As in his presence, ever to observe His providence, and on him sole depend, Still overcoming evil, and by small Accomplishing great things, by things deem'd weak And to the faithful death the gate of life; To whom thus also th' Angel last replied. 568. Subverting worldly strong, &c.] 1 Cor. i. 27. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And so in the rest there is the sense of Scripture, if not the very words. As to obey is best, 1 Sam. xv. 22. Behold to obey is better than sacrifice. And on him sole depend, 1 Pet. v. 7. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. And merciful over all his works, Psal. cxlv. 9. His mercies are over all his works, &c. 565 570 575 580 574. To whom thus also th' angel last replied.] This is the last speech of the angel, as the foregoing one was the last speech of Adam; and they are both introduced in the same manner. It was said before, —thus Adam last replied: and here it is said again, -thus also th' angel last replied. This repetition is not below our notice. 581.only add &c.] See 2 Pet. i. 5. &c. And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, know B b 4 Deeds to thy knowledge answerable, add faith, Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath 585 To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess A Paradise within thee, happier far. Let us descend now therefore from this top Exacts our parting hence; and see the guards, ledge; and to knowledge, temper- 588. -from this top Of speculation;] From this visionary height, from this hill of prophecy and prediction. Speculation, a watching on a tower or high place, thence a discovery, therefore applied to the prophets in the sacred page, who are called 590 595 seers and watchmen, speculatores, of specula Latin, a watch-tower; Son of Man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel, Ezek. iii. 17. more exactly described chap. xxxiii. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Hume. So Par. Reg. iv. 236. This specular mount. Richardson. Specula and speculator are used in this sense by the Latin poets. Præceps aerii specula de montis in undas Deferar. Virg. Eclog. viii. 59. See also Statius, 2 Sylv. ii. 3. and Silius Italicus, vii. 521. Dunster. The great deliverance by her seed to come 600 605 He ended, and they both descend the hill; Descended, Adam to the bow'r where Eve Lay sleeping ran before, but found her wak'd; And thus with words not sad she him receiv'd. Whence thou return'st, and whither went'st, I know; For God is also' in sleep, and dreams advise, Which he hath sent propitious, some great good Presaging, since with sorrow' and heart's distress Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on 608. but found her wak'd;] There is some inconsistence between this and what is said in the argument to this book, which was written afterwards. There it is said that Adam wakens Eve, but here that he found her waked. 609. And thus with words not sad she him receiv'd.] Milton's poem ends very nobly. The last speeches of Adam and the archangel are full of moral and instructive sentiments. The sleep that fell upon Eve, and the effects it had in quieting the disorders of her mind, produce the same kind of consolation in the reader, who cannot peruse the last beautiful speech, which is ascribed to the mother of mankind, without a secret plea 611 sure and satisfaction. The following lines, which conclude the poem, rise in a most glorious blaze of poetical images and expressions. Addison. 611. For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,] Is also in sleep, and admonishes by dreams as well as by visions, according to Numb. xii. 6. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and I will speak unto him in a dream. And thus Homer, Iliad. i. 63. Kai vag T ονας Ex Aos 5. Nam et somnium quoque ab Jove est. And the application is very elegant in this place, as Adam's was a vision, and Eve's a dream, and God was in the one as well as in the other. 615 In me is no delay; with thee to go, I carry hence; though all by me is lost, 620 So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard To their fix'd station, all in bright array Our poet observes the To #g, the decorum to the last degree, making our first parents such perfect patterns of modesty, as to forbear their endearments, though but in words, at the angel's approach. Hume. 629. Gliding meteorous,] Heliodorus in his Ethiopics acquaints us, that the motion of the gods differs from that of mortals, as the former do not stir their feet, nor proceed step by step, but slide over the surface of the earth by an uniform The reader may observe with swimming of the whole body. how poetical a description Mil ton has attributed the same kind of motion to the angels who were to take possession of Paradise. Addison. Ris'n from a river o'er the marish glides, 630. —marish] An old word for marsh, of the French marais, and of the Latin mariscus, rushes commonly growing there. The word occurs in 1 Maccab. ix. 42. they turned again to the marish of Jordan; and again, ver. 45. the marish likewise and wood. We meet with it too in Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI. act i. as Mr. Pope and Mr. Warburton rightly read the passage, Our isle be made a marish of salt tears. And throughout the course of our remarks we have been the more willing to explain and illustrate our author by similar expressions and sentiments in Shakespeare, not only because Milton was a great reader and admirer of his works, but also because we conceive Shakespeare and Milton to be two of the most extraordinary geniuses and 630 635 640 greatest poets, whom any country or any time has produced. 635. And vapour] Hor. Epod. iii. 15. Nec tantus unquam siderum insedit vapor Siticulosa Apuliæ. 637. In either hand &c.] The author helped his invention in the following passage, by reflecting on the behaviour of the angel, who in holy writ has the conduct of Lot and his family. The circumstances drawn from that relation are very gracefully made use of on this occasion. Addison. 641. They looking back, &c.] The scene which our first parents are surprised with, upon their looking back on Paradise, wonderfully strikes the reader's imagination, as nothing can be more natural than the tears they shed on that occasion. Addison. |