Yawning receiv'd them whole, and on them

clos'd;

875

Hell, their fit habitation, fraught with fire Unquenchable, the house of woe and pain. Disburden'd Heaven rejoic'd, and soon repair'd Her mural breach, returning whence it roll'd. Sole victor, from the expulfion of his foes, 880 Meffiah his triumphal chariot turn'd:

This is a fine imi

Yawning received them whole, &c.] tation of Isaiah, v. 14. "Therefore Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: And their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, fhall defcend into it." See alfo P. Fletcher, Purp. Island, C. vii. ft. 45, edit, 1633.

'Under, Hell widely yawn'd; and, over, flew Damnation." TODD.

Ver. 876. Hell, their fit habitation,

the house of woe and pain.] Very like

that in Fairfax's Taffo, B. ix. ft. 59.

"Fit houfe for them, the houfe of grief and pain."

An inftance this, and there are others, that Milton made use of the tranflation of Taffo, as well as of the original. NEWTON.

Ver. 878. Difburden'd Heaven rejoic'd,] Michael has driven the infernal Spirits to Hell,

ft. 66.

So Taffo, when

Gier. Lib. C. ix.

"Faccia depone il mondo, e fi rallegra." THYER.

Ver. 879. returning] Returning is to be joined in construction with Heaven, and not with breach. Heaven re turned to its place: But the expreffion is not very accurate, Heaven repair'd her mural breach, and returned whence it rolled.

NEWTON,

To meet him all his Saints, who filent ftood
Eye-witneffes of his almighty acts,

With jubilee advanc'd; and, as they went, 884
Shaded with branching palm, each Order bright,
Sung triumph, and him fung victorious King,
Son, Heir, and Lord, to him dominion given,
Worthieft to reign: He, celebrated, rode
Triumphant through mid Heaven, into the

courts

890

And temple of his Mighty Father thron'd
On high; who into glory him receiv'd,
Where now he fits at the right hand of bliss.
Thus, measuring things in Heaven by things
on Earth,

Ver. 882. To meet him &c.] Rev. xii. 10. STILLINGFLEET. Ver. 888. Worthieft to reign:] The Angels here ́fing the fame divine fong which St. John heard them ing in his vifion, Rer. iv. 11. NEWTON.

Ver. 891.

who into glory him receiv'd,

Where now he fits at the right hand of bliss.] 1 Tim. iii. 16. "Received up into glory." And Heb. i. 3. "Sat down on the right hand of the Majefty on high." GILLIES.

.. Ver.893. Thus, measuring things in Heaven by things on earth, &c.] He repeats the fame kind of apology here in the conclufion, that he made in the beginning of his narration. See B. v. 573, &c. And it is indeed the beft defence that can be made for the bold fictions in this book, which though fome cold readers perhaps may blame, yet the coldeft, I conceive, cannot but admire. It is remarkable too with what art and beauty the poet from the highth and fublimity of the reft of the book defcends here at the clófe of it, like the lark from her loftieft notes in the clouds, tò the most profaick fimplicity of language and numbers; a fimpli

895

At thy request, and that thou may'st beware
By what is past, to thee I have reveal'd
What might have elfe to human race been hid;
The discord which befel, and war in Heaven
Among the angelick Powers, and the deep fall
Of those too high afpiring, who rebell'd
With Satan; he who envies now thy ftate, 900
Who now is plotting how he may feduce
Thee also from obedience, that, with him
Bereav'd of happiness, thou may'ft partake
His punishment, eternal misery;

Which would be all his folace and revenge, 905
As a despite done against the Most High,
Thee once to gain companion of his woe.

city which not only gives it variety, but the greatest majesty, as Milton himself feems to have thought, by always choosing to give the speeches of God and the Meffiah in that style, though these I fuppofe are the parts of this Poem, which Dryden cenfures as the flats which he often met with for thirty or forty lines together. NEWTON.

The reader cannot indeed but admire the dignity and emphasis, with which the Angel's fpeech concludes. The fame brief fentences, and folemn paufes, may be obferved in the fine moral inftruction, which the heavenly meffenger gives Adam, at the close of the eighth book. TODD.

Ver. 900. With Satan; he who envies now thy ftate,] The conftruction requires him, as Dr. Bentley obferves: Or it may be understood," he it is who envies now thy ftate." NEWTON.

The he is highly emphatical here. To tell the circumftance of Satan's envy and infidious defigns against Man newly created, and to warn him against it, was the great purpose of Raphael's miffion. See B. v. 239, &c. DUNSTER.

But liften not to his temptations, warn
Thy weaker; let it profit thee to have heard,
By terrible example, the reward

Of disobedience; firm they might have ftood,
Yet fell; remember, and fear to tranfgrefs.

910

Ver. 909. Thy weaker ;] As St. Peter calls the wife, “the weaker veffel," 1 Pet. iii. 7. NEWTON.

THE END OF THE SIXTH BOOK.

THE

SEVENTH BOOK

OF

PARADISE LOST.