Mine both in heav'n and earth to do thy will Justice with mercy', as may illustrate most Attendance none shall need, nor train, where none 71. .70 75 80 and confusion of our first parents, standing naked before their Judge, is touched with great beauty. Addison. 74. for so I undertook] See book iii. 236. &c. 80. Attendance none shall need,] This is either an elliptical way of speaking for I shall need no attendance or rather the word need, though commonly used as a verb active, is here used as a verb neuter, and means no attendance shall be wanting; and so it is used likewise in iii. 340. Then thou thy regal sceptre shalt lay by, For regal sceptre then no more shall need, God shall be all in all. 84. Conviction to the serpent none belongs.] No proof is needful against the serpent, com Thus saying, from his radiant seat he rose Eden and all the coast in prospect lay. Down he descended straight; the speed of Gods 85 90 Time counts not, though with swiftest minutes wing'd. Now was the sun in western cadence low From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour To fan the earth now wak'd, and usher in The evening cool, when he from wrath more cool 95 To sentence man: the voice of God they heard 100 Brought to their ears, while day declin'd; they heard, pelled by Satan to be the ignorant instrument of his malice against mankind, now mute and unable to answer for himself. Hume. 86. Of high collateral glory:] He uses collateral, as he does most other words, in a sense agreeable to the etymology, side by side. The Son sat at the right hand of the Father, and rising from thence he may properly be said to rise from his seat of high collateral glory, or as it is elsewhere expressed, vi. 747. from the right hand of glory where he sat. The word was used before in viii. 426. Collateral love, and dearest amity, that is, in other words, iv. 485. -to have thee by my side Henceforth an individual solace dear. 92. Now was the sun in western cadence low From noon, and gentle airs &c.] This beautiful description is founded upon this verse, Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. 102. to Adam call'd aloud. Where art thou Adam ?] Gen. iii. 9. And the Lord God 105 Where art thou Adam, wont with joy to meet called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? It is curious to observe how the poet paraphrases and enlarges upon the divine historian. 116. I heard thee in the gard'n, and of thy voice Afraid, being naked, hid myself.] Gen. iii. 10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 120 121. that thou art naked, Hath told thee? hast thou eaten thou should'st not eat?] Gen. iii. 11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? O heav'n! in evil strait this day I stand My other self, the partner of my life; By my complaint; but strict necessity 125 130 Devolv'd; though should I hold my peace, yet thou 135 This Woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help, So fit, so acceptable, so divine, That from her hand I could suspect no ill, To whom the sovran Presence thus replied. 137. This Woman, whom thou mad'st to be my help, And gav'st me as thy perfect gift She gave me of the tree, and I did eat.] Gen. iii. 12. And the man said, The woman, whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. We see that he still preserves all that is Scripture, though he intermixes 140 145 other things which were likely enough to have been said and done. Adam speaks of Eve much in the same strain as he had done before to the angel, viii. 549. -what she wills to do or say Seems wisest &c. And his unwillingness to accuse his wife, and yet the necessity of his doing it, are finely imagined. Superior, or but equal, that to her Thou didst resign thy manhood, and the place Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done? Which when the Lord God heard, without delay 150 155 160 c. 2. Has partes lenitatis et mi She was indeed, and lovely to sericordiæ, quas me natura ipsa attract Thy love, not thy subjection;] The same sort of sentiment as the angel had inculcated, viii. 568. -fair no doubt, and worthy well Thy cherishing, thy honouring, and thy love, Not thy subjection. And in other parts of his works our author seems to have been a strenuous advocate for keeping ·up the authority of the husband. 155. thy part And person,] A pure Latinism. The personæ dramatis. So Cicero, pro Muren. docuit, semper ago libenter, illam vero gravitatis, severitatis personam non appetivi. Milton in his History of England, p. 37. edit. Tol. uses the word thus, "If it were an honour to that "person which he sustained." Richardson. 158. Say Woman, what is this which thou hast done?] Gen. iii. 13. And the Lord God said unto the Woman, What is this that thou hast done? 162. The Serpent me beguil'd, and I did eat.] And the Woman said, The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. |