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Wide hovering, all the clouds together drove From under heav'n; the hills to their supply

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The transition which the poet

makes from the vision of the deluge, to the concern it occasioned in Adam, is exquisitely graceful, and copied after Virgil, though the first thought it introduces is rather in the spirit of Ovid,

How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold &c.

I have been the more particular in my quotations out of the eleventh book of Paradise Lost, because it is not generally reckoned among the most shining books of this poem; for which reason the reader might be apt to overlook those many passages in it which deserve our admiration. The eleventh and twelfth are indeed built upon that single circumstance of the removal of our first parents from Paradise; but though this is not in itself so great a subject as that in most of the foregoing books, it is extended and diversified

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Vapour, and exhalation dusk and moist,

Sent up amain; and now the thicken'd sky
Like a dark ceiling stood; down rush'd the rain
Impetuous, and continued till the earth

No more was seen; the floating vessel swum
Uplifted, and secure with beaked prow
Rode tilting o'er the waves; all dwellings else
Flood overwhelm'd, and them with all their pomp
Deep under water roll'd; sea cover'd sea,
Sea without shore; and in their palaces
Where luxury late reign'd, sea-monsters whelp'd
And stabled; of mankind, so numerous late,
All left, in one small bottom swum imbark'd.

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all dwellings, and them with all their pomp deep under water rolled, than in mentioning so particularly and minutely the flood sweeping away corn, and trees, and cattle, and men, and houses, with their household gods? and yet these are none of the least shining passages in the Latin poet.

743. Like a dark ceiling stood ?] Ceiling may be thought too mean a word in poetry, but Milton had a view to its derivation from cœlum (Latin,) cielo (Italian,) heaven. Richardson.

752. -of mankind, so numerous late,

All left, in one small bottom swum imbark'd.] See Vida's Chris. 1. i.

Omnibus hic pauci extinctis mor. talibus ibant

Inclusi ligno summas impune per undas.

Thyer.

How didst thou grieve then, Adam, to behold
The end of all thy offspring, end so sad,
Depopulation! thee another flood,

Of tears and sorrow' a flood thee also drown'd,
And sunk thee as thy sons; till gently rear'd
By th' Angel, on thy feet thou stood'st at last,
Though comfortless, as when a father mourns
His children, all in view destroy'd at once;
And scarce to th' Angel utter'dst thus thy plaint.

O visions ill foreseen! better had I

Liv'd ignorant of future, so had borne

My part of evil only, each day's lot

Enough to bear; those now, that were dispens'd
The burd❜n of many ages, on me light

At once, by my foreknowledge gaining birth
Abortive, to torment me ere their being,

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With thought that they must be. Let no man seek 770 Henceforth to be foretold what shall befall

Him or his children; evil he may

be sure,

Which neither his foreknowing can prevent,

765. each day's lot Enough to bear ;] Matth. vi. 34. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

766. -dispens'd The burd'n of many ages,] Distributed, dealt out in parcels, to be a sufficient burden, the load of many ages. Dispensare from penso to weigh; thence comes the word pensum, the quantity of wool that was weighed out to the maids to spin, thence it means a task in general, and to dispense is to distribute these tasks to every

one. The word is used with great propriety, and in the true antique sense. See also iii. 579. Richardson.

770. Let no man seek &c.] This monition was not impertinent at a time when the folly of casting nativities was still in Warburton.

use.

773. Which neither his foreknowing can prevent,] Dr. Bentley says, that nothing follows as sequel to neither, and supposes he gave it,

Which never his foreknowing can prevent.

And he the future evil shall no less
In apprehension than in substance feel
Grievous to bear: but that care now is past,
Man is not whom to warn: those few escap'd
Famine and anguish will at last consume
Wand'ring that watʼry desert: I had hope
When violence was ceas'd, and war on earth,

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All would have then gone well, peace would have crown'd
With length of happy days the race of man ;
But I was far deceiv'd; for now I see

Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste.
How comes it thus? unfold celestial Guide,
And whether here the race of man will end.

785

To whom thus Michael. Those whom last thou

saw'st

In triumph and luxurious wealth, are they

First seen in acts of prowess eminent

And great exploits, but of true virtue void;

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Who having spilt much blood, and done much waste

Subduing nations, and achiev'd thereby

Fame in the world, high titles, and rich prey,

Shall change their course to pleasure, ease, and sloth, Surfeit, and lust, till wantonness and pride

But neither is not always followed by nor, but sometimes by and; and I wonder the Doctor should object to this manner of speaking, when it is so frequent and so elegant in Latin. Vide quid agas, ne neque illi prosis, et tu pereas. Terence Eun. Homo neque meo judicio stultus, et suo valde sapiens. Cicero de Oratore.

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Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace.
The conquer'd also, and inslav'd by war

Shall with their freedom lost all virtue lose
And fear of God, from whom their piety feign'd
In sharp contest of battle found no aid

Against invaders; therefore cool'd in zeal

Thenceforth shall practise how to live secure,
Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords

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Shall leave them to enjoy; for th' earth shall bear
More than enough, that temp'rance may be tried: 805
So all shall turn degenerate, all deprav'd,

Justice and temp'rance. truth and faith forgot;
One man except, the only son of light
In a dark age, against example good,
Against allurement, custom, and a world
Offended; fearless of reproach and scorn,
Or violence, he of their wicked ways
Shall them admonish, and before them set

The paths of righteousness, how much more safe,
And full of peace, denouncing wrath to come,
On their impenitence; and shall return

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Of them derided, but of God observ'd
The one just man alive; by his command

Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheld'st,
To save himself and household from amidst
A world devote to universal wrack.

798. Shall with their freedom lost all virtue lose] Milton every where shews his love of liberty; and here he observes very rightly, that the loss of liberty is soon followed by the loss of all virtue

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and religion. There are such sentiments in several parts of his prose works, as well as in Aristotle and other masters of politics.

821. A world devote to uni

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