n A gloomy consistory "; and them amidst, O ancient powers of air, and this wide world; 45 50 55 storms, thunder, &c., says, "ad ista caliginosa, id est, ad hunc aërem, tanquam ad carcerem, damnatus est diabolus," &c. "Enarr. in Ps." 148, s. 9, tom. 5, p. 1677, edit. Bened.-THYER. A gloomy consistory. This is an imitation of Virg. "Æn." iii. 677: Cernimus astantes nequicquam lumine torvo Concilium horrendum. By the word "consistory," I suppose Milton intends to glance at the meeting of the pope and cardinals so named, or perhaps at the episcopal tribunal, to all which sorts of courts or assemblies he was an avowed enemy. The phrase concilium horrendum, Vida makes use of upon a like occasion of assembling the infernal powers, "Christ." lib. 1. Protinus acciri diros ad regia fratres Limina, concilium horrendum. And Tasso also, in the very same manner, "Gier. Lib." c. iv. st. 2:— Che sia commanda il popol suo raccolto • O ancient powers of air, and this wide world. So the devil is called in Scripture "The prince of the power of the air," Eph. ii. 2; and evil spirits are termed the "rulers of the darkness of this world," Eph. vi. 12. Satan here summons a council, and opens it as he did in the "Paradise Lost:" but here is not that copiousness and variety which is in the other; here are not different speeches and sentiments adapted to the different characters; it is a council without a debate; Satan is the only speaker: and the author, as if conscious of this defect, has artfully endeavoured to obviate the objection, by saying that their danger and afterwards, Admits no long debate, But must with something sudden be opposed: No time was then For long indulgence to their fears or grief. The true reason is, he found it impossible to exceed or equal the speeches in his former council, and therefore has assigned the best reason he could for not making any in this.-NEWTON. They who have been taught to think, by the cant of common critics, that this poem is unworthy of the great genius of Milton, may read the first two speeches in it; this of Satan, with which the poem judiciously opens; and that of God, at ver. 130 of this book.-Jos. WARTON. P Long the decrees of Heaven Delay, for longest time to him is short. This observation, that "the decrees of Heaven are long delayed," must be understood as being limited to this particular instance; or to its being sometimes, not always And now, too soon for us, the circling hours This dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we So. Must bide the stroke of that long-threaten'd wound, To be infringed, our freedom and our being, In this fair empire won of earth and air: For this ill news I bring 9; the woman's Seed, His birth to our just fear gave no small cause; But his growth now to youth's full flower, displaying Why any interval should ever occur between the decrees of the Almighty and his execution of them, a reason is immediately subjoined, which forms a peculiarly fine transition to the succeeding sentence. Time is as nothing to the Deity; long and short having, in fact, no existence to a Being with whom all duration is present: time to human beings has its stated measurement, and by this Satan has just before estimated it : How many ages, as the years of men, : Time to guilty beings, human or spiritual, passes so quick, that the hour of punishment, however protracted, always comes too soon :— And now, too soon for us the circling hours This dreaded time have compass'd, wherein we Must bide the stroke of that long-threaten'd wound.-DUNSTER. For this ill news I bring, &c. In the fourth act of the "Adamo," of Andreini, Lucifer similarly announces the incarnation to the demons.-DUNSTER. 1 John, iii. 3. Purified, to receive him pure. "And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is pure."-NEWTON. Heaven above the clouds Unfold her crystal doors. It is the same idea in the "Ode on the Nativity," st. 13:-"Ring out, ye crystalspheres:" and in the Latin ode, "Præsul. Elien." ver. 63 :— Donec nitentes ad fores Ventum est Olympi, et regiam crystallinam. Compare also "Paradise Lost," vi. 771 :— He on the wings of seraphs rode sublime A perfect dove descend, (whate'er it meant) But must with something sudden be opposed, Of hazard, which admits no long debate, (Not force, but well-couch'd fraud, well-woven snares ") 85 90 95 Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth. I, when no other durst, sole undertook The dismal expedition, to find out And ruin Adam; and the exploit perform'd Again, b. i. 741 :— Thrown by angry Jove Sheer o'er the crystal battlements. 100 See also b. vi. 756, 860. Milton's "crystal battlements" are in the imagery of romance: the "crystalline sphere" is from the Ptolemaic or Gothic system of astronomy, "Paradise Lost,” iii, 482: and so perhaps Spenser, "Tears of the Muses :” For hence we mount aloft into the skie, And look into the crystall firmament.-T. WARTON. He had expressed it before, ver. 30, "in likeness of a dove," agreeably to St. Matthew, "the Spirit of God descending like a dove," iii. 16, and to St. Mark, "the Spirit like a dove descending upon him," i. 10. But as Luke says, that "the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape," iii. 22, the poet supposes, with Tertullian, Austin, and others of the fathers, that it was a real dove, as the painters always represent it.-NEWTON. " And sore have felt, When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep. In reference to the sublime description, in the "Paradise Lost," of the Messiah driving the rebel angels out of heaven, b. vi. 834, &c.—Dunster. ▾ Who this is we must learn. Our author favours the opinion of those writers, Ignatius and others among the ancients, and Beza and others among the moderns, who believed that the devil, though he might know Jesus to be some extraordinary person, yet knew him not to be the Messiah, the Son of God.-NEWTON. It was requisite for the poet to assume this opinion, as it is a necessary hinge on which part of the poem turns.-Dunster. w Well-woven snares. Thus Spenser, "Astrophel," st. 17:— There is well-woven toils, and subtle traines He laid, &c.-DUNSTER. The fear and unwillingness of the other fallen angels to undertake this dismal expedition, is particularly described in the "Paradise Lost," b. ii. 420, &c.-DUNSTER. Will waft mey; and the way, prosperous once, 105 He ended, and his words impression left 110 115 120 Thus, in "Paradise Lost," b. ii. 1041, where Satan begins to emerge out of chaos, it is said the remainder of the journey became so much easier, That Satan with less toil, and now with ease, Wafts on the calmer wave.-DUNSTER. To him, their great dictator. Milton applies this title very properly to Satan in his present situation; as the authority he is now vested with is quite dictatorial, and the expedition on which he is going of the utmost consequence to the fallen angels.-THYER. a To the coast of Jordan. The wilderness, where our Saviour underwent his forty days' temptation, was on the same bank of Jordan where the baptism of John was; St. Luke witnessing it, that Jesus being now baptized, "returned from Jordan."--NEWTON. b His easy steps. In reference, as Dr. Newton has observed, to the calmness or easiness of his present expedition, compared with the danger and difficulty of his former one to ruin mankind. Accordingly Satan in the conclusion of his speech had said A calmer voyage now • Girded with snaky wiles. "Girded with snaky wiles" alludes to the habits of sorcerers and necromancers, who are represented in some prints as girded about the middle with the skins of snakes and serpents.-NEWTON. This being "girt about with a girdle of snakes," puts us in mind, says Warburton, of the instrument of the Fall. Surely this interpretation is a far-sought and groundless refinement; as is also the remark on ver. 310, of the wild beasts growing mild at our Saviour's appearance as a mark of the returning paradisiacal state.-Jos. WARTON. "Girded" here seems used only in a metaphorical sense; as in Scripture, the christian, properly armed, is described having his "loins girt about with truth," Ephes. vi. 14. "Girded with snaky wiles" is equivalent to the "dolis instructus" of Virgil, "En." ii. 152. Thus also, at the beginning of the third book of this poem, Satan is described, At length collecting all his serpent wiles.-DUNSTER. To end his reign on earth, so long enjoy'd: The purposed counsel, preordain'd and fix'd, In Galilee, that she should bear a son, Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God; Then told'st here, doubting how these things could be d Thus to Gabriel smiling spake. 125 130 135 This speech is properly addressed to Gabriel, among the angels; as he seems to have been the angel particularly employed in the embassies and transactions relating to the Gospel. Gabriel was sent to inform Daniel of the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks; Gabriel notified the conception of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and of our blessed Saviour to his Virgin Mother. The Jewish Rabbis say that Michael was the minister of severity, but Gabriel of mercy: accordingly, our poet makes Gabriel the guardian angel of Paradise, and employs Michael to expel our first parents out of Paradise: and for the same reason this speech is directed to Gabriel in particular.-NEWTON. Tasso, speaking of Gabriel, who is the messenger of the Deity to Godfrey, in the opening of "Gierusalemme Liberata," says: Smiling is here E tra Dio questi e l'anime migliori Giù i decreti del ciel porta, ed al cielo Riporta dè mortali i preghi, e 'l zelo.-DUNSTER. no casual expletive: it is a word of infinitely fine effect, and is particularly meant to contrast the description of Satan, in the preceding part of the book, where, in his "gloomy consistory" of infernal peers it is said, With looks aghast and sad he thus bespake. The benevolent smile of the Deity is finely described by Virgil, "Æn." i. 254:Olli subridens hominum sator atque Deorum, Vultu, quo cœlum tempestatesque serenat.-DUNSTER. Satan's infernal council is briefly but finely assembled; his speech is admirable, and the effect of it is strongly depicted. This is strikingly contrasted by the succeeding beautiful speech of the Deity surrounded by his angels; his speech to them, and the triumphant hymn of the celestial choir. Indeed the whole opening of this poem is executed in so masterly a manner, that, making allowance for a certain wish to compress, which is palpably visible, very few parts of "Paradise Lost" can in any respect claim a pre-eminence.-DUNSTER. e Then told'st her. Milton, sometimes, from a wish to compress, latinises, so as to obscure and confuse his language considerably. The sense which he intends here, is plainly "thou told'st her," &c.; so that "told'st" is used here as equivalent to the Latin dixisti, with its pronominal nominative understood; but which our language positively requires to be expressed, unless where the verb is connected by a conjunction with some other verb dependent on the same pronoun. He has adopted the same mode of writing in other places; particularly ver. 221 of this book, Yet held it more humane, &c. where the passage is perfectly confused for want of the pronoun I. See also ver. 85 of this book. We may in this respect apply to our author what Cicero has said of the ancient orators:-"Grandes erant verbis, crebri sententiis, compressione rerum breves, et ob eam ipsam causam interdum subobscuri," Brutus, 29. ed. Proust.-DUNSTER. |