In place thyself so high above thy peers. One over all with unsucceeded power. e Shalt thou give law to God? shalt thou dispute Thee what thou art, and form'd the powers of heaven And of our good and of our dignity 815 820 825 How provident he is: how far from thought Our happy state, under one head more near Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count, Equal to him Begotten Son? by whom, All things, even thee; and all the spirits of heaven Returns our own. Cease then this impious rage, And tempt not these; but hasten to appease * Shalt thou give law? 830 835 840 845 850 From Rom. ix. 20:—“Who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus ?"-GILLIES. By whom, As by his word, the mighty Father made. From Col. i. 16, 17" For by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist." And the conclusion of this speech is taken from the conclusion of Psalm ii.-NEWTON. While pardon may be found. From Isaiah lv. 6:"Seck ye the Lord while he may be found.”—GILLIES. Or singular and rash: whereat rejoiced The Apostate, and, more haughty, thus replied: That we were form'd then, say'st thou? and the work From Father to his Son? strange point and new! When this creation wash? Remember'st thou Doctrine which we would know whence learn'd: who saw Thy making, while the Maker gave thee being? He said; and, as the sound of waters deep, h Who saw When this creation was? 855 860 865 870 875 880 Like the sublime question in Job xxxviii. 4 :-"Where wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth?" Milton, perhaps with a second reference to this passage, observes at v. 250, b. viii.— See Psalm xii. 4: For man to tell how human life began Is hard; for who himself beginning knew ?—TODD. 1 Our puissance is our own. "Our lips are our own: who is Lord over us?"—-GILLIES. Our own right hand Shall teach us highest deeds. From Psalm xlv. 4:-"Thine own right hand shall teach thee terrible things." And Virg. Æn. x. 773: Dextra mihi deus, et telum quod missile libro.-BENTLEY. As the sound of waters deep. "The voice of a great multitude" applauding, is in like manner compared to "the voice of many waters," Rev. xix. 6.-NEWTON. See also Homer, Il. ii. 209, 394.-STILLINGFLEET, Against thee are gone forth without recall: To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind, And, with retorted scorn, his back he turn'd On those proud towers" to swift destruction doom'd. 1 These wicked tents devoted. 885 890 895 200 905 In allusion probably to the rebellion of Korah, &c., Numb. xvi. 26, where Moses exhorts the congregation, saying, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, lest ye be consumed in all their sins."-NEWTON. m Proud towers. "Towers" may mean those troops that had scorned and insulted him.—TODD. BOOK VI. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. In the notes on the former books I have made long extracts from the beautiful essays of Addison on the Paradise Lost: I shall forbear to do it on the present occasion, because I find nothing relating to this book importantly different from the matter of the notes cited from other critics. The battle of the rebellious angels is the grand feature of this book; it is generally regarded as one of the most admirable parts of the poem. I will frankly confess, that I cannot entirely subscribe to this opinion. In the first place, the introduction of the invention of artillery into the combat is objectionable:-in the war of spirits it is degrading, and almost ludicrous. In the whole mode of carrying on this mighty effort against heaven, there is too much of earth and materialism. It will be answered, that this was of necessity; for how was a war of spirits to be expressed? Perhaps such a difficulty was insurmountable; but then the subject should have been covered with a mantle: at least, the elements might have been made to contend;-a universal tempest of fire, wind, and water. Here everything is conducted almost in the ordinary manner, and with the technical skill of human warfare, except that the degree of force is more gigantic. It will be pleaded, that Milton had the authority of the language of Holy Writ for such descriptions; and that he generally speaks in the very words of the Bible. It is true that he adopts these words with astonishing skill and genius; but he contrives to go into details which break up the spell of their mysteries. The phraseology of these Sacred Writings referred to is astonishingly sublime, picturesque, and poetical; if Milton could have stopped exactly where that stopped, he would have done better. This is a bold censure, but it is sincere. I think that the poet was sometimes led into this by his rivalry of Homer and Virgil, and the other ancient classics. He had a great advantage over them in his subject, and he should not have fallen from it: there is no poetry in Homer or Virgil like the poetry of the Bible. I fully admit that such was the "height of Milton's argument," that all human or earthly imagery inevitably sunk below it; and that his task imposed upon him the evil "magna componere parvis." On many occasions of his work, his illustrations not only do not offend, but create beautiful poetry: the illustration derives reflected splendour from that which it is placed to illustrate. Johnson says, that Milton "saw nature through the spectacle of books." As long as he enjoyed his sight, there is no doubt that he saw her by his own unaided eyes; and nothing can be more fresh than many of his descriptions of natural scenery: this is proved by the simplicity and nakedness of his language. He does not dress up the moon and the stars, the lakes and the valleys, into affected personifications. The richness of his array, both of the magnificent and the fair, of embodied forms, is sometimes surprising; and he allows the intervention of no feeble words to weaken his imagery. The condensed collocation of his language is peculiar to himself. Its breaks-its bursts-the strong-the rough and the flowing-the concise and the gigantic-are mingled with a surprising skill, and eloquence, and magic. It is easy to find single gems in other authors; the galaxy is the wonder. Milton's splendour when it began to rise, did not stop till it blazed. Even supposing his Book of Battles to be liable to the censure I have hazarded, still the manner in which it augments its force as it goes onward, is miraculous. The character of Satan combining the height of wickedness with grandeur of power and will, is supported in a state of progressive elevation; while the Deity, Father |