PR 3560 PA LOST MILTON LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, COPYRIGHT OFFICE. No registration of title of this book as a preliminary to copyright protec- tion has been found. Forwarded to Order Division (Date) (6, i, 1906—2,000. ) Jll» •• Glass Book PARADISE LOST BOOKS I. and IL BY JOHN MILTON. With Introduction and Notes. EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY B( >STON New York Chicago San Francisco LIBRARY of CONGRESS Two Copies Received APR 5 1906 Copyright Entry CLASS XXC No. COPY B. 3JS Copyrighted By EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY 1906 Received from Copyright Office. 7*Je'07 INTRODUCTION. Milton, the author of Paradise Lost, was born in London, England, on the 9th of December, 1608. His education was carried on at home by various masters, and by his father, who taught him to sing and to play the organ, and implanted in him his own love of music. Although his home was a cheerful and happy place, he seems to have been an unusually quiet, serious child, and prematurely studious, if we may judge from some lines placed by the engraver under a portrait of him, made when he was ten years old : " When I was yet a child, no childish play To me was pleasing; all my mind was set Serious to learn and know, and thence to do What might be public good; myself I thought Born to that end, born to promote all truth, All righteous things." (Paradise Regained. ) At twelve he was sent to St. Paul's School, quite near his home in the city of London, and he still had tutors at home. He now worked very hard in- deed for several years ; no trouble or expense was grudged by his parents ; for they were very proud of him, and had formed the highest hopes as to his future. "My father," Milton says, "destined me, while yet a little boy, for the study of humane let- ters, which I seized with such eagerness that from the twelfth year of my age I scarce ever went from my lessons to bed before midnight, which indeed was the first cause of injury to my eyes, to whose natural weakness there were also added frequent headaches." In 1625, when in his seventeenth il INTRODUCTION. year, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, and remained there until he was twenty-three. Here came a break in his education, and with it the question, What was he going to do in life ? His parents had destined him for the church ; but the system of government by bishops and the tyranny of Laud deterred him from entering the ministry. His father seems to have left him free to choose a calling for himself, and so we find him, about the time of his leaving college, finally determined to fit himself, by continued labor and study, and by a strictly pure and blameless life, to achieve some great work as a poet. Accordingly he now settled at Horton, a quiet hamlet in Buckinghamshire, within a short distance of Windsor and the Thames in the house of his father, who had retired thither to spend his old age. Of the poems which he had already written the chief was The Nativity Hymn, begun on Christmas Day, 1629. Kis sonnet On Arriving at his 23rd Year is of special interest at this point : " How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year ! My hasting days fly on with full career, But my late Spring no bud or blossom shew'th. Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth That I to manhood am arrived so near; And inward ripeness doth much less appear, Than some more timely-happy spirits endu'th. Yet, be it less or more, or soon or slow, It shall be still in strictest measure even To that same lot, however mean or high, Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven; All is, if I have grace to use it so, As ever in my great Task-Master's eye." He seems to have devoted himself to an extensive course of "select reading," especially to a revision INTRODUCTION. Ill of classical and Italian literature, storing his mind with all that was best worth appropriating, and be- coming almost as familiar with Latin, Greek, and Italian as with his native tongue. He did not write more than five English poems of any great length during this period — L Allegro, II Eenseroso, Ar- cades, Comus, and Lycidas — but they are amongst the very best in the language : and yet, in the last and the best of them, he is still dissatisfied with his powers. In the spring of 1637 he had lost his mother; next spring he started off to see Italy and Greece, which for him would be exceptionally in- teresting. But the tyranny of King Charles had at last provoked his subjects in Scotland to rebellion. On hearing of this, Milton at once resolved to to return and take his part with his countrymen in the impending contest. In 1639 he was back. He took a house in London, and settled there for the rest of his life. So far Milton's life had been one of quiet, se- cluded study. For the next twenty years poetry was banished, study and self-preparation were all but given up, and he was to be found in the very thick of the controversies of the day, — writing against Episcopacy, defending the Execution of Charles (in two books — the First and the Second Defence), and exposing the notorious Eikon Basi- like. He had, on settling in London, begun to take a few pupils : this led him to write an essay on Education. But his only great and enduring work in prose was his Areopagitica, a plea for freedom of opinion, and for freedom to express that opinion by means of the printing-press, without the pre- vious sanction of the Government Licenser. His activity in the Parliamentary cause had led to his IV INTRODUCTION. being appointed, in 1649, Latin Secretary to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, a post for which his knowledge of foreign languages specially qualified h m. It was during his tenure of this office that he deliberately hastened his blindness, which had been coming on for some years, over the writing of the First Defence, mentioned above. It is evident that this must have been, in his case, a terrible calamity, for he had not yet even begun his great poem. The truly admirable way in which he bore it is shown by the courage and patience which characterized his subsequent life, and by the various references to it which we find in his writings. But there \ ere other misfortunes in store for him : in 1660 the Parliamentary cause failed com- pletely — for the time; Milton was imprisoned, some of his prose writings were burnt by the hang- man, and he lost most of his savings. He had in- deed "fallen on evil days," and yet he bravely took up and carried to completion the great work of his life — his epic poem, Paradise Lost. He had begun it before the Restoration, probably in 1658; he finished it about 1663, spent two years or so on its revision, and published it in 1667. Meanwhile he had commenced its sequel, Paradise Regained; then he wrote Samson Agonistes, a dramatic poem, and several prose works. His latter years were greatly cheered and bright- ened by the fame which Paradise Lost brought him, and by the frank recognition of his pre -eminence by all pirties. He died in London in 1674, and was buried in the church at St, Giles, Cripplegate. Three qualities stand out conspicuously in Mil- ton's character. First, his deep sense of duty. He INTRODUCTION. V seems never to falter in his entire devotion to that which he believes he ought to do at any particular juncture. Two striking instances of this are, the return from Italy in 1639, and the employment of his failing eyesight in writing the Defence. Second, the sincerity and the earnestness of his religious and political convictions. Third, his magnanimity and patience. Twenty years spent in a cause that, for the time, failed; loss of eyesight; loss of sav- ings; loss of friends ; the restoration of a dissolute monarch ; all this produced neither bitterness nor murmur. " Who best bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best." So he wrote and so he lived. Truly, as Macaulay says, he was weighed in the balance and not found wanting. CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. LITERARY. GENERAL. Sp r .ser born !55 2 The Marian Persecution, 1555 Bacon born 1561 Shakespeare born . . . 1564 Galileo born , " Massacre of St. Bartho- lomew 1572 Jonson born • J 574 The Faerie Queen pub- The Armada 1588 lished . . . 1590-6 Battle of Ivry I590 Shakespeare's earlier plays acted . . . . , • 1597 Bacon's Essays pub- lished , . 1598 Edict of Nantes . . . 1598 Gunpowder Plot . . . 1605 Milton born . . . . . 1608 Clarendon born . . . 1608 The Bible translated . , . 1611 Shakespeare dies . . .1616 Milton goes to Cam- Thirty Years' War begun, 1618 bridge • I02 5 The Mayflower sails, 1620 VI INTRODUCTION. Chronological Table. — Continued. Bunyan bora 1628 Laud, Bp. of London, 1628 Dryden born 1631 Milton leaves Cam- bridge and retires to Horton 1632 L? Allegro, II Penseroso, LyciJas, etc. . . I 133-7 Milton goes abroad, 1638 The Covenant signed, 1638 Milton settles in Lon- don 1639 First Bishops' War . . . 1639 Newton born 1642 Civil War begun . . . 1642 Areopagitica 1644 Eikonoklastes , . ... 1649 Charles I. executed . . . 1649 First Defence 1651 Milton becomes blind, 1652 Cromwell Protector . . • 1653 Paradise Lost begun Cromwell dies . . . 1658 about ... ... 1658 The Restoration . . . 1600 The Plague . 1665 Clarendon's fall . . . 1667 Paradise Lost published, 1667 France and England Paradise Regained . . . 1671 attack Holland . . . 1672 Sams n Ag^nistes . . . 1671 Milton dies 1674 Clarendon dies . . . 1674 INTRODUCTION. The subject of Paradise Lost as given in Book I. is the temptation and fall of man, that is, his dete- rioration from the state of perfect goodness and happiness, in which he was supposed to have been created, to one made up of good and evil, of happi- ness and unhappiness ; this "fall " being symbolized by the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise or Eden. This is the central fact of the story ; to it all the rest (Books I.-VIII.) is preparatory, and with it the story ends. But the preparatory events are so stupendous in their magnitude, so striking in their character, and described in such impressive language — forming, as they do, the best part of the poem — that they tend to overshadow the doings in the Garden ; and so we come to look upon Para Use. Lost as dealing rather with a series of connected events, of which the " fall " is the first in importance but not in interest. We may, therefore, regard Paradise Lost as dealing with the whole universe, in its widest possible aspect ; with the origin of its various parts, and their significance for man. Analysis of the Poem. (A) The Fall : why and how it was brought about. I.-VIII. (B) Its results. IX.-XII. (C) Man's relation to the Universe and to God. Part of V. (The third point, though not prominent, is very important in the scheme of the poem.) v VI INTRODUCTION. (A) The Fall: why and how it was b?-onght about: (i) Heaven ; the War : {a) Its Cause, the refusal of Satan and his followers to acknowledge the Son as their head. V. (b) The War, the expulsion of the rebels. VI. (2) The Creation of the World and of Man. (3) Hell: [VII., VIII. (a) The rebels closed in and stunned by their fall ; Satan rallies his followers. I. (b) The leaders in Council ; Satan un- "} dertakes to try to ruin Man. I TT (V) Hell and Chaos described. [ (d) Satan's journey through Chaos. J (4) The World ; Eden : (a) Satan explores the World. III. (b) Adam and Eve in Eden ; Satan's plot- tings ; Raphael's warnings. IV. and V. (c) The Fall effected. IX. (B) The Results of the Fall: (1) Punishment pronounced on Tempter and Tempted by the Son. X. (2) Sin and Death take possession of the World, but their overthrow by the Son (/. e. the Redemption) is foretold. X- (3) Michael reveals the future to Adam, reas- sures him of Redemption, and leads him and Eve out of Paradise. XL and XII. (C) Man' s Relations to the Universe and to God, as set forth by Raphael in Book V. 469-543, may be summed up briefly thus : — "One Almighty is"; rJl things are created by Him, from "one first matter all"; all things are perfect in their various degrees, but are more re- fined and spiritual in proportion as they are near INTRODUCTION. Vll Him. In nature " the grosser feeds the purer," the soil is transformed, through the plant, into flower and fruit ; the latter, used as man's nourishment, is " sublimed " into the living force which sustains the mind and the soul : thus there is complete contin- uity from the lowest forms (/. e. mere matter) to the highest (/. e. pure spirit) ; and " all things . . . up to Him return, if not depraved from good." Raphael concludes : " Time may come when men With Angels may participate, and rind No inconvenient diet, nor too light fare ; And from these corporal nutriments, perhaps, Your bodies may at last turn all to spirit, Improved by tract of time, and winged ascend Ethereal, as we ; or may at choice Here or in heavenly Paradise dwell, If ye be found obedient." With this compare VII. 115, where the Almighty states His purpose in creating Man, viz. to replenish Heaven, lest Satan should boast of the damage inflicted : He will, He says, create " Of one man a race Of men innumerable, there to dwell, Not here, till, by degrees of merit raised, They open to themselves at length the way, Up hither, under long obedience tried," etc. In this analysis the topics are arranged in chron- ological order. The order in the poem, as the references show, is very different, and it may be helpful to indicate it. (1) Milton plunges into the very midst of the whole subject by depicting the rebels lying stunned on the lake after their fall : they are roused by Satan, a council is held, Man's ruin resolved on, and intrusted to Satan. Hell and Chaos are described. I., II. Vlll INTRODUCTION. (2) Satan traverses Chaos, and explores the World, finds Eden, and plots the Fall. II.-IV. (3) Raphael now visits Adam and Eve. He describes their position in the universe, and warns them of their danger. In order to explain Satan's attitude, and to gratify Adam's curiosity, Raphael begins to narrate the course of events from the beginning — V. viz. : — the War in Heaven and the Expul- sion ; VI. and the Creation of the World. VII. Adam tells Raphael of his finding himself in Eden, and of the prohibition to touch the tree of knowledge. Raphael repeats the warning, and leaves him. VIII. (4) They sin and are expelled. IX.— XII. THE COSMOLOGY OF PARADISE LOST. Much of Paradise Lost is occupied with events that take place outside the universe as known to man — in Heaven, Hell and Chaos; much, too, with matters connected with that universe ; while the relations of the various realms to one another, and the nature of man's World as described or assumed in the poem, are so peculiar and so funda- mental, that clear ideas on the subject are of the highest importance. On reading the poem we find that Book I. does not begin the story, for there the War in Heaven is over and the rebels are undergoing punishment else- where ; it is not till Books V.-VI. that the Angel Raphael is introduced, giving Adam a " full narra- tion " of things from the beginning — and it is chiefly by means of these later books that we con- struct the key to the earlier ones. INTRODUCTK )N. IX I. At the earliest period referred to by Raphael, Space consists of two parts, Heaven or the Empy- rean, and Chaos : 1 "as yet this World was not," nor Man, nor Hell. Heaven alone is created, or formed : the rest of space is a blank. This stage we may symbol- ize * 2 by figure 1. Heaven, we gather, is the region of light and life, the abode of God and the Angels — "the Sons of God." Of its size Fi s- *• and shape nothing definite is said. It is totally cut off by means of a crystal floor from Chaos ; various ornamental features are mentioned — as gates, bat- tlements and walls ; and its beauty is suggested by descriptions of ideal earthly scenery, "heavenly paradises." The Angels are of two kinds — Cher- ubim and Seraphim, arranged in three ranks — Archangels or Chiefs, Princes, and individual Powers or Intelligence, 3 each kind having its special duties : the peculiar nature and mode of existence of these immaterial beings are described — their immortal- ity, their might, their power of assuming any shape, and so forth. In all this Milton follows hints from the Scriptures, especially the vision of St. John (in the Book of fievelation), Jewish writings, Dante, and the traditions of the early and middle ages. I. Heaven, perhaps that which is "heaved" up: Empyrran (Gk\), " made of fire " (the purest of the four elements ; Chaos, the chasm, cleft or abyss. 2 The diagrams are merely symbolic: the form of Space, the relative magnitude of Heaven, Chaos and Hell, and the exact position of the World are not indicated in the poem. 3. Masson. X INTRODUCTION. He cautions us that his language is merely sym- bolical. The Almighty, Himself invisible, has His throne on a central mount, clouded in dazzling brightness, where He receives the adoration of His sons, and makes known His commands. Chaos, 1 "the Deep" or " the Abyss," is the name which Milton gives to that portion of space which lies outside Heaven. Its nature is inconceivable and indescribable, for it consists of that which has not yet been organized into matter, — neither earth, air, fire nor water. The whole region is utterly devoid of life and light : it is left by the Almighty in utter confusion and darkness — "to the sway of ^Anarchy and Night." " a dark Illimitable ocean, without bound, Without dimension : where length, breadth, and highth, And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce, Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring Their embryon atoms" (II. 891-900J. II. This division of space continues until the revolt of the Angels, which leads to their expul- sion : the floor of Heaven opens, they are driven out through the gap, and fall through " the Abyss " for nine days. Then they come to the place which the Almighty has prepared for them out of a por- tion of Chaos. It lies open to receive them, closes above them, and imprisons them. This new abode of theirs is called Hell : it is situated in the part of 1. The fullest description of Chaos and its presiding deity is given in Book II. 890-1033. INTRODUCTION. XI Space remotest from Heaven, in " the bottomless pit," and is partitioned off from Chaos by walls and roof of fire. Its shape is not described, but the roof is said to be vaulted (fig. 2). Within it was indeed a place of torment, "created evil, for evil only good," "a place of fierce extremes," " with many a frozen, many a fiery Alp," "a universe of Fig - 2 - death;" so that Satan exclaims, on surveying it, " Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here fur His envy, will not drive us hence. " A means of exit into Chaos is afterwards discov- ered, through a gateway, guarded by two beings named Sin and Death. These open the gate for Satan, but cannot close it again : so that the Inter- nals can henceforth pass out and in at will. III. After their fall the Angels lie stunned and bewildered on a burning lake for nine days, and it is during this period that the next change is brought about. For some time the Almighty had purposed creating a new World, and placing in it a new and favored race. At His command the Messiah now issues forth "far into Chaos," and with "the golden compass " "circumscribes this Universe " of Earth, and Planets, and all that is cognizable by man. This new World hangs from the floor of Heaven by a golden chain attached to its topmost point, or zenith : but whether it is suspended from the centre of the Empyrean, and poised about the centre of Xll INTRODUCTION. Space (as suggested in diagram 3), and what its relative size, cannot be determined. 1 Man is thus in a middle position, the Good above, the Evil below, and he is to be connected with both. For the use of the good angels a golden stairway is let down from Heaven, and for the use of the evil ones a broad path, or bridge, is made by Sin and Death through the Deep in the track taken by Satan on his journey of exploration (II. 1024, etc.) The golden stair can be drawn up as if to secure Heaven against unwished-for visitants, but the lower bridge is never closed. The two roads meet at the same point, where there is an opening affording access to the interior of the World. IV. Let us now look at this new World. It was created primarily' 3 for a new race of beings, Man, and his abode, the Earth, is appropriately made its centre. It is a complicated system of ten hollow spheres or shells fitted one within another, and around the solid Earth. Each sphere has a motion of its own, imparted, in the first place, by the out- side shell, called the Primum Mobile, or First Moved — how it is moved we are not told. Of 1. Professor Masson makes the radius of the World one-third of a to d, and consequently the World stretches from a to e. This seems to agree with I 73, 74. but not with II. 10^2-3. 1,1 which the World appears to Satan in the distance "as a star of i-mallest m gnitude," nor with III. 427-8, where the World "from the wall of Heaven, thoug 1 distant far, some small reflection gains." The force of the passage I. 73-4 depends on the meaning of the term " pole," which is rather vague, and in VII 23, seems applicable to the point a. 1 Cp. VIII. 98-9. INTRODUCTION. Xlll these spheres only two are material — the Primum Mobile or hard, external casing, and the next within it, the Crystalline Sphere, which consists of a clear, watery fluid. The first is designed as a protection to the whole system, the latter to mod- erate the extremes of heat and cold which may permease the outer framework. The remaining eight are, or may be regarded as, mere divisions of space, in which the several planets or orbs have their respective orbits. It was in all probability to account for the different motions of the several planefs that the separate revolutions of the spheres were assumed. The seven planetary spheres, be- ginning with that nearest the Earth, are : the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. The eighth sphere contains those stars XIV INTRODUCTION. which occupy a fixed position with regard to one another, and it is therefore called the Fixed or the Firmament : it revolves once daily, carrying all its stars round with it. The Earth is supposed to be stationary. This theory of the World was gradually given up in favor of the simpler one of Copernicus (1473- 1543), which was advocated by Galileo and others, and finally established by Kepler and Newton. According to this the Sun is the centre l of our universe, and is almost stationary; the Earth and the other planets revolve about it, whilst some cf these planets, e. g. the Earth, have satellites of their own; and finally the "fixed stars" are outside the solar universe altogether. Milton was well acquainted with the Copernican system, and may quite possibly have accepted it ; but in a poem concerned with topics so far beyond the pale of experience and knowledge, and so full of ancient and mediaeval ideas, beliefs, and fancies, the old theory, however erroneous, was not only fitting, but necessary; for it is involved in very many of the thoughts borrowed by Milton, as it is in some of our phrases at this day ; 2 in Milton's time it was generally still accepted, and it was un- doubtedly more poetical than the new system. 3 i. More correctly, the sun is not at the centre, but at the common focus of the ellipses of the paths described by the planets. 2. Professor Masson instances such phrases as " out of one's sphere." 3. Consider e.g the quaint fancy of the music of the spheres as ex- pressed by Shakespeare {Merchant of Venice, V. i 60). " There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims; Such harmony is in immortal souls; But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it." PARADISE LOST. BOCK I. PARADISE LOST. The Printer to the Reader. Courteous Reader, there was no Argument at first intended to the book; but for the satisfaction of many that have desired it, I have procured it, and withal a reason of that which stumbled many others, why the poem rimes not. ■ — S. Simmons. The Verse. The measure is English heroic verse without rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; rime being no necessary adjunct or true ornament of poem or good verse, in longer works especially, but the invention of a barbarous age to set off wretched matter and lame metre; graced indeed since by the use of some famous modern poets, carried away by custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance, and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse, than else they would have expressed them. Not without cause therefore, some both Italian and Spanish poets of prime note have rejected rime both in longer and shorter works, as have also long since our best English tragedies; as a thing of itself, to all judicious ears, trivial and of no true musical delight; which consists only in apt numbers, fit quan- tity of syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one verse into another; not in the jingling sound of like endings, a fault avoided by the learned ancients both in poetry and all good oratory. This neglect then of rime so little is to be taken for a defect, though it may seem so, perhaps, to vulgar readers, that it rather is to be esteemed an example set, the first in English, of ancient liberty recovered to heroic poem, from the troublesome and modern bondage of riming. The Argument. The first Book proposes, first in brief, the whole subject; Man's disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise where- in he was placed : then touches the prime cause of his Fall, the Serpent, or rather Satan in the serpent; who revolting from 'God, and drawing to his side many legions of angels, was by the command of God driven out of Heaven with all his crew into the great deep. Which action passed over, the Poem hastes into the midst of things, presenting Satan with his angels now fallen into Hell, described here, not in the centre ffor heaven and earth may be supposed as yet not made, certainly not yet accursed), but in a place of utter darkness, fitliest called Chaos : here Satan with his angels lying on the burning lake, thunderstruck and astonished, after a certain space recovers, as from confusion ; calls up him who next in order and dignity lay by him; they confer of their miserable fall. Satan awakens all his legions, who lay till then in the same manner confounded. They rise; their numbers; array of battle; their chief leaders named, according to the idols known afterwards in Canaan, and the countries adjoining. To these Satan directs his speech; comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven; but tells them lastly of a new world and new kind of creature to be created, according to an ancient prophecy or report in Heaven : for that angels were long before this visible creation, was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To find out the truth of this prophecy, and what to determine thereon, he refers to a full council. What his associates thence attempt. Pandemonium the palace of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the deep. The infernal peers there sit in counsel. PARADISE LOST. BOOK I. The subject of the poem, Maris fall. Invocation of the Holy Spirit's aid. Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, 5 Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, dids't inspire That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed 2. mortal, rendering liable to death. 6. Sing, etc. All pr- ceding epic poets — Homer, Virgil, Dante, etc., use a similar form of invocation: in Milton's case it is a devout prayer for " that impulse or voice of God by which the prophets were inspired." secret. This term probably refers to the manner in which Moses received God's communications: see Exodus xix. 3, 12, 20; xxiv. 2 (" and Moses alone shall come nea> ,") etc 7. Oreb (Horeb , or of Sinai. Milton refers either to two events — the appearam e in the burning bush {Exodus \\\ ) and the giving of the Law — or, m re probably, to the latter event alone, Sinai being a part of Horeb, a mountain group north of the Red Sea. 8. that shepherd, etc. Moses, whose account of the creation is in Genesis i. Cp. Psalm lxxvii. 20. the chosen seed : the Jews considered themselves to be God's favored people. 5 6 PARADISE LOST. In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth Rose out of Chaos : or, if Sion hill IO Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd Fast by the oracle of God, I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhime. And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples the upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou know'st ; thou from the first Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread, 2 ° Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss, And mad'st it pregnant : what in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support : That to the highth of this great argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. 9. the Heavens and Earth, i.e. this Universe: see Cosmology. 10. Sion hill, where the Temple stood. 11. Siloa's brook, a stream flowing from the pool of Siloam into the Kirlron, just beneath the city walls and very near the Temple (" the oracle," / ICings vi.). 1^. Aonia or Mt Helicon) in Boeotia was the supposed abode of the nine M 1 ses from whom the ancient poets sought inspiration. Cp. vii. 12-14, and ix 1-47. Milton means, therefore, either that he intends to surpass the ancient poets. Homer and Virgil, or that he intends to wri e on subjects higher than any they ever treated of. 19-22. Cp. Genesis i. ; and for " dove-like," Matthew iii 16. 21. Abyss, lit. the bottomless depth (of the sea, etc.) : here, Chaos. 22. pregnant, filled with life Cp. vii. 234-242. 24. highth, the correct form of the word: cp. depth, etc. 25. assert, defend in argument. PARADISE LOST. 7 Man's fall caused by Satan in revenge for his expulsion from I/eai'en. Say first — for Heaven hides nothing from thy view, Nor the deep tract of hell — say first what cause Moved our grand parents, in that happy state, Favored of Heaven so highly, to fall off 30 From their Creator, and transgress his will For one restraint, lords of the World besides. Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? The infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile, Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived 35 The mother of mankind, what time his pride Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host Of rebel Angels, by whose aid, aspiring To set himself in glory above his peers, He trusted to have equalled the Most High, 40 If he opposed ; and with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud, With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky, 45 29. grand parents, first parents, ancestors. 32. For one restraint, etc., '• because of one restraint, being, in all else, lords," etc. 34. infernal, lit. belonging to the lower regions ''or " hell"): hence, wicked, fiendish But the word is aUo used without the notion of " wicked" : cp. " infernal court," 792. 36. what time, when: cp. Lycidas, 28, "what time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn." 39. peers, equals. Satan's " peers" were his fellow-archangels. 45. flaming. Cp. Luke x. 18, " I beheld Satan as lightning fail from heaven ." 8 PARADISE LOST. With hideous ruin and combustion, down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms. Satan, recovering from his stupor, " views the situation" 1 : Hell described. Nine times the space that measures day and night 5° To mortal men, he, with his horrid crew, Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf, Confounded, though immoital. But his doom Reserved him to more wrath ; for now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain Torments him ; round he throws his baleful eyes, That witnessed huge affliction and dismay, Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. At once, as far as Angel's ken, he views The dismal situation, waste and wild. A dungeon horrible, on all sides round, 46. ruin, in its Latin sense, downfall. combustion, confusion, uproar, tumult. 48. adamantine, lit made of adamant; that is, indestructible, un- breakable: cp. 11 646. " adamantine rock . . . impenetrable . . . uncon- sumed " by fire: and ii. 168, " we lay chained on the burning lake." The name " adamant " was applied to steel and the diamond penal fire, fire used as a means of inflicting punishment. Cp. " penal laws," " penalty," etc. 50. nine was a sort of sacred number with the ancients, as being a multiple of three. Cp. the use of the number seven in the Old Testament. 51. crew, any company of men, as a ship's crew. 57. witnessed, bore witness to. 59. ken may be taken either as a verb or as a noun; if the latter, angels will be in the possessive case, either singular or plural, as the mark of the possessive was in Milton's time often omitted. (M. E. kennen, to know.) PARADISE LOST. 9 As one great furnace flamed • yet from those flames No light ; but rather darkness visible Served only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 6 5 And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all, but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed. Such place Eternal Justice has prepared 7° For those rebellious ; here their prison ordained In utter darkness, and their portion set, As far removed from God and light of Heaven, As from the centre thrice to the utmost pole. Oh, how unlike the place from whence they fell ! 75 There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed 63. darkness visible, etc. Cp. 181-183: " The seat of desolation, void of light, Save what the glimmering of these livid flames Casts pale and dreadful." The language used in the text is contradictory only if taken literally — " the dungeon flamed," i.e. the flames were visible, but the dull " glim- mering " was only sufficient to revtal the prevailing horror and gloom. Mr Beeching says, " The flame of a spirit-lamp in a dark room will sug- gest what is meant." Cp. also Job x. 22. 63. darkness visible, that is, gloom. Darkness is not itself visible any more than silence is audible. [What figure of speech is " darkness visible," taken literally?] 66-67 " where) hope, that comes to all (mortals), never comes."* The thought is found in Euripides: and Dante Inferno iii. ; has the famous inscription over the gates of hell, " All hope abandon, ye who enter here." 68. urges, torments, harasses. A Latinism. Cp. ii. 88-89, " P am • • • must exercise us." 72. utter, outer, further from Heaven, hence belonging to Hell; the intervening beii.g the " middle " darkness. 74. That is, three times the distance from the centre of this Universe (the Earth) to the outside sphere the Primum Mobile', or else to its point of suspension from the Empyrean. Eor this use of " centre," cp. •686-687. On the position of the Universe in space, see Cosmology. IO PARADISE LOST. With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, He soon discerns ; and, weltering by his side, One next himself in power, and next in crime, Long after known in Palestine, and named 8o Beelzebub. To whom the Arch-Enemy, And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence, thus began : — Satan's speech to his comrade Beelzebub; he avows undv- iuo hate, and urges " eternal war." " If thou beest he — but Oh, how fallen ! how changed From him ! — who. in the happy realms of light, 8 5 Clothed with transcendent brightness, didst outshine Myriads, though bright — if he whom mutual league, United thoughts and counsels, equal hope And hazard in the glorious enterprise, Joined with me once, now misery hath joined In equal ruin ; into what pit thou seest From what highth fallen : so much the stronger proved He with his thunder : and till then who knew The force of those dire arms? Yet not for those, 78. weltering, rolling about. In the Bible of 1549 we read, " He that weltereth a st'>ne"; in the version of 1610, " He that rolleth a stone." {Proverbs xxvi. 27.) 79-81. Beelzebub, or Baalzebub, lit. " lord of flies," was a god of the Philistine^. His chief temple was at Ekron; his wishes were probably interpreted by the humming and motions of flies. 82. Satan (Hebrew) enemy: his former name was Lucifer (" light- bearer "). PARADISE LOST. I I Not what the potent Victor in his rage 9s Can else inflict, do I repent, or change, Though changed in outward lustre, that fixed mind, And high disdain from sense of injured merit, That with the Mightiest raised me to contend, And to the fierce contention brought along IO ° Innumerable force of spirits armed, That durst dislike his reign, and, me preferring, His utmost power with adverse power opposed In dubious battle on the plains of Heaven, And shook his throne. What though the field be lost? IQ 5 All is not lost — the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield : And what is else not to be overcome. That glory never shall his wrath or might IIQ 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 Doubted his empire — that were low indeed ; 102. dislike, disapprove: not to " dislike " in our sense of the word: the latter does not depend upon our " darii.g," the former may. 104. dubious, for a time uncertain as to the result: the battle lasted three days. See Book \ i. 109 "And in what else i e besides these qualities) does not being overcome consist? " The line is, properly, parenthetical, or 'explanatory: and in some editions was pi inted in brackets. "That glory," then, refers directly to " submit or yield." Some editors, however, put a semicolon after " overc-me," so that the line means " and whatever other qualities are invincible," or " in what- ever besides invincibility consists." 114. doubted his empire, felt insecure in regard to his supremacy. 12 PARADISE LOST. That were an ignominy and shame beneath "5 This downfall ; since, by fate, the strength of gods, And this empyreal substance, cannot fail ; Since, through experience of this great event, In arms not worse, in foresight much advanced, We may with more successful hope resolve I2 ° To wage by force or guile eternal war, Irreconcilable to our grand foe, Who now triumphs, and in the excess of joy Sole reigning holds the tyranny of Heaven." So spake the apostate Angel, though in pain, I2 s- Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair ; And him thus answered soon his bold compeer : — Beelzebub' 's reply: he is less hopeful: — " What avails it if we live only to suffer ?" 11 O Prince, O Chief of many throned powers That led the embattled Seraphim to war n6. by fate, etc. Satan regards the angels as equal to God in all but power heme " gods") and equally free; not created by the Almighty, but, like Him, seH-iormed and immortal. fate, necessity, the nature of things, regarded as unalterable and beyond the power of God. 117. this empyreal substance. The four elements, according to the ancients, were earth, air, fire and water. Of these '• fire" was considered the n. blest, and of it the angels, the heavens, etc., were supposed to be formed, whereas man was formed of " earth." Cp. 137-139. 124. tyranny. In ancient Greece a tyrant was a man who usurped the supreme authority, and governed ; joinder ; " Revenge is sweet ; we can live to t/nvart our enemy" " Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable, Doing or suffering : but of this be sure — To do aught good never will be our task, But ever to do ill our sole delight, l6 ° As being the contrary to his high will Whom we resist. If then his providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, Our labor must be to pervert that end, And out of good still to find means of evil : l6 5 Which ofttimes may succeed so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb His inmost counsels from their destined aim. "The storm is over ; let us muster our forces and consult together" But see ! the angry victor hath recalled His ministers of vengeance and pursuit x 7° Back to the gates of Heaven : the sulphurous hail, Shot after us in storm, o'erblown hath laid The fiery surge that from the precipice Of Heaven received us falling; and the thunder, 156. fiend, lit. hater, enemy. 172. laid, stilled, calmed. " The storm of hail having blown over, the fiery waves become calm." i8o PARADISE LOST. Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage, Perhaps hath spent his shafts, and ceases now To bellow through the vast and boundless Deep. Let us not slip the occasion, whether scorn Or satiate fury yield it from our foe. Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, The seat of desolation, void of light, Save what the glimmering of these livid flames Casts pale and dreadful? Thither let us tend From off the tossing of these fiery waves ; There rest, if any rest can harbor there ; And, reassembling our afflicted powers, Consult how we may henceforth most offend Our enemy, our own loss how repair, How overcome this dire calamity, What re-inforcement we may gain from hope, x 9° If not, what resolution from despair." Satan 's vastne>s suggested by comparisons. Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate, With head uplift above the wave, and eyes That sparkling blazed ; his other parts besides Prone on the flood, extended long and large, r 9* 176. his, masculine, as "Thunder" is personified. At this time (c. 1660) 'its" was ju>-t coming into use as the neuter of "his." In the Bible of 1610 "its "occurs only once Leviticus xxv. 5), in Milton's poem^ only lour or five times.; 178. slip, let slip (transitive^ Cp Macbeth, " I . . . shpt the hour," and such current phrases as " slip a cable," etc. 186. afflicted, in its Latin sense, flung or dashed down, crushed, powers, forces, armies. 187. offend, harm. i6 PARADISE LOST. Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge As whom the fables name of monstrous size, Titanian or Earth-born, that warred on Jove, Briareos or Typhon, whom the den By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast 2 °° Leviathan, which God of all his works Created hugest that swim the ocean stream. Him, haply slumbering on the Norway foam, The pilot of some small night-foundered skiff, Deeming some island, oft, as seamen tell, 2 °5 With fixed anchor in his scaly rind, Moors by his side under the lee, while night Invests the sea, and wished morn delays. He is allowed to rise. So stretched out huge in length the Arch-Fiend lay, Chained on the burning lake ; nor ever thence 2I ° 198-200. (whether) Titanian or Earth-born. The Titans were the twelve sons of Uranus and Ge (i e. Heaven and Earth) ; the Earth- born, offspring of the same parents, were the Giants. According to the legends the Giants made war on Jove, and were destroyed for their inso- lence Briareos was one of the Titans, Typhon one of the Giants. The latter was supposed to dwell in a cave in Cilicia (in Asia Minor) which Milton denotes by Tarsus, its capital. 201. Leviathan, etc. The description fits the whale — except the " scaly rind " \ 206) : the name (Hebrew) is found in Job xli., and seems to be applied to the crocodile ; but in other passages of Scripture, as in Psalms civ. 26, to any sea monster. 203-207. Olaus Magnus, a Swede (in his History of the Northern Nations, 1658), and other writers of Milton's time, tell of the whale's being taken for an island by sailors, who anchor to his back, drive stakes into him, etc. Milton speak* of him as " like a promontory " (vii. 414) ; ''/our acres in extent," says another writer! 204. night-foundered, lost in the darkness, stopped by the night coming on. (Strictly ,/ounder means to sink.) skiff, ship. (Now the word denotes a small boat.) 208. Invests, enshrouds, wraps (like a garment). PARADISE LOST. J Had risen, or heaved his head, but that the will And high permission of all-ruling Heaven Left him at large to his own dark designs, That with reiterated crimes he might Heap on himself damnation, while he sought 2I - Evil to others, and enraged might see How all his malice served but to bring forth Infinite goodness, grace, and mercy, shown On Man by him seduced, but on himself Treble confusion, wrath, and vengeance poured. 22C Satan and Beelzebub fly to land : the land described. Forthwith upright he rears from off the pc ol His mighty stature ; on each hand the flames Driven backward slope their pointing spires, and, rolled In billows, leave in the mid- a horrid vale. Then with expanded wings he steers his flight 22 s Aloft, incumbent on the dusky air, That felt unusual weight ; till on dry land He lights — if it were land that ever burned With solid, as the lake with liquid fire, And such appeared in hue as when the force Of subterranean wind transports a hill Torn from Pelorus, or the shattered side Of thundering ^Etna, whose combustible 232 Pelorus, now Cape Faro, N. E. of Sicily. It is near Etna. Prob- ably " from " governs " shattered side." 1 8 PARADISE LOST. And fueled entrails, thence conceiving fire, Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds, 2 35 And leave a singed bottom all involved With stench and smoke. Such resting found the sole Of unblest feet. Him followed his next mate ; Both glorying to have scaped the Stygian flood As gods, and by their own recovered strength, 2 4° Not by the sufferance of supernal power. Saiaris soliloquy on viewing their new abode. " Is this the region, this the soil, the clime," Said then the lost Archangel, " this the seat That we must change for Heaven? this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Be it so, since he 24 s Who now is sovran can dispose and bid What shall be right : farthest from him is best, Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields, 234-237. thence, etc. " The contents of the mountain catching fire from this wind are changed int > vapor by a heat like that of molten metals, and, in their turn, increase the force of the wind " Properly, subliming is a chemical operation in which volatile solids are separated from impuri- ties, by heating, just as liquids are purified by distillation.; involved, enveloped. 239 Stygian, hateful, horrible. Cp. 195. The Styx (" hateful"), of the classical mythology, was the chief river in the lower world. 246. sovran, O. F. soverain. A more correct form than sovereign — confused with reign. 247-249 " Furthest from him is best for us; for though we are his equals in reason, we are inferior to him in strength." Cp. 92-94, and 144-145. PARADISE LOST. IC, Where joy forever dwells ! Hail, horrors ! hail, 2 s< Infernal world ! and thou, profoundest Hell, Receive thy new possessor — one who brings A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. 2s: What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least We shall be free ; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy, will not drive us hence : 26c Here we may reign secure ; and, in my choice, To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell : Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven. They agree to rouse and rally their followers. 265 But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, The associates and co-partners of our loss, Lie thus astonished on the oblivious pool, And call them not to share with us their part In this unhappy mansion, or once more With rallied arms to try what may be yet Regained in Heaven, or what more lost in Hell ? " 2 ?° So Satan spake ; and him Beelzebub 266. astonished, stunned, " astounded" (281", " confounded " ,53"*, "entranced " (301). Lit , struck senseless. oblivious, causing forgetfulness. Cp. Macbeth, " oblivious anti- dote"; and " forgetful lake," ii. 74. Milton is thinking of the liver Lethe of the classical mythology, which caused all who drank of it to forget the past. 268. mansion, place of abode. 20 PARADISE LOST. Thus answered : — " Leader of those armies bright Which, but the Omnipotent, none could have foiled ! If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge Of hope in fears and dangers — heard so oft 2 75 In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge Of battle, when it raged, in all assaults Their surest signal — they will soon resume New courage, and revive, though now they lie Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, 28 ° As we erewhile, astounded and amazed ; No wonder, fallen such a pernicious highth ! " The appearance of Satan as he makes for the shore, and of his legions as they lie on the lake. He scarce had ceased when the superior Fiend Was moving toward the shore ; his ponderous shield, Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, 285 Behind him cast. The broad circumference 274. pledge, surety. 276-277. perilous edge of battle, either the front line of battle, or at the critical moment 281. astounded same as astonished See 266. amazed, in a stronger sense than that in which it is now used: bewildered, dazed. ^Fr.>m maze. 282. pernicious, destructive, ruinous. 285 Ethereal temper (a thing , wrought in Heaven, of heavenly workmanship. Cp iv. 812: " No falsehood can endure Touch of celestial temper " [i.e. Ithuriel's spear), etc. ( Temper, to bring to the proper degree of hardness, to mix metals in due proportion.) PARADISE LOST. 2 1 Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening, from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands, 2 9° Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe. His spear — to equal which the tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great ammiral, were but a wand — He walked with, to support uneasy steps 2 95 Over the burning marie, not like those steps On Heaven's azure ; and the torrid clime Smote on him sore besides, vaulted with fire. Nathless he so endured, till on the beach Of that inflamed sea he stood, and called 3°° His legions — Angel forms, who lay entranced, Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks In Vallombrosa, where the Etrurian shades 288. artist, a professor of an art: it also denoted a skilled worker, our "artisan." The "Tuscan artist" is Galileo (1564-1642), a teacher of mathematics and astronomy at Pisa. His improvements in the telescope — for he did not invent it - enabled him to make discoveries which con- vinced him of the truth of the Copernican theory of astronomy. 289-290 Fesole, now Fiesole. is a hill near Florence. Valdarno, i.e. Val d'Arno, the valley in which Florence is situated. 294. ammiral, the chief ship of a fleet, so called from its carrying the superior officer. 296. marie, ground; properly a soft, rich soil. Cp. 562. 297. Heaven's azure, the crystal floor of Heaven. 299. Nathless, none the less; now displaced by nevertheless. The word is common in Chaucer. 303. Vallombrosa ("'shady valley ") a beautiful and thickly wooded valley and hilly slope about eighteen miles from Florence. It is said that Milton spent several days at a monastery that stood here. Etruria, Tuscany. 2 2 PARADISE LOST. High over-arched imbower ; or scattered sedge Afloat, when with fierce winds Orion armed 305 Hath vexed the Red-Sea coast, whose waves o'er- threw Busiris and his M^mphian chivalry, While with perfidious hatred they pursued The sojourners of Goshen, who beheld From the safe shore their floating carcases 310 And broken chariot-wheels. So thick bestrewn, Abject and lost, lay these, covering the flood, Under amazement of their hideous change. Satan taunts them for their inactivity, and calls then to arms. He called so loud, that all the hollow deep Of Hell resounded : " Princes, Potentates, 315 304. sedge, in Hebrew the Red Sea is called " the sedgy sea," on account of the large quantity of sea-weed found in it. 305. Orion .'Orion , a constellation so named from a companion cf Artemis or Diana, the gocMes of hunting. The time of year at which this constellation sets — November or early December — was generally associated by the poets wuh bad weather. armed, some of the stars of Orion appear to be arranged in the form of a sword and belt 307. Busiris, here identified with the Pharaoh of Exodus. Memphian Egyptian, from the ancient capital Memphis, on the west bank of the Nile. chivalry, army — horse and foot, though in this case mainly horse. (Exodus, xiv 28 ) Doublet " cavalry." See 575 n. on infantry and cavalry. 308. perfidious. Pharaoh had given the Israelites permission to leave Egypt. 309. sojourners, temporary dwellers in a place. Goshen, a district east of the delta of the Nile. who beheld, etc. See Exodus xxiv. 30. 311. abject, cast down. PARADISE LOST. 23 "Warriors, the flower of Heaven — once yours ; now lost, If such astonishment as this can seize Eternal Spirits ! Or have ye chosen this place After the toil of battle to repose Your wearied virtue, for the ease you find 320 To slumber here, as in the vales of Heaven? Or in this abject posture have ye sworn To adore the conqueror, who now beholds •Cherub and Seraph rolling in the flood With scattered arms and ensigns, till anon 325 His swift pursuers from Heaven-gates discern The advantage, and, descending, tread us down Thus drooping, or with linked thunderbolts Transfix us to the bottom of this gulf? — Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen ! " 330 Their appearance: their multitude suggested by comparisons. They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch, On duty sleeping found by whom they dread, Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake. Nor did they not perceive the evil plight 335 In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel; Yet to their General's voice they soon obeyed 318-322. Or . . . or, whether ... or. virtue, valor, bravery: lit. manliness. 337. obey, in M E. took a dative case. 24 PARADISE LOST. Innumerable. As when the potent rod Of Amran's son, in Egypt's evil day, Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud 340 Of locusts, warping on the eastern wind, That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile ; So numberless were those bad Angels seen Hovering on wing under the cope of Hell, 345 'Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires ; Till, as a signal given, the uplifted spear Of their great Sultan waving to direct Their course, in even balance, down they light On the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain : 350 A multitude like which the populous North Poured never from her frozen loins to pass Rhene or the Danavv, when her barbarous sons Came like a deluge on the South, and spread Beneath Gibraltar to the Libyan sands. 355 The leaders come forward — for the lime being nameless. Forthwith from every squadron and each band, 338, etc. Alluding to Moses and the plagues. See Exodus x 12, etc. 341. warping, " floating about " at the mercy of the wind. 345. cope, roof, vault. 348. sultan ^or soldan, 764 , victor, prince: in 378 "emperor." 351-355. The Cloths from the province of Dacia, north of 'he Danube {Danaiv , pressed forward by the Huns, settl d in " the Empire " in 376; soon afterwards they defeated the Romans in battle Forty years hter the west Goths sa ked Rome, and some passed into Gaul and Spain German tribes, too, were at this time cross ng the Rhine Rhcne) , and pressing on into Gaul and Spain Hordes of Huns now a't eked Romans, Goths, and Germans alike, but were defeated in 451 at Chalons — one of the world's critical battles. Some Germans called Vandals, who had at first settled in Spain, crossed into Africa Libya in 429, and founded a kingdom, with Carthage as capital. Even in Italy some east Goths settled. From these various settlements the Romance nations sprung. PARADISE LOST. 25 The heads and leaders thither haste where stood Their great Commander — godlike shapes, and forms Excelling human ; princely dignities : xA.nd powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones, 360 Though of their names in Heavenly records now Be no memorial, blotted out and rased By their rebellion from the Books of Life. Nor had they yet among the sons of Eve Got them new names, till, wandering o'er the Earth, 365 Through God's high sufferance for the trial of Men, By falsities and lies the greatest part Of Mankind they corrupted to forsake God their Creator, and the invisible Glory of him that made them to transform 370 Oft to the image of a brute, adorned With gay religions full of pomp and gold, And devils to adore for deities : Then were they known to men by various names, And various idols through the heathen world. 360. erst, superl. of ere ; once, at fir.st. For thrones, cp. 128 and 737 «. 362. rased, for " erased."' What is the difference ? 363. Books of Life. Revelation iii. 5. 372. religions, decorations. So, in Shakespeare's Julius Ccesar, the statues of Caesar are " decked with ceremonies." 358-375. Milton assumes the belief of the early Chiistian Church that the Pagan gods were fallen angels in disguise. In Par. Reg. {e.g. II 121-126) he identifies the fallen angels with the " demons " of the four elements. 2 6 PARADISE LOST. Tr.e leaders enumerated and described under the names they afterwards acquired as heathen deities. Say, Muse, their names then known, who first, who last, Roused from the slumber on that fiery couch, At their great Emperor's call, as next in worth Came singly where he stood on the bare strand, While the promiscuous crowd stood yet aloof. 380 The chief were those who, from the pit of Hell Roaming to seek their prey on Earth, durst fix Their seats, long after, next the seat of God, Their altars by his altar, gods adored Among the nations round, and durst abide Jehovah thundering out of Sion, throned Between the Cherubim ; yea, often placed Within his sanctuary itself their shrines, Abominations; and with cursed things His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned, 390 And with their darkness durst affront his light. 380. promiscuous, mixed, confused. 382 Cp. / Peter v. 8, " Your adversary the devil . . . walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 383. seat of God, the Temple at Jerusalem. 385-386. durst abide, stood their ground in spite of. Cp 470. thundering out of Sion, referring perhaps to what was thundered (the ten commandments, one of which forbade idolatry). 387. Cherubim, two figures in the sanctuary of the Temple / Kings vi. 23. 388. shrines, altars. See 2 Kings xxi. 4, " And he (i.e. King Manasseh) built altars in the house of the Lord." 389. abominations : -eferring to the idolatrous character of the shrines. PARADISE LOST. 27 First, Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears ; Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, Their children's cries unheard that passed through fire 395 To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite Worshipped in Rabba and her watery plain, In Argob and in Bashan, to the stream Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such Audacious neighborhood, the wisest heart 400 Of Solomon he led by fraud to build His temple right against the temple of God, On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence And black Gehenna called, the type of Hell. 40s Next Chemos, the obscene dread of Moab's sons, From Aroer to Nebo and the wild Of southmost Abarim ; in Hesebon And Horonaim, Seon's realm, beyond The flowery dale of Sibma clad with vines, < 10 392-521. See the Table of Heathen Deities, p. 48 394. Timbrel, a kind of tambourine. 403. that opprobrious hill, that hill of scandal 416" , the offensive mountain (443 , all refer to the Mt of Olives, near Jerusalem. 404-405 Hinnom was a deep narrow ravine bounding Jerusalem on the south-west. To put an end to t; e idol worship carried oa there — with its human sacrifices —Jos ah rendered it " ceremonially unclean " by spreading h man bones, etc., in it. Henceforward the refuse of the city was deposited there. I'y re ison of its evil associations the later Jews used i s name Ge Hinnom or Gehenna, to denote the place of torment Tophet was the south-eastern p rt of the valley. Here, facing the city on the "hill of scandal," Solomon erected his high places to Moloch. (, Smith's Bible Diet.) 406. obscene, foul, repulsive. 409. Seon, King of the Ammonites. 2 8 PARADISE LOST. And Eleale to the Asphaltic pool : Peor his other name, when he enticed Israel in Sittim, on their march from Nile, To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe. Yet thence his lustful orgies he enlarged 4I s Even to that hill of scandal, by the grove Of Moloch homicide, lust hard by hate ; Till good Josiah drove them thence to Hell. With these came they who, from the bordering flood Of old Euphrates to the brook that parts * 2 ° Egvpt from Syrian ground, had general names Of Baalim and Ashtaroth — those male, These feminine. For Spirits, when they please, Can either sex assume, or both ; so soft And uncompounded is their essence pure, 425 Not tied or manacled with joint or limb, Nor founded on the brittle strength of bones, Like cumbrous flesh ; but in what shape they choose, Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure, Can execute their aery pu- poses, 43 ° And works of love or enmity fulfil. For those the race of Israel oft forsook Their living Strength, and unfrequented left His righteous altar, bowing lowly down To bestial gods ; for which their heads, as low «5 411 Asphaltic pool, Dead Sea. 419. bordering flood, because forming the south or south-west boun- dary of Canaan. Genesis xv 18. 435 bestial, refers either to the grossness of their worship, or to 47 6_ 489 below. In Egypt the sacred bulls " maintained ... in the great temples ot their respective cities were perpetu -lly adored and prayed to by thousands during their lives, and at the.r deaths were entombed with the utmost care in huge sarcophagi, while all Egypt went into mourning for them " (Rawlins&n) PARADISE LOST. 29 Bowed down in battle, sunk before the spear Of despicable foes. With these in troop Came Ashtoreth, whom the Phoenicians called Astarte, Queen of Heaven, with crescent horns ; To whose bright image nightly by the moon 44° Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs ; In Sion also not unsung, where stood Her temple on the offensive mountain, built By that uxorious king whose heart, though large, Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell 445 To idols foul. Thammuz came next behind, Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured The Syrian damsels to lament his fate In amorous ditties all a summer's day, While smooth Adonis from his native rock 450 Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood Of Thammuz yearly wounded : the love-tale Infected Sion's daughters with like heat, Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led, 455 His eye surveyed the dark idolatries Of alienated Judah. Next came one Who mourned in earnest, when the captive ark Maimed his brute image, head and hands lopt off, 438. Astoreth or Ashtoreth (singular form of Ashtaroth .representing the moon, which might be considered the fainter reflection or wife of the sun, and was, as the moon, addressed as " queen of heaven." Jeremiah vii. 18 Sayce. 455. See Ezekiel viii. 14, " Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house, . . . and behold, there sat women weeping f m by guile ; a visit to the new -fornix d 7v >rld suggested ; war resolved on. Henceforth his might we know, and know our own, So as not either to provoke, or dread New war provoked : our better part remains 6 *~> To work in close design, by fraud or guile, Whit force effected not; that he no less At length from us may find, who overcomes By force hath overcome but half his foe. Space may produce new worlds ; whereof so rife 6 s° There went a fame in Heaven that he ere long Intended to create, and therein plant A generation whom his choice regard Should favor equal to the sons of Heaven. 636. counsels different (from those of the rest), " divided counsels." 643-645. our better part: " henceforth our safest course is," etc. 650-651. so rife . . . fame so general a rumor. 40 PARADISE LOST. Thither, if but to pry, shall be perhaps 6 55 Our first eruption — thither, or elsewhere ; For this infernal pit shall never hold Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor the Abyss Long under darkness cover. But these thoughts Full counsel must mature. Peace is despaired ; 66 ° For who can think submission ? War, then, war Open or understood, must be resolved." He spake ; and, to confirm his words, out-flew Millions of flaming swords, drawn from the thighs Of mighty Cherubim ; the sudden blaze 66 s Far round illumined Hell. Highly they raged Against the Highest, and fierce with grasped nrms Clashed on their sounding shields the din of war Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven. Led by Mammon they quarry gold and cast it, ready /or use in building rheir palace. There stood a hill not far, whose grisly top 6 7° Belched fire and rolling smoke ; the rest entire Shone with a glossy scurf — undoubted sign 656. eruption, sortie, expedition : lit. " outbreak." 660-662. despaired, resolved : cp. 208 and note. 662. understood — among ourselves. 668 This was the custom of Roman soldiers when applauding a gen- eral's speech. Note the expressiveness of this line through the repetition of the notion of sound in the words cla hed ', sounding and din. Cp 768. 670. grisly, horrible, hideous. Cp. ii. 704. 671. the rest entire, " all the rest." 672-674. the work of sulphur. According to the alchemists, sulphur 'understood hs a vague " principal of fixation," not the substance we call sulphur was the chief agent in the formation of metals by its action on " earth," on the " seeds of metals," etc. The phrase, work of sulphur, refers to the metal either in the earth as metallic ore) or cropping out (as a sulphide) in flakes on the surface (glossy scurf). PARADISE LOST. 4 1 That in his womb was hid metallic ore, The work of sulphur. Thither, winged with speed, A numerous brigad hastened : as when bands 6 75 Of pioneers, with spade and pickaxe armed, Forerun the royal camp, to trench a field, Or cast a rampart. Mammcn led them on — Mammon, the least erected Spirit that fell From Heaven ; for even in Heaven his looks and thoughts 68 ° Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of Heaven's pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoyed In vision beatific. By him first Men also, and by his suggestion taught, 68 s Ransacked the centre, and with impious hands Rifled the bowels of their mother Earth For treasures better hid. Soon had his crew Opened into the hill a spacious wound, And digged out ribs of gold. Let none admire 6 9° That ric.ies grow in Hell ; that soil may best 675. brigad, brigade. 676. pioneers. Pioneers clear the way for an army by making roads, etc. 678. Mammon (Syriac , riches, here used as a proper noun (like Belial, 49)). 679. erected, high-minded, upright, noble. 682. Revelation xxi. 21. 684. vision beatific, a phrase used by early Christian writers to de- note the " sight of God," for which they hoped, and which was to give them perfect happiness. Cp. Matthew v. 8. 688. For treasures better hid, i.e. for gold, better left undisturbed. 690. admire, wonder. Cp. ii. 677-678. 42 PARADISE LOST. Deserve the precious bane. And here let those Who boast in mortal things, and wondering tell Of Babel, and the works of Memphian kings, Learn how their greatest monuments of fame, 6 95 And strength, and art, are easily outdone By Spirits reprobate, and in an hour What in an age they, with incessant toil And hands innumerable, scarce perform. Nigh on the plain, in many cells prepared, 7°° That underneath had veins of liquid fire Sluiced from the lake, a second multitude With wondrous art founded the massy ore, Severing each kind, and scummed the bullion-dross. A third as soon had formed within the ground ?°5 A various mould, and from the boiling cells By strange conveyance filled each hollow nook ; -694. Babel, probably Babylon, noted for its vast walls, its hanging gardens, and the Temple of Kelus (720 . Memphian, Egyptian, as in 307, from Memphis, the ancient capital Egypt was famous for its pyramids a d for its temples of Serapis 720 . In 1. 718 the new city of Memphis is mentio .ed under the name A Icairo, the modern Cairo. Probably in the latter passage there is a repetition of 11112694 under different nanes Note that in the second passage Milton uses the more modern names, perhaps to suggest different aspects of the ci'ies. But possibly Babel denotes the tower of Babel, and Memphian may be used in a much wider sense than Alcairo. 698-669. Herodotus tells us that there were 366,000 men employed for twenty years in the building of the Great Pyramid. 702. Sluiced A sluice is a sliding gate for regulating the flow of a ,i [uid. 703 founded, melted. The process of purifying is now called smelt- in • ; vfhertrSisfounnng 705-707) denotes a later and final melting and mouldi ig of the metal 704. bullion refers to the unpurified metal ore. dross, the impurities in the ore which float on the surface of the molten metal, forming a scum; so that the bullion-dross is the scum that comes from the bullion. PARADISE LOST. 43 As in an organ, from one blast of wind, To many a row of pipes the sound- board breathes. Pandemonium described: its architect \ Mulciber. Anon out of the earth a fabric huge 710 Rose, like an exhalation, with the sound Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet — Built like a temple, where pilasters round Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid With golden architrave ; nor did there want 715 Cornice or frieze with bossy sculptures graven : The roof was fretted gold. Not Babylon Nor great Alcairo such magnificence Equalled in all their glories, to enshrine Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat 720 Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove 706. various, elaborate, intricate; e.g. the frieze and the roof (706- 707) would require such mouldings. 708-709. All the pipes in an organ are supplied with wind from a wind- chest, of which the sound-board forms the upper part. 712. dulcet symphonies, sweet accompanying chords or strains (on instruments . 7 3-7 1 ? like a temple. In Greece and in Asia Minor there w re many temples, mostly Lone, and their rows of pillars formed a conspicu- ous feature. 713. pilasters, square pillars partly sunk in a wall. 714. Doric Pillars, round pillar of a massive, simple style, with plain capital Cp. note on ''Dorian mo d," 550. The other two orders of pillars are Ionic — flute I, with voluted capitals; and Corinthian — lighter columns, with highly ornamented capitals.) 71 -. Architrave The beam or stonework which rests immediately on the top of a row < f pillars; above it is an ornament called the frieze, and above that a projecting part, called the cornice. Architrave means chief beam. 716. bossy, standing out prominently. 717-720. See 694 «. 44 PARADISE LOST. In wealth and luxury. The ascending pile Stood fixed her stately highth ; and straight the doors, Opening their brazen folds, discover, wide Within, her ample spaces o'er the smooth And level pavement : from the arched roof, Pendant by subtle magic, many a row Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed With naphtha and asphaltus, yielded light As from a sky. The hasty multitude Admiring entered ; and the work some praise, And some the architect. His hand was known In Heaven by many a towered structure high, Where sceptered Angels held their residence, And sat as princes, whom the supreme King 735 Exalted to such power, and gave to rule, Each in his Hierarchy, the Orders bright. Nor was his name unheard or unadored In ancient Greece ; and in Ausonian land Men called him Mulciber ; and how he fell 740 From Heaven they fabled, thrown by angry Jove 728. A cresset was a lamp consisting of a small, open, iron cage or vessel, in which was placed rope or tow steeped in pitch, etc It was usually carried hanging from the top of a pole. 737. In the middle ages it was supposed that the angels were of two kinds, Cherubim and Seraphim, or angels of light and angels of love, divided into three groups or Hierarchies, each consisting of three Orders 739 Ausonian land, Italy; from Ausonia, an ancient name for central Italy. 740. Mulciber, the softener, the metal-founder. Another name for Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. In Greece he was called Hephaestus. He was smith and armorer to the gods of Olympus, and was represented as lame. PARADISE LOST. 45 Sheer o'er the crystal battlements : from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer's day, and with the setting sun Dropped from the zenith, like a falling star, 745 On Lemnos, the ^Egean isle. Thus they relate, Erring ; for he with this rebellious rout Fell long before ; nor aught availed him now To have built in Heaven high towers ; nor did he scape By all his engines, but was headlong sent, 750 With his industrious crew, to build in Hell. " 7Vie worthiest''' 1 summoned to a council, they and their attendants swarm in, and Jill the hall " both on the ground and in the air.% Meanwhile the winged heralds, by command Of sovran power, with awful ceremony And trumpet's sound, throughout the host proclaim A solemn council forthwith to be held 755 At Pandemonium, the high capital Of Satan and his peers. Their summons called From every band and squared regiment By place or choice the worthiest : they anon With hundreds and with thousands trooping came 7 6 ° 746. Hence this island was sacred to Hephaestus, and here he had his forge ! 750. engines, contrivances, ingenuity. Cp. Ben Jonson: " Sejanus worketh with all his ingine." 753. sovran. See 246 «. aweful, awe-inspiring. 756. Pandemonium, the palace (or temple) " of all the demons." Cp. Pantheon, a Roman temple to all the gods. 46 PARADISE LOST. Attended. All access was thronged ; the gates And porches wide, but chief the spacious hall (Though like a covered field, where champions bold Wont ride in armed, and at the Soldan's chair Defied the best of Panim chivalry 765 To mortal combat, or career with lance), Thick swarmed, both on the ground and in the air, Brushed with the hiss of rustling wings. As bees In spring-time, when the sun with Taurus rides, Pour forth their populous youth about the hive ?7° In clusters ; they among fresh dews and flowers Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank, The suburb of their straw-built citadel, New rubbed with balm, expatiate, and confer Their state affairs : so thick the aery crowd Swarmed and were straitened ; till, the signal given, The followers, at a signal, all contract : the leaders hold a council. Behoid a wonder ! They, but now who seemed In bigness to surpass Earth's giant sons, 764. soldan's, sultan's. 765. Panim, belonging to a Pagan or heathen country. 766. career, the galloping of the combatants towards one another along the course. Note the two I inds of combat referred to; in the second the points of the lances were blunted. 769. In April the sun traverses that part of the sky in which the con- stellation Taurus is situated. 773. citadel, a little city — not a fort here. 974. balm, balsam; used by Milton for any fragrant resin or gum. expatiate, spread out. confer, discuss. 776. straitened, crowded close together for want of space. PARADISE LOST. 4 7 Now less than smallest dwarfs, in narrow room Throng numberless — like that pygmean race 780 Beyond the Indian mount ; or faery elves, Whose midnight revels, by a forest side, Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while overhead the moon Sits arbitress, and nearer to the Earth Wheels her pale course : they, on their mirth and dance Intent, with jocund music charm his ear; At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds. Thus incorporeal Spirits to smallest forms Reduced their shapes immense, and were at large, ?9<= Though without number still, amidst the hall Of that infernal court. But far within, And in their own dimensions like themselves, The great Seraphic Lords and Cherubim In close recess and secret conclave sat, A thousand demigods on golden seats, Frequent and full. After short silence then, And summons read, the great consult began. 780. pygmean race. See 575 n. 781. Indian mount, the Himalayas. 785. arbitress, witness, spectator. nearer to the earth. Fairies, witches, etc., were supposed to be able to draw the moon down towards the earth by their enchantments. 795. recess, retirement, or, a retired place. conclave, assembly. This is the name specially applied to the secret meeting of cardinals at Rome when a pope is to be elected. 797. frequent, numerous, crowded; qualifying conclave. 798. consult, consultation. PARADISE LOST. BOOK II. The Argument. The consultation begun, Satan debates, whether another battle be to be hazarded for the recovery of Heaven : some advise it, others dissuade. A third proposal is preferred, mentioned before by Satan, to search the truth of that prophecy or tradition in Heaven concerning another world, and an other kind of creature equal or not much inferior to them- selves, about this time to be created : their doubt who shall be sent on this difficult search. Satan, their chief, undertakes alone the voyage, is honored and applauded. The council thus ended, the rest betake them several ways and to several employments, as their inclinations lead them, to entertain the time till Satan return. He passes on his journey to Hell- gates; finds them shut, and who sat there to guard them, by whom at length they are opened, and discover to him the great gulf between Hell and Heaven: with what difficulty he passes through, directed by Chaos, the Power of that place, to the sight of this new world which he sought. 48 BOOK II. The council opened by Satan: " We are united, and con- fident of our pozver; how can we best regain Heaven? " High on a throne of royal state, which far Outshone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold, Satan exalted sat, by merit raised To that bad eminence ; and, from despair Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue Vain war with Heaven, and, by success untaught, His proud imaginations thus displayed : — " Powers and Dominions, Deities of Heaven ! — 2. Ormus, on an island in the Persian Gulf, was at this time famous as a great and wealthy trading centre, being specially renowned for jewels. Ind, India. 4. Showers, etc. It was an Eastern custom to powder a monarch, at his coronation, with gold-dust and seed-pearl, and to strew pearls and jewels at his feet. 9. success, the result, namely — failure, defeat. 11. Powers, etc. In the middle ages it was supposed that the angels were of two kinds, Cherubim and Seraphim 1 or angels of light and angels of love , divided into three grades: Archangels or Chiefs, e.g. Michael, Raphael, and Lucifer — afterwards Satan ; Princes of various degrees, e.g. Beezlebub, Man mon, Belial; and individual Powers and Intel lgences. According to another scheme, however, there were three Hierarchies, each consisting of three Orders: 1) Seraphim. Cherubim, and Thrones; (2) Dominations, Virtue-, and Powers; 3 Principalities. Archangels, and Angels. The matter is of little importance as regards this poem, for Milton seems to use the titles at random. 49 5l's reply follows the arguments t f the preceding speech. Lines 134-142, 145-151, 159-185 re- spectively answer 11 60-70, 97-98, 85-93. The only important part of Moloch's speech which remains unanswered is the argument to show that the fallen angels could easily rise upwards (see 11. 70-81). But Belial is not bound to answer this, as he shows that even though they rose to heaven they could not surprise its impregnable towers, and would be inevitably defeated PARADISE LOST. 57 Let this be good, whether our angry foe Can give it, or will ever? How he can, Is doubtful ; that he never will is sure. Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire, x 55 Belike through impotence or unaware, To give his enemies their wish, and end Them in his anger, whom his anger saves To punish endless ! ' Wherefore cease we then ? ' Say they who counsel war; ' we are decreed, l6 ° Reserved, and destined to eternal woe : Whatever doing, what can we suffer more, What can we suffer worse? ' Is this then worst — Thus sitting, thus consulting, thus in arms? Wh. t when we fled amain, pursued, and strook l6 s With Heaven's afflicting thunder, and besought The Deep to shelter us? This Hell then seemed A refuge from those wounds. Or when we lay Chained on the burning lake ? That sure was worse. What if the breath that kindled those grim fires, x 7° Awaked, should blow them into sevenfold rage, And plunge us in the flames? or from above Should intermitted vengeance arm again His red right hand to plague us? What if all Her stores were opened, and this firmament J 7S Of Hell should spout her cataracts of fire, Impendent horrors, threatening hideous fall 156. Belike, indeed, forsooth. Ironical impotence, inabi ity to restrain his anger.) 165. amain, in large numbers and with haste. (Lit., "with force."] strook, siruck. 177. Impendent, overhanging. 58 PARADISE LOST. One day upon our heads ; while we perhaps, Designing or exhorting glorious war, Caught in a fiery tempest, shall be hurled, l8 ° Each on his rock transfixed, the sport and prey Of racking whirlwinds, or for ever sunk Under yon boiling ocean, wrapt in chains, There to converse with everlasting groans, Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved, l8 s Ages of hopeless end? This would be worse. War therefore, open or concealed, alike My voice dissuades ; for what can force or guile With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye Views all things at one view? He from Heaven's highth 1 ^> All these our motions vain sees and derides, — Not more almighty to resist our might Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles. Shall we then live thus vile, — the race of Heaveu Thus trampled, thus expelled, to suffer here J 95 Chains and these torments? Better these than worse, By my advice ; since fate inevitable Subdues us, and omnipotent decree, 182. racking, harassing, distressing. 187. So far Belial has been answering Moloch's arguments. He now treats the more general question of debate introduced by Satan. Cf. 11. 187, 188 with 1. 41. 196 Better these than worse, it is better to endure these than worse torments Belial acts upon the principle expressed i Hamlet's soliloquy, where it is said that the dread of something afier death " Makes us rather bear those ills we have Than fly to others that we know not oi." PARADISE LOST. 59 The victor's will. To suffer, as to do, Our strength is equal, nor the law unjust 2 °° That so ordains : this was at first resolved, If we were wise, against so great a foe Contending, and so doubtful what might fall. I laugh, when those who at the spear are bold And venturous, if that fail them, shrink, and fear 2 °5 What yet they know must follow — to endure Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain, The sentence of their conqueror. This is now Our doom ; which if we can sustain and bear, Our supreme foe in time may much remit 2I ° His anger, and perhaps, thus far removed, Not mind us not offending, satisfied With what is punished ; whence these raging fires Will slacken, if his breath stir not their flames. Our purer essence then will overcome 2I 5 Their noxious vapor ; or, inured, not feel ; Or, changed at length, and to the place conformed In temper and in nature, will receive Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain ; This horror will grow mild, this darkness light ; 22 ° Besides what hope the never-ending flight Of future days may bring, what chance, what change Worth waiting, since our present lot appears 201. This was at first resolved. Belial means that, when they entered upon their perilous attempt, they surely foresaw the possibility of terrible punishment, and deliberately with their eyes open resolved to run the risk. By the words " if we were wise " he implies that, if they did not see all this clearly, they were very stupid. 213. what is punished, the amount of punishment inflicted. 60 PARADISE LOST. For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, If we procure not to ourselves more woe." 22 s Thus Belial, with words clothed in reason's garb, Counselled ignoble ease, and peaceful sloth, Not peace : and after him thus Mammon spake : — Mammon's speech: " Let us give tip all thought of returning t) Heaven, and make the best of our present lot, which may become easier in time.'''' " Either to disenthrone the King of Heaven We war, if war be best, or to regain 2 3° Our own right lost. Him to unthrone we then May hope, when everlasting Fate shall yield To fickle Chance, and Chaos judge the strife. The former, vain to hope, argues as vain The latter : for what place can be for us 2 35 Within Heaven's bound, unless Heaven's Lord supreme We overpower? Suppose he should relent, And publish grace to all, on promise made Of new subjection ; with what eyes could we Stand in his presence humble, and receive 24 ° Strict laws imposed, to celebrate his throne With warbled hymns, and to his Godhead sing 228. Not peace This seems strange at first sight, seeing that Belial was entirely opposed to war, admitted the justice of their doom 200, 201J , and urged patient submission thereto. He made no acknowledgment, however, of sinful, but only of unwise action? (11. 201-203 > suggested that they should merely offend no further, not that they should confess their wrong, a»k forgiveness, and so become reconciled He assumed that they would maintain their hostile attitude until the Almighty chose to relent. His counsel then was to continue in their present antagonism. Mammon, the least noble of the " spiriis that fell." See i. 678-688. PARADISE LOST. 6 I Forced Halleluiahs ; while he lordly sits Our envied sovran, and his altar breathes Ambrosial odors and ambrosial flowers, 24 " Our servile offerings? This must be our task In Heaven, this our delight. How wearisome Eternity so spent in worship paid To whom we hate ! Let us not then pursue, By force impossible, by leave obtained Unacceptable, though in Heaven, our state Of splendid vassalage ; but rather seek Our own good from ourselves, and from our own Live to ourselves, though in this vast recess, Free and to none accountable, preferring 2 ss Hard liberty before the easy yoke Of servile pomp. Our greatness will appear Then most conspicuous, when great things ot small, Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse, We can create, and in what place soe'er 26 ° Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain Through labor and endurance. This deep world Of darkness do we dread ? How oft amidst Thick clouds and dark doth Heaven's all-ruling Sire Choose to reside, his glory unobscured, And with the majesty of darkness round Covers his throne, from whence deep thunders roar 243 Halleluiahs, from halclu, praise ye, and J ah, Jehovah. 245. Ambrosial, fragrant; lit. divine, from Gk. ambrosia, the food of the gods. A favorite word with Milton. 253. from our own — resources, labor, skill, etc., as explained below. 263-267. Psalm xviii n, 13, and xcvii. 2. 62 PARADISE LOST. Mustering their rage, and Heaven resembles Hell ! As he our darkness, cannot we his light Imitate when we please? This desert soil 2 ?° Wants not her hidden lustre, gems and gold ; Nor want we skill or art, from whence to raise Magnificence ; and what can Heaven show more ? Our torments also may in length of time Become our elements, these piercing fires 2 ?5 As soft as now severe, our temper changed Into their temper ; which must needs remove The sensible of pain. All things invite To peaceful counsels, and the settled 'state Of order, how in safety best we may 28 ° Compose our present evils, with regard Of what we are and where, dismissing quite All thoughts of war. Ye have what I advise." He scarce had finished, when such murmur filled The assembly, as when hollow rocks retain The sound of blustering winds, which all night long Had roused the sea, now with hoarse cadence lull 270-273. It was Mammon who "led them on " to find gold for their palace. 275. our elements. Perhaps in allusion to the common belief in the middle ages that each of the four '" elements " was inhabited by its own peculiar demons, and that these demons were fallen spirits. See Par. Reg., ii. 121, etc. Cp the phrase, " He is in his element." 278. sensible, sense. Cp. 97. 281. compose, settle, arrange. 229-283. Mammon's speech. (1 Does reconciliation with the Almighty seem possible in Mam- mon's case? (2) Note how the Almighty is assumed to be indifferent to what goes on outside Heaven — at least is supposed not to interfere. Butcp. 317, etc. (3) What new arguments does Mammon introduce? PARADISE LOST. 63 Seafaring men o'er-watched, whose bark by chance, Or pinnace, anchors in a craggy bay After the tempest : such applause was heard 2 9° As Mammon ended, and his sentence pleased, Advising peace ; for such another field They dreaded worse than Hell : so much the fear Of thunder and the sword of Michael Wrought still within them ; and no less desire 2 9S To found this nether empire, which might rise, By policy and long process of time, In emulation opposite to Heaven. Which when Beelzebub perceived, than whom, Satan except, none higher sat, with grave 3°o Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed A pillar of state ; deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat, and public care ; And princely counsel in his face yet shone, Majestic though in ruin. Sage he stood, 305 With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear The weight of mightiest monarchies : his look Drew audience and attention still as night 288. o'er-watched, worn out through being awake or on watch so- long. 289. pinnace, a smaller vessel than a bark, having oars and sails, or merely oars. 291. sentence, opinion. 296. nether, lower. Cp. Netherlands. (The comparative of neath.) 298. " In aims and aspirations a rival power to Heaven." 299. Beelzebub, Satan's " mate" and " compeer: " see Book i. 306. Atlantean. Atlas was one of the Titans. He made war upon, the Gods, and as a punishment had to bear the heavens on his shoulders. 308. audience, hearing. 64 PARADISE LOST. Or summer's noontide air, while thus he spake : — Beelzebub's speeches : " Pea e, war, and the building up of an empire are a I out of the question; Heaven is shut against us; let us be revenged by spoiling hi; new creation." " Thrones and imperial Powers, Offspring of Heaven, 310 Ethereal Virtues? or these titles now Must we renounce, and, changing style, be called Princes of Hell? for so the popular vote Inclines, here to continue, and build up here A growing empire ; doubtless, while we dream, 315 And know not that the King of Heaven hath doomed This place our dungeon, not our safe retreat Beyond his potent arm, to live exempt From Heaven's high jurisdiction, in new league Banded against his throne, but to remain 320 In strictest bondage, though thus far removed, Under the inevitable curb, reserved His captive multitude. For he, be sure, In highth or depth, still first and last will reign, Sole king, and of his kingdom lose no part 325 By our revolt, but over Hell extend His empire, and with iron sceptre rule Us here, as with his golden those in Heaven. 324 Cp. Rev., i. 11, " I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last " 327-328. iron sceptre . . golden. For similar symbolism, cp. v. 886, 887, " golden sceptre,"" iron rod"; and Lycidas, iio-in, where the golden key admits to heaven, the iron excludes. Cp. Psalm ii. 9. PARADISE LOST. 65 What sit we then projecting peace and war? War hath determined us, and foiled with loss u° Irreparable ; terms of peace yet none Vouchsafed or sought ; for what peace will be given To us enslaved, but custody severe, And stripes, and arbitrary punishment Inflicted? and what peace can we return, But to our power, hostility and hate, Untamed reluctance, and revenge, though slow, Yet ever plotting how the conqueror least May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice In doing what we most in suffering feel ? 340 Nor will occasion want, nor shall we need With dangerous expedition to invade Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege, Or ambush from the Deep. What if we find Some easier enterprise ? There is a place 345 (If ancient and prophetic fame in Heaven Err not), another world, the happy seat Of some new race called Man, about this time To be created like to us, though less In power and excellence, but favored more Of him who rules above ; so was his will Pronounced among the gods, and by an oath, 330. determined, made an end of us as a power, been our ruin. 336. to our power, to the extent of our power. 337. Untamed reluctance, untamable resistance. 341. want, opportunity be wanting. 346. fame, report, rumor. 66 PARADISE LOST. That shook Heaven's whole circumference, con- firmed. Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn What creatures there inhabit, of what mould, 355 Or substance, how endued, and what their power, And where their weakness, how attempted best, By force or subtlety. Though Heaven be shut, And Heaven's high Arbitrator sit secure In his own strength, this place may lie exposed, 360 The utmost border of his kingdom, left To their defence who hold it : here, perhaps, Some advantageous act may be achieved By sudden onset — either with Hell-fire To waste his whole creation, or possess All as our own, and drive, as we are driven, The puny inhabitants ; or, if not drive, Seduce them to our party, that their God May prove their foe, and with repenting hand Abolish his own works. This would surpass Common revenge, and interrupt his joy In our confusion, and our joy upraise In his disturbance ; when his darling sons, Hurled headlong to partake with us, shall curse Their frail original, and faded bliss, 375 357. attempted, tempted, tried. 367. puny, probably " less in power and excellence" (349) ; possibly, in literal sense, " later born "; (Fr puis ne). 369-370. Cp. Genesis, vi. 7, " I will destroy man . . . ; it repenteth me .that 1 have made them." 375. original, origin or originator, au.hor Adam). PARADISE LOST. 67 Faded so soon ! Advise if this be worth Attempting, or to sit in darkness here Hatching vain empires." Thus Beelzebub Pleaded his devilish counsel, first devised By Satan, and in part proposed ; for whence, 380 But from the author of all ill, could spring So deep a malice, to confound the race Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell To mingle and involve, done all to spite The great Creator? But their spite still serves 385 His glory to augment. The bold design Pleased highly those infernal States, and joy Sparkled in all their eyes. With full assent They vote : whereat his speech he thus renews : — " This plan will raise us out 0/ Hell, procure us a pleasanter abode, and perhaps enable us to attack Heaven; but whom shall we send to explore this new World? " " Well have ye judged, well ended long debate, 39° Synod of gods, and, like to what ye are, Great things resolved, which from the lowest deep Will once more lift us up, in spite of fate, Nearer our ancient seat ; perhaps in view Of those bright confines, whence, with neighboring arms 395 376. Advise, consider. 379-380. See i. 650-654. 382. confound, ruin. 387. States, as in " three estates of the realm of Great Britain." Often so used by Shakespeare. 391. Synod, an assembly, a council. 6S PARADISE LOST. And opportune excursion, we may chance Re-enter Heaven ; or else in some mild zone Dwell not unvisited of Heaven's fair light, Secure, and at the brightening orient beam Purge off this gloom ; the soft delicious air, 400 To heal the scar of these corrosive fires, Shall breathe her balm. But first, whom shall we send In search of this new world ? whom shall we find Sufficient? who shall tempt with wandering feet The dark, unbottomed, infinite Abyss. 405 And through the palpable obscure find out His uncouth way, or spread his aery flight, Upborne with indefatigable wings Over the vast abrupt, ere he arrive The happy isle? What strength, what art, can then 410 Suffice, or what evasion bear him safe Through the strict senteries, and stations thick Of Angels watching round ? Here he had need All circumspection, and we now no less Choice in our suffrage ; for on whom we send, 415 396. excursion, sally. 404. tempt, try, investigate, venture into. 406. palpable obscure, thick darkness. C p. Exodus, x. 21, " dark- ness which may be felt " 407. uncouth, unknown and strange. Cp. Scotch unco. 409. the vast abrupt, the vast and steep gulf. 412 senteries, perhaps a corruption of sentinel. Origin of word un- PARADISE LOST. 69 The weight of all, and our last hope, relies." This said, he sat ; and expectation held His look suspense, awaiting who appeared To second, or oppose, or undertake The perilous attempt ; but all sat mute, 420 Pondering the danger with deep thoughts, and each In other's countenance read his own dismay, Astonished. None among the choice and prime Of those Heaven-warring champions, could be found So hardy as to proffer or accept, 425 Alone, the dreadful voyage ; till, at last, Satan, whom now transcendent glory raised Above his fellows, with monarchal pride 310-378 and 3Q0-416. Beelzebub's speeches. 3T5. Notice the rhetorical artifice by which Beelzebub using the first person appears to include himself among the vain dreamers, whose delu-ions he is exposing. He does this to avoid giving offence to Belial and Mammon. (1) He considers Hell to be their dungeon (317 ; hence, perhaps, his dislike oi the title " Princes of Hell." (2 Why is peace out of the question? It will be noticed that Satan takes no part in the debate; he resembles the chairman of a meeting, rather than a general presiding over a council of war After suiting his proposition in the briefest terms (H.37, 38 , he leaves it to tne Council to decide what shall be done. With respect to the other four speakers and their speeches, it may be helpful to the student to make a comparison, in tabular form, of the chief points; e. g. (a) the character of the spe ker: id) the style and tone of his speech; (c) his motive and aims ; ' d , his plan ; (e 1 any striking merit or defect in it ; etc. Thus if we take the first. Moloch, very briefly, we find that 1 a) he is strong, fierce and reckless (11. 43-50 ; b he is blunt, lacking in cour- tesy, and disparaging in referring to opponents (11. 51-54, and 73 1 ; c his motive is ambition to be equal to the Almighty and desire for revenge at any c 1st (11. 46, 47, and 105 ; (d < he has no plan — urges mere brute force; (e he assumes that punishment for the failure is out of the ques- tion, because 1 1 their lot is already as bad as possible (11. 92, 93), and (2) it will not improve (1. 89). 418. suspense, in suspense. 423. Astonished, filled with dismay, appalled at the daring sug. gestion. 70 PARADISE LOST. Conscious of highest worth, unmoved thus spake : — Satan's second speech : " We may well pause; the undertaking is a perilous one, but I accept as great a share of hazard as of honor, and will make the attempt alone" " O Progeny of Heaven, empyreal Thrones ! «° With reason hath deep silence and demur Siezed us, though undismayed. Long is the way And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light; Our prison strong ; this huge convex of fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round *3. c Ninefold, and gates of burning adamant, Barred over us, prohibit all egress. These passed, if any pass, the void profound Of unessential Night receives him next, Wide-gaping, and with utter loss of being 44c Threatens him, plunged in that abortive gulf. If thence he 'scape into whatever world Or unknown region, what remains him less Than unknown dangers, and as hard escape ? But I should ill become this throne, O Peers, 445 And this imperial sovranty, adorned With splendor, armed with power, if aught proposed And judged of public moment, in the shape Of difficulty or danger, could deter Me from attempting. Wherefore do I assume 45° 434. convex, vaulted roof; or perhaps the whole of Hell. (See Intro, fig. 2.) 439. unessential, having no essence or being. 441. abortive, producing nothing. Cp. 149, 150. PARADISE LOST. 7 1 These royalties, and not refuse to reign, Refusing to accept as great a share Of hazard as of honor, due alike To him who reigns, and so much to him due Of hazard more, as he above the rest 455 High honored sits? Go, therefore, mighty Powers, Terror of Heaven, though fallen ! intend at home, While here shall be our home, what best may ease The present misery, and render Hell More tolerable ; if there be cure or charm To respite, or deceive, or slack the pain Of this ill mansion : intermit no watch Against a wakeful foe, while I abroad Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek Deliverance for us all. This enterprise 46s None shall partake with me." The council over, the leaders issue forthwith Satan: their concord suggests to the poet the discord of men. Thus saying, rose The monarch, and prevented all reply , Prudent, lest, from his resolution raised, Others among the chief might offer now (Certain to be refused) what erst they feared; v° And, so refused, might in opinion stand His rivals, winning cheap the high repute, 452. Refusing, if I refuse. 457. intend, attend to this, consider. 470. erst, at first, or before. 72 PARADISE LOST. Which he, through hazard huge, must earn. But they Dreaded not more the adventure than his voice Forbidding ; and at once with him they rose. 4 ?s Their rising all at once was as the sound Of thunder heard remote. Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone ; and as a god Extol him equal to the Highest in Heaven : Nor failed they to express how much they praised That for the general safety he despised 481 His own ; for neither do the spirits damned Lose all their virtue ; lest bad men should boast Their specious deeds on Earth, which glory excites, Or close ambition varnished o'er with zeal. Thus they their doubtful consultations dark Ended, rejoicing in their matchless chief. As when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds Ascending, while the North-wind sleeps, o'erspread Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element 490 Scowls o'er the darkened landskip snow, or shower ; If chance the radiant sun with farewell sweet Extend his evening beam, the fields revive, The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings. 4 ^ O shame to men ! Devil with devil damned Firm concord holds ; men only disagree Of creatures rational, though under hope Of heavenly grace ; and, God proclaiming peace, Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife 500 PARADISE LOST. 73 Among themselves, and levy cruel wars, Wasting the earth, each other to destroy : As if (which might induce us to accord) Man had not hellish foes enow besides, That day and night for his destruction wait \ s°b The Stygian council thus dissolved ; and forth In order came the grand infernal Peers : Midst came their mighty Paramount, and seemed Alone the antagonist of Heaven, nor less Than Hell's dread Emperor, with pomp supreme, 5*° And God-like imitated state. Him round A globe of fiery Seraphim enclosed, With bright emblazonry, and horrent arms. Then of their session ended they bid cry With trumpet's regal sound the great result. 515 Towards the four winds four speedy Cherubim Put to their mouths the sounding alchymy, By herald's voice exclaimed ; the hollow Abyss Heard far and wide, and all the host of Hell With deafening shout returned them loud acclaim 520 During Satan's absence the spirits pass the time in gam2 PARADISE LOST. Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful dart; what seemed his head The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat The monster moving onward came as fast 6 75 With horrid strides ; Hell trembled as he strode. The undaunted Fiend what this might be admired — Admired, not feared (God and his Son except, Created thing naught valued he nor shunned), And with disdainful look thus first began : 68 ° " Whence, and what art thou, execrable Shape, That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance Thy miscreated front athwart my way To yonder gates? Through them I mean to pass, That be assured, without leave asked of thee. 68 s Retire ; or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heaven." To whom the Goblin, full of wrath, replied : — " Art thou that Traitor Angel, art thou he, Who first broke peace in Heaven and faith, till then 6 9° Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons, Conjured against the Highest, for which both thou And they, outcast from God, are here condemned To waste eternal days in woe and pain ? 6 95 And reckon'st thou thyself with Spirits of Heaven, 677. admired, wondered, marvelled. 678, 679. Compare Satan with Moloch. 693. Conjured, banded together by oath. PARADISE LOST. 83 Hell-doomed, and breath'st defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, False fugitive ; and to thy speed add wings, 700 Lest with a whip of scorpions I pursue Thy lingering, or with one stroke of this dart Strange horror seize thee, and pangs unfelt before." The impending combat is prevented by Sin, who explains the situation. So spake the grisly Terror, and in shape, So speaking and so threatening, grew tenfold 705 More dreadful and deform. On the other side, Incensed with indignation, Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet burned, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge In the arctic sky, and from his horrid hair 710 Shakes pestilence and war. Each at the head Levelled his deadly aim ; their fatal hands No second stroke intend ; and such a frown Each cast at the other, as when two black clouds, With Heaven's artillery fraught, come rattling on 7*5 Over the Caspian, then stand front to front Hovering a space, till winds the signal blow To join their dark encounter in mid air : 701. whip, etc. Cp. I Kings, xii. n. 709. Ophiuchus, the Serpent, a very large constellation in the northern hemisphere. 715. fraught, laden, charged. 716. the Caspian was supposed t,by the classical poets) to be specially subject to violent storms. 84 PARADISE LOST. So frowned the mighty combatants, that Hell Grew darker at their frown ; so matched they stood ; 72 ° For never but once more was either like To meet so great a foe. And now great deeds Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung, Had not the snaky Sorceress, that sat Fast by Hell-gate, and kept the fatal key, Risen, and with hideous outcry rushed between. "O father, what intends thy hand," she cried, " Against thy only son ? What fury, O son, Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart Against thy father's head? and know'st for whom ; 730 For him who sits above, and laughs the while At thee, ordained his drudge, to execute Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids — His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both ! " She spake, and at her words the hellish Pest 735 Forebore ; then these to her Satan returned : — " So strange thy outcry, and thy words so strange Thou interposest that my sudden hand, Prevented, spares to tell thee yet by deeds What it intends, till first I know of thee 740 What thing thou art, thus double-formed, and why, In this infernal vale first met, thou callest Me father, and that phantasm call'st my son. I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable than him and thee." 74S 721. See / Corinthians, xv. 26, and Hebrews, ii. 14. PARADISE LOST. 85 The refly of Sin to Satan. To whom thus the portress of Hell-gate replied : — « Hast thou forgot me then, and do I seem Now in thine eye so foul? — once deem'd so fair In Heaven, when at the assembly, and in sight Of all the Seraphim with thee combined In bold conspiracy against Heaven's King, All on a sudden miserable pain Surprised thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy swum In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast Threw forth ; till on the left side opening wide, 755 Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright, Then shining Heavenly-fair, a goddess armed, Out of thy head I sprung. Amazement seized All the host of Heaven ; back they recoil'd afraid At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign Portentous held me ; but, familiar grown, I pleased, and with attractive graces won The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing, Becamest enamored and such joy thou took'st 765 With me in secret, that my womb conceived A growing burden. Meanwhile war arose, And fields were fought in Heaven; wherein remained (For what could else?) to our almighty foe Clear victory, to our part loss and rout Through all the Empyrean. Down they fell, 757, 758. This incident is based on the Greek legend of the birth of Minerva from the head of Jupiter. 86 PARADISE LOST. Driven headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down Into this Deep, and in the general fall I also ; at which time this powerful key Into my hands was given, with charge to keep 775 These gates for ever shut, which none can pass Without my opening. Pensive here I sat Alone ; but long I sat not, till my womb, Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown, Prodigious motion felt, and rueful throes. 780 At last this odious offspring whom thou seest, Thine own begotten, breaking violent way, Tore through my entrails, that, with fear and pain Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew Transformed ; but he, my inbred enemy, Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart Made to destroy. I fled and cried out Death! Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed From all her caves, and back resounded Death! I fled ; but he pursued (though more, it seems, 790 Inflamed with lust than rage) and, swifter far, Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed, And, in embraces forcible and foul Engendering with me, of that rape begot These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry 795 Surround me, as thou saw'st, hourly conceived And hourly born, with sorrow infinite To me ; for when they list, into the womb That bred them they return, and howl and gnaw 772. pitch, height. Pitch was a technical term for the height to which the falcon soared in order to swoop on the quarry. PARADISE LOST. 87 My bowels, their repast ; then bursting forth 8o ° Afresh with conscious terrors vex me round, That rest or intermission none I find. Before mine eyes in opposition sits Grim Death, my son and foe, who sets them on, And me, his parent, would full soon devour 8o 5 For want of other prey, but that he knows His end with mine involved, and knows that I Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane, Whenever that shall be ; so fate pronounced. But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun 8l ° His deadly arrow ; neither vainly hope To be invulnerable in those bright arms, Though tempered heavenly; for that mortal dint, Save he who reigns above, none can resist." Satan appears friendly an el explains his errand. She finished; and the subtle Fiend his lore 8l s Soon learned, now milder, and thus answered smooth : — " Dear daughter — since thou claim'st me for thy sire, And my fair son here show'st me, the dear pledge Of dalliance had with thee in Heaven, and joys Then sweet, now sad to mention, through dire change 82 ° Befallen us unforseen, unthought of — know, I come no enemy, but to set free 813 tempered heavenly, wrought in heaven. dint, blow. 815. lore, lesson. 88 PARADISE LOST. From out this dark and dismal house of pain Both him and thee, and all the Heavenly host Of Spirits, that, in our just pretences armed, S2 s Fell with us from on high. From them I go This uncouth errand sole, and one for all Myself expose, with lonely steps to tread The unfounded deep, and through the void immense To search with wandering quest a place foretold 8 3° Should be, and, by concurring signs, ere now Created vast and round, a place of bliss In the purlieus of Heaven, and therein placed A race of upstart creatures, to supply Perhaps our vacant room, though more removed, 8 35 Lest Heaven, surcharged with potent multitude, Might hap to move new broils. Be this, or aught Than this more secret now designed, I haste To know; and, this once known, shall soon return, And bring ye to the place where thou and Death 8 4° Shall dwell at ease, and up and down unseen Wing silently the buxom air, embalmed With odor ; ; there ye shall be fed and filled Immeasurably; all things shall be your prey." Sin explains her position, atid unlocks the gate, but cannot shut it. He ceased, for both seemed highly pleased, and Death 845 Grinned horrible a ghastly smile to hear 825. pretences, claims. 827. uncouth, as in 407, unknown and strange. 829. unfounded, bottomless. 833. purlieus, outskirts. " The utmost border." 842. buxom, elastic, yielding. PARADISE LOST. 89 His famine should be filled, and blessed his maw Destined to that good hour. No less rejoiced His mother bad, and thus bespake her sire : — " The key of this infernal pit, by due 8 s° And by command of Heaven's all-powerful King, I keep, by him forbidden to unlock These adamantine gates ; against all force Death ready stands to interpose his dart, Fearless to be o'ermatched by living might. 8 55 But what owe I to his commands above Who hates me and has hither thrust me down Into this gloom of Tartarus profound, To sit in hateful office here confined, Inhabitant of Heaven, and Heavenly-born, 86 ° Here in perpetual agony and pain, With terrors and with clamors compassed round Of mine own brood, that on my bowels feed ? Thou art my father, thou my author, thou My being gav'st me ; whom should I obey 86s But thee? whom follow? Thou wilt bring me soon To that new world of light and bliss, among The gods who live at ease, where I shall reign At thy right hand votuptuous, as beseems Thy daughter and thy darling, without end." 8 7° Thus saying, from her side the fatal key, Sad instrument of all our woe, she took ; And, towards the gate rolling her bestial train, Forthwith the huge portcullis high up-drew, 874. portcullis, a massive, harrow-like, iron gate, working up and down in grooves. QO PARADISE LOST. Which, but herself, not all the Stygean powers R ?5 Could once have moved ; then in the key-hole turns The intricate wards, and every bolt and bar Of massy iron or solid rock with ease Unfastens. On a sudden open fly, With impetuous recoil and jarring sound, The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus. She opened, but to shut Excelled her power : the gates wide open stood, That with extended wings a bannered host, Under spread ensigns marching, might pass through With horse and chariots ranked in loose array ; So wide they stood, and like a furnace-mouth, Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame. Satan passes out and travels on through Chaos till he co?7ies to the "pavilion" of its riders. Before their eyes in sudden view appear 8 9° The secrets ot the hoary Deep — a dark Illimitable ocean, without bound, Without dimension ; where length, breadth, and highth, And time, and place, are lost ; where eldest Night And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold 883. Erebus, another classical name for Hell. 885. wings. Cp. i. 616, 617. 889. redounding, rolling back, like waves, " surging." (928.) 895. Nature, that part of the Universe which is f ormed or created as opposed to Chaos. PARADISE LOST. 9 1 Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise Of endless wars, and by confusion stand. For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce, Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring Their embryon atoms ; they around the flag v°° Of each his faction, in their several clans, Light-armed or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow, Swarm populous, unnumbered as the sands Of Barca, or Cyrene's torrid soil, Levied to side with warring winds, and poise 9°5 Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere He rules a moment ; Chaos umpire sits, And by decision more embroils the fray By which he reigns ; next him, high arbiter, Chance governs all. Into this wild Abyss, 9 IQ 900. embryon, germ, germ-like. 904. Barca and Cyrene are two cities in N. Africa. 905. Levied, perhaps in double sense of to levy troops and Fr. lever, to raise; refers, of course, to sands. 906. Their, i e , the winds. 910. Cp. Shakespeare — " The earth that's nature's mother is h?r tomb." 895-913. This description of Chaos is based upon the philosophy of Heraclitus c. 500 B. C. and Democritus {c. 400 B. C. . The latter assumed, as the basis of nature, an infinitude of indivisible particles or atoms, varying in size, shape, and weight, but all of the same quality. These atoms, floating about in empty space, impinged on one another, and, being of various sizes and weights, moved at different rates 002). Amidst this confusion and whirl, this " concourse of atoms," certain forces or tendencies prevailed, according to which the atoms formed themselves into groups, giving us "things" nature. But these "things" again break up in course of time into their original atoms (911 . The ground, or final cause, of this process (Chaos; was Necessity or Fate, or as Democritus called it, Chance (" high arbiter," 909, 910 . Heraclitus regarded all growth and creation as due to the harmonious action of hostile principles. " Strife is the father of all things," said he: hence the description under the form of a battle. The tendencies mentioned above to take the forms of earth, air, etc. (898 and 912 , were suggested by Empedocles (c. 444 B. C), and accepted till modern times. 92 PARADISE LOST. The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave, Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire, But all these in their pregnant causes mixed Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight, Unless the Almighty Maker them ordain 9 J 5 His dark materials to create more worlds — Into this wild Abyss the wary Fiend Stood on the brink of Hell and looked awhile, Pondering his voyage : for no narrow frith He had to cross. Nor was his ear less pealed 9 2 ° With noises loud and ruinous (to compare Great things with small), than when Bellona storms, With all her battering engines, bent to rase Some capital city ; or less than if this frame Of Heaven were falling, and these elements 9 2 5 In mutiny had from her axle torn The steadfast Earth. At last his sail-broad vans He spreads for flight, and, in the surging smoke Uplifted, spurns the ground ; thence many a league As in a cloudy chair, ascending rides 93° Audacious ; but, that seat soon failing, meets A vast vacuity. All unawares, Fluttering his pennons vain, plumb-down he drops 912, 913. " Water, earth, air, and fire were not yet formed, but their component atoms were there in readiness for creation." 920. pealed, stunned, dinned Cp. " the pealing organ." 921. ruinous, crashing as of a building falling . 922. Bellona, the goddess of war. 927. vans, wings; also used in its other form, fan. 933. pennons, pinions, wings. PARADISE LOST. 93 Ten thousand fathom deep, and to this hour Down had been falling, had not, by ill chance, 935 The strong rebuff of some tumultuous cloud, Instinct with fire and nitre, hurried him As many miles aloft. That fury stayed — Quenched in a boggy Syrtis, neither sea, Nor good dry land — nigh foundered, on he fares, 940 Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, Half-flying ; behoves him now both oar and sail. As when a gryphon through the wilderness With winged course, o'er hill or moory dale Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stealth 945 Had from his wakeful custody purloined The guarded gold ; so eagerly the Fiend O'er bog, or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way, And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. 950 At length a universal hubbub wild Of stunning sounds and voices all confused, 936. rebuff, in its literal sense, a sudden beating back. 937. nitre, the chief of the three constituents of gunpowder; here used for gunpowder itself. 939. Syrtis — a quicksand. (Syrtis, a dangerous quicksand gulf on north coast of Africa.; 940. foundered, sent to the bottom, sunk. (Distinguish from wrecked.) Cp 1. 204. 942 behoves him, it is necessary for him to use, etc. Cp. " It behoved Chnst to suffer," Luke, xxiv. 46. 943-947. gryphon, or griffin, a monster, part eagle, part lion, " a kind of wild beasts that fly." According to stories in Herodotus and Pliny, there were uold-mines in the north of Europe which the griffins visited or worked The Arimaspi were a one-eyed race who tried to steal the griffin's gold. 94 PARADISE LOST. Borne through the hollow dark, assaults his ear With loudest vehemence. Thither he plies, Undaunted to meet there whatever Power 955 Or Spirit of the nethermost Abyss Might in that noise reside, of whom to ask Which way the nearest coast of darkness lies Bordering on light; when straight behold the throne Of Chaos, and his dark pavilion spread s 6 ° Wide on the wasteful Deep. With him enthroned Sat sable-vested Night, eldest of things, The consort of his reign ; and by them stood Orcus and Ades, and the dreaded name Of Demogorgon ; Rumor next and Chance, 965 And Tumult and Confusion all embroiled, And Discord with a thousand various mouths. Satan inquires his way, again promising recompense ; hears from Chaos of the newly created World, and at last comes within sight of it. To whom Satan, turning boldly, thus: — "Ye Powers And Spirits of this nethermost Abyss, Chaos and ancient Night, I come no spy, 97° With purpose to explore or to disturb The secrets of your realm ; but, by constraint Wandering this darksome desert, as my way Lies through your spacious empire up to light, 961. wasteful, full of empty wastes. 964. Orcus and Ades (or Hades , other names of Pluto, or of his realm. 965. Demogorgon, a dreaded name of a still more dreaded and myster- ious " master ot the fates," " lord of Chaos," etc. PARADISE LOST. 95 Alone and without guide, half lost, I seek, 975 What readiest path leads where your gloomy bounds Confine with Heaven ; or if some other place, From your dominion won, the Ethereal King Possesses lately, thither to arrive I travel this profound. Direct my course : 9 8 ° Directed, no mean recompense it brings To your behoof, if I that region lost, All usurpation thence expelled, reduce To her original darkness and your sway (Which is my present journey), and once more 985 Erect the standard there of ancient Night. Yours be the advantage all, mine the revenge ! " Thus Satan ; and him thus the Anarch old, With faltering speech and visage incomposed, Answered : — "I know thee, stranger, who thou art — 990 That mighty leading Angel, who of late Made head against Heaven's King, though over- thrown. I saw and heard ; for such a numerous host Fled not in silence through the frighted Deep, With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, 995 Confusion worse confounded ; and Heaven-gates Poured out by millions her victorious bands Pursuing. I upon my frontiers here 977. Confine with, border on. 985. journey, quest, purpose. 989. incomposed, disordered or disturbed (?). Not elsewhere used by Milton. g6 PARADISE LOST. Keep residence ; if all I can will serve That little which is left so to defend, IOO ° Encroached on still through our intestine broils, Weakening the sceptre of old Night : first Hell, Your dungeon, stretching far and wide beneath ; Now lately Heaven and Earth, another world Hung o'er my realm, linked in a golden chain IO °5 To that side Heaven from whence your legions fell. If that way be your walk, you have not far ; So much the nearer danger. Go, and speed ! Havoc, and spoil, and ruin, are my gain." He ceased : and Satan stayed not to reply, IOI ° But, glad that now his sea should find a shore, With fresh alacrity and force renewed Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, Into the wild expanse, and through the shock Of fighting elements, on all sides round IOI 5 Environed, wins his way : harder beset And more endangered than when Argo passed Through Bosporus betwixt the justling rocks ; Or when Ulysses on the larboard shunned Charybdis, and by the other whirlpool steered : io2 ° 1004. Heaven and Earth (like the heavens and the earth " in Genesis, j.) — the World not the Empyrean, which was before Hell) . 1017-1020. Argo, the ship in which Jason and the fifty Argonauts went in quest of the golden fleece. The justling rocks were in the Straits of Constantinople, and used to clash together when anything attempted to pass between them. Jason was advised to send on a dove, and the rocks closed; but the Argo was ready to pass through as they recoiled, and so managed to get clear in time. Scylla and Charybdis, two rocks in the Strait of Messina. The passage between them is narrow, and rendered dangerous by currents and whirlpools. Thus in avoiding one peril there is risk of running into another. 1019. larboard, left-hand side; now port. PARADISE LOST. 97 So he with difficulty and labor hard Moved on. With difficulty and labor he ; But, he once passed, soon after, when Man fell, Strange alteration ! Sin and Death amain, Following his track (such was the will of Heaven) I02 5 Paved after him a broad and beaten way Over the dark Abyss, whose boiling gulf Tamely endured a bridge of wondrous length, From Hell continued, reaching the utmost orb Of this frail World ; by which the Spirits perverse With easy intercourse pass to and fro IQ 3i To tempt or punish mortals, except whom God and good Angels guard by special grace. But now at last the sacred influence Of light appears, and from the walls of Heaven io 35 Shoots far into the bosom of dim Night A glimmering dawn. Here Nature first begins Her farthest verge, and Chaos to retire, As from her outmost works, a broken foe, With tumult less, and with less hostile din ; IQ 4° That Satan with less toil, and now with ease, Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light, And, like a weather-beaten vessel, holds Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle torn ; Or, in the emptier waste, resembling air, 1028. The bridge is described in Book x. 293-321. 1029. utmost orb, outmost sphere: see hitro. 1034. influence, in literal sense, an in-flowing, a stream. 1039. works, in the military sense. 1043. holds, makes for. io45 98 PARADISE LOST. Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold Far off the Empyreal Heaven, extended wide In circuit, undetermined square or round, With opal towers and battlements adorned Of living sapphire, once his native seat ; And fast by, hanging in a golden chain This pendent world, in bigness as a star Of smallest magnitude close by the moon. Thither, full fraught with mischievous revenge, Accursed, and in a cursed hour, he hies. 1046. Weighs, poises, balances evenly. I049, 1050. Of living sapphire goes with " battlements." PARADTSE LOST. 99 TABLE OF DEITIES MENTIONED IN LL. 392-521. Lines Deities By Whom Worshipped. Character. Scripture References. 392- Moloch. 1 The Ammon- A fire or sun god; sup- Lev. xviii. 4°5 ites. posed to be able to 21. 2) The Jews at ward off the destruc- Ps. cvi. Jerusalem. tive heat of the sun. T 37,38. Jer. vii. 31. 406- Chemos. (i)TheMoabites Like Moloch. 2 Ki. iii 27: 418 and Seon* their invader. The places mentioned in 407-11 all lie east of the Dead Sea, between Mt. Nebo in the north and R Arnon in the south. (2 The Jews at the hill Peor (hence the plaguef) and at Jerusalem. andxxili.13. *Num. xxi. 26. |Num. xxv. 2, 3, 9- Baalim (1) The various These were national 1 Kings xi. 446 and Phoenician and and other forms of 5- ASHTEROTH. Canaanitish na- tions from north Euphrates to south brook Besor) . (21 The Jews at Jerusalem. Moloch. Judg. 11. 13. Gen. xv. 18. 446- Thammuz. The Syrians, A legendary Phoenic- \ Ezek. viii. 457 Jews, J Egyp- tians, etc. ian prince killed by a boar near the river Adonis in Lebanon. The coloring of the stream in the spring floods gave rise to the legend of his " annual wound." 14. Lore. IOO PARADISE LOST. TABLE OF DEITIES — Continued. Lines. Deities. By Whom Worshipped. Character. Scripture References. 457~ Dagon. The Philistines Fish (?) and corn god . For the allusion 466 I Azot»s = Had the face and see 1 Sam. v. x : Ashdod; Ac- hands of a man, and '' Dagon was caron = Ek- the tail of a fish. fallen t :> the ron). ground . . and the head and the palms were cut off upon the threshold." 467- Rimmon. The Syrians (at Naaman, a Syr- 476 Damascus. ian leper, when cured by Fli- sha, forsook Rimmon 2 Ki. v. '. Later, Ahaz, king of Judah, set up a Syrian altar (2 Kings xvi.) 476- Osiris, The Egyp- Osiris ("the Good") , 489 Isis and Orus. tians. /sis, his consort, and Orus, their son. Osiris has another son, Typhon ("evil"), with whom he is ever in conflict, but, through the help of Isis and Orus, is never overcome- Osiris was wor- shipped under the form of a bull (Apis); Isis, of a woman with cow's horns. 490- 505 [Belial (Hebrew, wickedness, worthless- ness), not a god, but a personifi- cation of evil.] Whereas the deities are identified with open, acknowledged wickedness, " Be- lial " is used by Mil- ton to symbolize the evil that is secret, or disguised under the cloak of religion, wealth or rank. PARADISE LOST. TABLE OF DEITIES — Continued. Lines 5 of- 5-' i Deities. The Ionian (or Grecian deities, sprung from L'ranus and Ge ( iq8 11.), Heaven and Earth I Kronos or ) and ten Saturn J other and Rhea ) Titans Jove. The Giants By Whom Worshipped. The Greeks l " Javan's sue " — Crete, < Olympus, Delphi and Dodona, etc. — Romans, Gauls and Celts. Educational Morks PUBLISHED EY THE EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING COMPANY Boston New York Chicago San Francisco Adventures of a Brownie, The. Mulock ^Esop's Fables, Vol. I. Mara L. Pratt " " II. " " A First Year in Drawing. Henry T. Bailey Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll American History Stories, Vol. I. Pratt " II. « a K a jjj^ « " IV. V. In Press Applied Psychology. McLellan and John Dewey Arabian Nights. Abridged. Chapman " " Revised by Chapman Architecture. Vol. I. Outlines of Art History. Hopkins Arithmetic. The Popular Educator, Vol. I. " II. Art and the Formation of Taste. Crane Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard. M. and E. Kirby Aunt May's Bird Talks. Mrs. Poyntz Autobiography of Franklin Augsburg's Drawing. Book I. " II. " III. A Year Among the Trees. Wilson Flagg A Year With the Birds. " " B Bible Selections and Responsive Readings. Geo. W. Winslow Bible Stories, Vol. I. Myles Endicott " n a u « jjj it