And the great Thisbite, who on fiery wheels Rode up to heav'n, yet once again to come. Therefore as those young prophets then with care 16. And the great Thisbite.] Or Tishbite, as he is called in Scripture, 1 Kings xvii. 1. Elijah, a native of Thisbe or Tishbe, a city of the country of Gilead beyond Jordan. Yet once again to come. For it hath been the opinion of the Church, that there would be an Elias before Christ's second coming as well as before his first: and this opinion the learned Mr. Mede supports from the prophecy of Malachi, iv. 5. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, &c. and from what our Saviour says, Matt xvii. 11. Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. These words our Saviour spake when John Baptist was beheaded, and yet speaks as of a thing future, αποκαταστησει Tavra, and shall restore all things. But as it was not Elias in person, but only in spirit, who appeared before our Saviour's first coming, so will it also be before his second. The reader may see the arguments at large in Mr. Mede's Discourse xxv. which no doubt Milton had read, not only on account of the fame and excellence of the writer, but as he was also his fellow-collegian. 17. yet once again to come.] Milton's words however may refer to the coming of Elijah in the person of the Baptist; we may with equal propriety understand, who was, or, who is, yet once again to come. So likewise (as Mr. Dunster observes) Bp. Pearce and Beza interpret our Saviour's words, (Matt. xvii. 11.) with reference to the prophecy already fulfilled when our Saviour uttered them. Mr. Warton and Mr. Dunster notice Milton's frequent allusions to Elijah and his ascension, El. iv. 97. In obitum. Præs. Eliensis, 49. Epigr. i. 5. and in the Passion, st. vi. and Mr. Dunster even imagines that the undaunted spirit of this eminent prophet, and the part assigned him of resisting the tyranny of wicked kings, and denouncing God's judgments against them, might contribute to make him a favourite with our author. E. 18. Therefore as those young prophets then with care Sought lost Elijah, &c.] 2 Kings ii. 17. They sent fifty men, and they sought three days, but found him not. So in each place these nigh to Bethabara: such ellipses, as Mr. Sympson observes, are frequent, and especially in our author. In Jericho the city of palms, so it is called, Deut. xxxiv. 3. and Josephus, Strabo, Fliny, and all writers, describe it as abounding with those trees. Enon, mentioned John iii. 23. as is likewise Salim or Salem. And John also was baptizing in Enon near to Salim. But there appears to be no particular reason for our author's calling it Salem old, unless he takes it to be the same with the Shalem mentioned Gen. xxxiii. 18. or confounds it with the Salem where Melchizedeck was king. Sought lost Elijah, so in each place these The city' of palms, Ænon, and Salem old, Macharus, a castle in the mountainous part of Perea or the country beyond Jordan, which river is well known to run through the lake of Genezareth, or the sea of Tiberias, or the sea of Galilee, as it is otherwise called. So that they searched in each place on this side Jordan, or in Peraa, gav Logdavou, beyond it.. 21. -Salem old,] Milton had good authority for terming Salem, Salem old. Adrichomius, speaking of Salem or Salim, says, Ex veteribus Hebræorum Rabbinis docet Hieronymus, non videri hanc esse Hierusalem, quod nomen ipsum demonstrat ex Græco Hebraicoque compositum, sed oppidum juxta Scythopolim, quod usque hodie appellatur Salem; ubi ostenditur palatium Melchizedec, ex magnitudine ruinarum veteris operis ostendens magnificentiam de quo in posteriore parte Geneseos scriptum est: Venit Jacob in Soccoth, et transivit in Salem civitatem regionis Sichem. See Hieronym. Epist. ad Evag. The Septuagint, Gen. xxxiii. 18, writes it as aλnu. Dunster. 20 25 26. Where winds with reeds and osiers whisp'ring play,] Reland in his Palæstina, speaking of the river Jordan, says, Salices, tamarisci, agnus castus, et cannæ ingentes, quæ usum hastarum præbent, crescunt ad ripam ejus, uti referunt avTOTTAI. Illa arundineta ripam Jordanis ita obsident, ut per ea aqua fluminis vix conspici possit. To this purpose he cites Joannes Phocas, and De la Valle. And the descriptions of Adrichomius and Dr. Maundrell agree with theirs. -whispering play. Milton is particularly fond of this image, and has introduced it in many beautiful passages of the Par. Lost. He also applies whispering to the flowing of a stream; to the air that plays upon the water, or by the side of it; and to the combined sounds of the breeze and the current: as in the Latin poem in adventum Veris, 89. and in Lycidas, 136. Dunster. 27. Plain fishermen, no greater men them call,] Imitated from the beginning of Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar. A shepherd's boy, no better do him call. Close in a cottage low together got, 30. Alas, from what high hope &c.] So we read in the first edition; in most of the others it is absurdly printed Alas, from that high hope to what relapse Væ misero mihi, quanta de spe decidi! Terence Heaut. ii. iii. 9. 34. full of grace and truth;] John i. 14. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us-full of grace and truth. 36. The kingdom shall to Israel be restor❜d:] They are properly made to talk in the language, and according to the expectations of the Jews. Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the king dom to Israel? Acts i. 6. 42. God of Israël, &c.] This sudden turn, and breaking forth into prayer to God, is beautiful 30 35 40 as it is surprising: and the prayer itself is conceived very much in the spirit of the Psalms, and almost in the words of some of them. 42. Milton probably had in mind the hymn of the disciples, (Acts iv. 27.) who cite from the second Psalm, The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. Mr. Dunster thinks it possible that some allusion might be here intended to the situation of Milton's party at the Restoration. E. 51. pointed at and shown] Should it not be pointed out? But perhaps Milton had Persius in his mind, Sat. i. 28. -Digito monstrari, et dicier hic est. Behold the kings of th' earth how they oppress 45 50 Nor will withdraw him now, nor will recall, 55 Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence; Soon we shall see our hope, our joy return. Thus they out of their plaints new hope resume 60 Within her breast though calm, her breast though pure, 56. Mock us with his blest sight, then snatch him hence ;] Virgil, En. i. 407. ** -falsis Ludis imaginibus. Æn. vi. 870. guages delight in brevity. Milton certainly is fond of it in ours. His style is exceedingly elliptical, and sometimes cramped by an unnatural conciseness. Calton. The construction is, But to his mother-within her breast Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, motherly cares and fears got head, neque ultra Esse sinent. Jortin. 60. But to his mother Mary] The meaning must be, ad matrem quod attinet-as for or as to his mother Mary-for her part. Sanctius observes, that all lan and raised some troubled thoughts: and if the words were brought thus near together, there would not perhaps be thought that difficulty and perplexity in the syntax. 63. Within her breast, though calm, her breast though pure, Motherly cares and fears got head, and rais'd 66 Some troubled thoughts, which she in sighs thus clad. 70. In such a season born when scarce a shed Could be obtain'd to shelter him or me Motherly cares and fears got plainly trace him to Mary's head,] A sentiment much of the same kind with that in the Paradise Lost, x. 23. -dim sadness did not spare That time celestial visages, yet mix'd With pity, violated not their bliss: and may also serve to confirm what has been observed in the note upon that place. Thyer. 65. in sighs thus clad.] Thus Cicero; Sententias reconditas exquisitasque mollis et pellucens vestiebat oratio. De Clar. Orator. 274. Ed. Proust. And again, 327. And thus our author in the Vacation Exercise," clothe my fancy in fit sound." Drum mond of Hawthornden has a similar figure of speech in that beautiful sonnet, beginning, "Sweet bird, that sing'st away the early hours." Dunster. 66. O what avails me now that honour high, &c.] In several parts of this speech Milton appears to have had Vida in his mind. In this opening of it, at v. 77. and from v. 87 to 92, we VOL. III. lamentation under the cross; At non certe olim præpes demissus Nuntius hæc pávidæ dederat promissa Sic una ante alias felix ego, sic ego cæli Incedo regina? mea est hæc gloria |