Scepter and pow'r, thy giving, I affume,

And gladlier shall refign, when in the end
Thou shalt be all in all, and I in thee
For ever, and in me all whom thou lov'ft:
But whom thou hat'ft, I hate, and can put on
Thy terrors, as I put thy mildness on,

739

735

Image of thee in all things; and fhall foon,
Arm'd with thy might, rid Heav'n of these rebell'd,
To their prepar'd ill mansion driven down,
To chains of darkness, and th' undying worm,
That from thy juft obedience could revolt,

732. Thou shalt be all in all, &c.] We may still obferve that Milton generally makes the divine Perfons talk in the ftile and language of Scripture. This paffage is manifeftly taken from 1 Cor. XV. 24 and 28. Then cometh the end when he hall have delivered up the kingdom to God: And when all things fhall be fubdued unto him, then fhall the Son alfo bimself be fubject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. And immediately afterwards when it is faid

I in thee

740

Whom

they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they alfo may be one in us. ver. 21. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou haft loved them, as thou haft loved me. ver. 23. And when it is added

But whom thou hat'ft, I hate,

is not this an allufion to Pfal. CXXXIX. 21. Do not 1 hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, &c? And there are feveral other inftances, which the pious reader will perhaps

For ever, and in me all whom be better pleas'd to recollect him

thou lov'ft:

this is plainly in allufion to feveral expreffions in John XVII. That

felf, than to have them pointed out to him.

737.-rid Heav'n of these rebell

Whom to obey is happiness entire.

Then shall thy Saints unmix'd, and from th' impure Far separate, circling thy holy mount

Unfeigned Halleluiahs to thee fing,

Hymns of high praise, and I among them chief. 745 So faid, he o'er his feepter bowing, rose

From the right hand of glory where he fat; : And the third facred morn began to fhine, Dawning through Heav'n: forth rush'd with whirlwind found

The chariot of paternal Deity,

Of thefe rebellious, of thefe who
have rebell'd; a remarkable ex-
preffion.

746. So faid, be o'er his feepter
bowing, rofe &c.] The 'de-
fcription of the Meffiah's going out
against the rebel Angels is a fcene
of the fame fort with Hefiod's Ju-
piter against the Titans. They
are both of them the most un-
doubted inftances of the true fub-
lime; but which has exceeded it is
very difficult to determin. There
is, I think, a greater profufion of
poetical images in that of the lat-
ter; but then the fuperior charac-
ter of a Chriftian Meffiah, which
Milton has with great judgment
and majesty fupported in this part
of his work, gives a certain air of

750 Flashing

Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,
Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoy'd

By four Cherubic fhapes; four faces each
Had wondrous; as with ftars their bodies all

And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels
Of beril, and carreering fires between;

Over their heads a crystal firmament,
Whereon a faphir throne, inlaid with pure

756

760

Amber, and colors of the fhow'ry arch.
He in celeftial panoply all arm'd
Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought,
Afcended; at his right hand victory
Sat eagle-wing'd; befide him hung his bow
And quiver with three-bolted thunder ftor'd,
765
And from about him fierce effufion roll'd
Of smoke and bickering flame and sparkles dire:

Whereon a faphir throne, inlaid

with pure Amber, and colors of the show'ry

arch.

And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures was as the color of the terrible cryfal, firetched forth over their heads above: And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likenefs of a throne, as the appearance of a faplir flone: And I few as the color of amber, as the appearance of the low that is in the cloud in the day of rain. I. 22, 26, 27, 28.

760. He in celeftial panoply all

arm'd

Of radiant Urim,] All arm'd in complete heavenly armour of radiant light. Celeflial panoply is in allufion to St. Paul's expreffion, Eph. VI. 11. Put on the panoply, the whole armour of God. The word was used before, ver. 527. Urim and Thummim were fomething in

Attended

Aaron's breaftplate; what they were critics and commentators are by no means agreed; but the word Urim fignifies light and Thummim perfection; and therefore Milton very properly gives the epithet of It is most proradiant to Urim.

bable that Urim and Thummim were only names given to fignify the clearness and certainty of the divine anfwers, which were obtain'd by the high priest confulting God with his breaft-plate on, in contradistinction to the obfcure, enigmatical, uncertain and imperfect anfwers of the Heathen oracles.

765. And from about him fierce effufion rell'd

Of Smoke and bickering fieme and

Sparkles dire: ] A furious tempeft pouring forth smoke and fighting flame round about him. Bickering, fighting and thence deftroying, of the Welsh Bicre a combat

There went up a smoke out of his nofrils, and fire out of

Rr 4

bis

Attended with ten thoufand thoufand Saints,

He onward came, far off his coming fhone;

And twenty thousand (I their number heard)
Chariots of God, half on each hand were seen: 770
He on the wings of Cherub rode fublime
On the cryftallin fky, in faphir thron'd,
Illuftrious far and wide, but by his own
First feen; them unexpected joy furpris❜d,
When the great enfign of Meffiah blaz'd
Aloft by Angels borne, his fign in Heaven;
Under whofe conduct Michael foon reduc'd
His army, circumfus'd on either wing,

775

Under their Head imbodied all in one.
Before him pow'r divine his way prepar'd;

780

At his command th' uprooted hills retir'd
Each to his place; they heard his voice, and went