways of God to men." Say first, for heav'n hides nothing from thy view, 5 scriptural authority, that every great conception, discovery, or good gift, descended as an inspiration from heaven. (See James i. 17.) It is said, Exod. xxxv. 31, that Bezaleël, who made the furniture of the tabernacle, was" filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom," etc. Milton too had a firm persuasion that he himself was inspired.-Heyl. See ix. 22. 1 See a sublime amplification, vii. 235. Allusion is made to Gen. i. 2: “And the Spirit of God moved on the surface of the waters." The word we translate moved, properly signifies brooded, like a bird on her eggs; and he says like a dove, rather than any other bird, as the descent of the Holy Ghost is compared to a dove, Luke iii. 22. As Milton studied the Scriptures in the original languages, his images and expressions are oftener borrowed from them than from our translations.-(N.) 1.e. show that man, by neglecting to obey the divine injunction, could only blame himself, and not God. (See ver. 211.) This justification is given most argumentatively and convincingly, b. iii. 96, etc. 3 He mentions heaven and hell, as the range of the subject embraced both. I.e. on account of one thing, the tree of knowledge, from which they were restrained; being (except this) lords of every thing else in the world. As it appears from v. 812, that he was already in place above his peers, we must here understand that he had an aim to rise higher, and place himself in glory (which is the emphatic word of the line) above them; i. e. in divine glory and royal power, such as God and his Son were set in. See v. 725; vi. 88; vii. 140.—(N.) 6"Quique arma secuti impia.”(Æn.vi.613.) "Bello profugos egere superbo.”—Ib.viii.118. 7 Thus Vulcan is represented as hurled from heaven by Jupiter-Ριψε ποδός τεταγών, ano Palov SesRestoto.-I. i. 591. 74 With hideous ruin and combustion,' down Nine times the space that measures day and night Torments him. Round he throws his baleful eyes, The dismal situation waste and wild: A dungeon horrible on all sides round As one great furnace flam'd; yet from those flames Serv'd only to discover sights of woe! 6 Regions of sorrow! doleful shades! where peace With ever-burning sulphur unconsum'd! For those rebellious; here their prison ordain'd As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole." 1 Ruin, from ruo, a fall with violence and precipitation: "Immane preceps impulsæ ruinæ." (Juv. Sat. v. 20.) "Cœli ruina." (Æn.i.) Combustion here expresses more than flaming; it means conflagration general, awful, and destructive. 2 Adxμxvtivwv desμwu ey abbnktoig meduig. (Esch. Prom. vi.) "Clavis adamantinis." (Hor.) The phrase has been used by many English poets. 3 Nine was a favourite number with the classic authors. (See vi. 871.) The plague in the Iliad lasted nine days. Styx, in the Eneid, took nine circuits. So there were nine Muses, etc. etc.-(B.) 1.e. see; their power of vision being greater than that of mortals. 5 Not absolute darkness, which is invisible, but a gloom only, when there is barely light sufficient to show there are objects. Eurip. Bacchæ. 510, os my axotiov elsopa xvepas. Thus, Seneca, speaking of the cave of Pausilippo, (Ep. 57,) “Nil illo carcere longius, nil illis faucibus obscurius, quæ nobis præstant, non ut per tenebras, videamus, sed ipsas." Antonio de Solis, in his History of Mexico, speaking of the cave where Montezuma consulted his deities, says, "It was a large dark subterraneous cavern, where some dismal tapers afforded just light enough to see the obscurity.”—(N.) 6 Eurip. Troad. 676,-Ουδ, ὁ πασι λείπεται βροτοῖς, συνεστιν ελπις. See Dante, Inferno, iii. 9.-(T.) 7 I. e. from the centre of the earth, which is the centre of the world, to the utmost pole, or the pole of the universe, which is beyond the pole of the earth It is curious to mark the gradations of distance respecting the depth of hell in Homer, Virgil, and Milton. Homer says, otov evεpt' xidem, osou oupavos est' anx yxtys. (11. viii. 16.) Virgil doubles the distance (En. vi. 579) : 93 O, how unlike the place from whence they fell! And thence in heav'n call'd Satan, -with bold words 2 "If thou be'st he,-but O, how fall'n! how chang'd "Cloth'd with transcendent brightness, didst outshine "And hazard in the glorious enterprise, "Join'd with me once," now misery hath join'd 66 66 · In equal ruin; into what pit, thou seest, From what height fall'n! so much the stronger prov'd "He with his thunder: 5 and till then who knew ---"Tartarus ipse Bis patet in præceps tantum, tenditque sub umbras, Whereas Milton trebles it. Altogether his conceptions of hell are immeasurably greater than theirs. The Ταρταρον ηερόεντα, the σιδέραι τε πύλαι, και χαλκεον ονδος, and the "lugentes campi;" "horrisono stridentes cardine portæ," are insignificant, compared with his description.-(N.) 1 Some say Beelzebub signifies "the god of flies." He was worshipped at Ecron, a city of the Philistines, (2 Kings i. 2,) and was believed to guard the people from the flies in that hot district. Apollo, in the Iliad, is called Smintheus, or the god of mice, on similar grounds. Beelzebub is called, in Matt. xii. 24, "the prince of devils;" hence he is appropriately represented by Milton as the "nearest mate" of Satan. "Satan" means "enemy" in Hebrew. 2 Claudian, Rapt. Proserp. ii. 328: Stat. Theb. iv. 426: · 3 Isa. xiv. 12: En. ii, 274: "Insoliti rumpunt tenebrosa silentia cantus.' "Vacuusque silentia servat horror." "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morn!" "Hei mihi! qualis erat! quantum mutatus ab illo Qui rediit spoliis indutus Achillis." The commentators say that, as "equal ruin" cannot answer to "glorious enterprise," which, in the construction, follows "hazard," (for Milton placed a comma after enterprise,) the reading should be "and (not in) equal ruin." The following passage is quoted as parallel, Ov. Metam. i. 351: "O soror, O conjux, O fœmina sola superstes, Quam commune mihi genus, et patruelis origo, I see no necessity for disturbing the text. It is much more likely that Milton meant to make "ruin" to answer to "enterprise," and both to depend on "joined," by his using "in" in the latter clause; than that his punctuation was correct, but that his language was classically absurd. Nothing is more common in Milton, than to change the order of the words in the several clauses of a sentence, even though these clauses may refer to one leading word. The question is, which is the more likely event-that, in his blindness, bad punctuation was introduced, or, that he wrote objectionable English? 5 The commentators think that Satan here exhibits his hatred and scorn, by disdaining "The force of those dire arms? 1 1 Yet not for those, "Can else inflict, do I repent, or change, 66 Though chang'd in outward lustre, that fix'd mind, 66 And to the fierce contention brought along "That durst dislike his reign; and, me preferring, "And shook his throne. What though the field be lost? That glory never shall his wrath, or might, "Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace "With suppliant knee, and deify his power, Who, from the terror of this arm, so late "This downfall! since, by Fate, the strength of gods to use the name of the Almighty, though he must acknowledge his superiority. I rather think the point of the line consists, not in omitting the name of God, but in pointing out the cause of his accidental superiority, his thunder; so 258:-"Whom thunder hath made greater." 1 The unbending and proud spirit of Prometheus may be recognised in this passage. Esch. Prom. Vinct. 991. Ριπτέσθω μεν αιθαλουσα φλοξ, Λευκοπτέρω δε νιφάδι και βροντημασι 21. e. whatever else there is, besides steadfast hate, unyielding and unconquered will, which cannot be overcome. These, he says, are not overcome, and cannot be. These are his glory, and that glory can never be extorted from him. "Si quid aliud quod vinci nequit." In the first editions this line was printed interrogatively.-P.N.) 3 So Esch. Prom. Vinct. 1002. Εισελθετώ σε μηπαθ', ως εγω Δέος Δυσκι με δεσμών των δε του παντος θεω. Drawn from the Empyreum, the seat of pure fire. Psalm civ. 4: "He maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." |