Because the Father t' whom in Heav'n supreme 815 820 825 830 835 Plagues; they astonisht, all resistance lost, All courage; down their idle weapons dropp'd: O'er shields and helms, and helmed heads he rode 840 Of Thrones and mighty seraphim prostrate, That wisht the mountains now might be again Thrown on them as a shelter from his ire. Nor less on either side tempestuous fell His arrows, from the fourfold-visag'd four, 845 Distinct with eyes, and from the living wheels, One spirit in them rul'd, and every eye Glar'd lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire Among th' accurst, that wither'd all their strength, 850 Exhausted, spiritless, afflicted, fall'n. Yet half his strength he put not forth, but check'd His thunder in mid volley, for he meant Not to destroy, but root them out of Heav'n: 855 The overthrown he rais'd, and as a herd 860 Urg'd them behind; headlong themselves they threw 865 'Hell heard th' unsufferable noise, Hell saw 870 Yawning receiv'd them whole, and on them clos'd: 875 Sole victor from th' expulsion of his foes 880 Messiah his triumphant chariot turn'd: To meet him all his saints, who silent stood With jubilee advanc'd; and as they went, Shaded with branching palm, each order bright, R 885 And temple of his mighty Father thron'd On high: who into glory him receiv'd, 890 Where now he sits at the right hand of bliss. 'Thus measuring things in Heav'n by things on Earth At thy request, and that thou may'st beware By what is past, to thee I have reveal'd 895 What might have else to human race been hid; The discord which befell, and war in Heav'n Which would be all his solace and revenge, 900 905 910 Of disobedience; firm they might have stood, Of the following Notes, the greater portion has been selected from those appended to the best editions of Milton, but illustrations have also been drawn from other sources. I have endeavoured to carry out the recommendation of Mr. Abbott in his Essay on the Teaching of English, and to set before the student condensed and suggestive information upon salient points, rather than a complete and detailed commentary. Those who require a fuller exposition should consult the notes on the Early Poems by Warton, valuable for their array of parallel passages, or those to the Poetical Works, by Mr. Keightley, from which latter the following pages have frequently been enriched. It is an agreeable duty to acknowledge the assistance which I, and all lovers of Milton's poetry, have received from the labours of the accomplished editor. To the illustrative passages from the Bible, Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Shakespeare, and the First and Second Books of the Faery Queene (already published in this Series), references only, for the most part, are given in these Notes. Quotations from other classical writers, and from the later books of Spenser, are given (when necessary) in full. R. C. B. |