In all his lineaments, though in his face Of hazard, which admits no long debate, But must with something sudden be oppos'd, Not force, but well couch'd fraud, well woven snares, Ere in the head of nations he appear Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth. The dismal expedition to find out And ruin Adam, and th' exploit perform'd Will waft me; and the way found prosp'rous once He ended, and his words impression left 95 100 105 110 To him their great dictator, whose attempt 113. To him their great dictator,] Milton applies this title very properly to Satan in his present situation, as the authority he is now vested with is quite dictatorial, and the expedition on which he is going of the utmost consequence to the fallen angels. Thyer. 116. Hell's deep-vaulied den] In the Par. Lost there are some similar descriptions of hell. 115 120 danger and difficulty as in his first expedition to ruin mankind. It is said in reference to what he had spoken before, I, when no other durst, sole under- The dismal expedition to find out -a calmer voyage now Girded with snaky wiles, alluding to the habit of sorcerers and necromancers, who are represented —the fiery concave. ii. 635. Hovering on wing under the cope of in some prints as girded about hell. i. 345. the middle with the skins of snakes and serpents; a cincture totally opposite to that recommended by the Apostle, Eph. vi. 14. having your loins girt about with truth; and worn by our Saviour, Isa. xi. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 120.-girded with snaky wiles,] The imagery very fine, and the circumstances extremely proper. Satan is here figured engaging on a great expedition, succinct, and his habit girt about him with a girdle of snakes; which puts us in mind of the instrument of the fall. Warburton. But girded here is used only in a metaphorical sense, as in C Where he might likeliest find this new-declar'd, The purpos'd counsel pre-ordain'd and fix'd the passages cited from the At length collecting all his serpent wiles. Dunster. 122. This man of men, attested Son of God,] The phrase is low, and I wish the poet had rather written This man, of heav'n attested Son of In the holy Scriptures God of ness in the words themselves to support the dignity of the phrase: which is wanting in Milton's man of men. Calton. 128. in full frequence] So frequent and full, Par. Lost, i. 797. where see the note. E. 129. —thus to Gabriel smiling spake.] This speech is properly addressed to Gabriel particularly among the angels, as he seems to have been the angel particularly employed in the embassies and transactions relating to the Gospel. Gabriel was sent to in 125 form Daniel of the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks; Gabriel notified the conception of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and of our blessed Saviour to his virgin mother. And the Jewish Rabbis say, that Michael was the minister of severity, but Gabriel of mercy: Gabriel the guardian angel of and accordingly our poet makes Paradise, and employs Michael to expel our first parents out of Paradise and for the same reason this speech is directed to Gabriel in particular. And God's being represented as smiling may be justified not only by the heathen poets, as Virg. Æn. i. 254. Olli subridens hominum sator atque deorum : but by the authority of Scripture itself. See Paradise Lost, v. 718. 129. Tasso speaking of Gabriel, in the opening of the Gerusalemme Liberata, says, E tra Dio questi e l' anime migliori Interprete fedel, nuncio giocondo: Giù i decreti del ciel porta, ed al cielo Riporta dè mortali i preghi, e 'l zelo. "Twixt God and souls of men that righteous been Ambassador is he for ever blest; Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God; 130 Then told'st her doubting how these things could be To her a virgin, that on her should come 135 141 The Holy Ghost, and the pow'r of the Highest contrary to the usage of our language. So ver. 221. of this book, Yet held it more humane &c. where the passage is confused for want of the pronoun I. So also ver. 85. This is my Son belov'd. In him am pleas'd. We may in this respect apply to Milton what Cicero has said of the ancient orators; Grandes erant verbis, crebri sententiis, compressione rerum breves, et ob eam ipsam causam interdum subobscuri. Brutus, 29. Ed. Proust. Dunster. 137. Then told'st her doubting 144. because he boasts And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng Whate'er his cruel malice could invent. All his vast force, and drive him back to hell, To exercise him in the wilderness, There he shall first lay down the rudiments 145 150 155 To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes, This alludes to what Satan had I, when no other durst, sole undertook &c. Thyer. 1.60 Quod si militiæ jam te, puer inclyte, prima Clara rudimenta. Stat. 5. Sylv. ii. 3. 161. His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength, And all the world,] We may compare Par. Lost, xii. 567. See also 1 Cor. i. 27. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And Ps. viii. 2. compared with Matt. xxi. 16. And John xvi. 33. I have overcome the world. Dunster. 163. That all the angels and ethereal powers, &c.] Not a word is said here of the Son of God, but what a Socinian would allow. |