That were an ignominy, and fhame beneath 115
This downfall; fince, by fate, the ftrength of Gods
And this empyreal fubftance cannot fail;
Since through experience of this great event
In arms not worse, in forefight much advanc'd,
We may
with more successful hope refolve
To wage, by force or guile, eternal war,
Irreconcileable to our grand Foe,
Who now triumphs, and, in the excess of joy
Sole reigning, holds the tyranny of Heaven.

120

So fpake the apoftate Angel, though in pain, Vaunting aloud, but rack'd with deep despair:

Ver. 116.

-fince, by fate, &c.] For Satan fuppofes the Angels to fubfift by fate and neceffity; and he represents them of an empyreal, that is a fiery, fubftance, as the Scripture itself does, Pfalm civ. 4. " He maketh his Angels fpirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." NEWTON.

Ver. 124. the tyranny of Heaven.] The poet, fpeaking in his own perfon at v. 42, of the fupremacy of the Deity, calls it "the throne and monarchy of God; but here very artfully alters it to the tyranny of Heaven. THYER.

Tyranny vulgarly fignifies the art of tyrannifing; here it fignifies the power, as in Greek. See Euripid. Phoeniff. v. 509. ed. P. Steph. 1602. STILLINGFLEET.

Ver. 126. Vaunting aloud, &c.] Thus Virgil, Æn. i. 212. "Talia voce refert, curífque ingentibus æger

Spem vultu fimulat, premit altum corde dolorem." Theocritus has expreffed this in a more fimple manner, as better fuited to the paftoral ftile, Idyll. i. 95.

ὁ Κύπρις γελάοισα,

Λαθρα μὲν γελάοισα, βαρὺν δ ̓ ἀνὰ θυμὸν ἔχοισα.

Homer's description of Juno in the fame circumstances is more majestick:

And him thus anfwer'd foon his bold compeer.
O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers,
That led the embattled Seraphim to war
Under thy conduct, and, in dreadful deeds 130
Fearlefs, endanger'd Heaven's perpetual king,
And put to proof his high fupremacy,
Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate;
Too well I fee and rue the dire event,
That with fad overthrow, and foul defeat,
Hath loft us Heaven, and all this mighty host
In horrible deftruction laid thus low,
As far as Gods and heavenly effences
Can perifh for the mind and spirit remains
Invincible, and vigour foon returns,

ἡ δὲ γέλασσε

Χείλεσιν ἐδὲ μέτωπον ἐπ' ὀφρύσι κυανέησιν

Ιάνθη

135

140

One needs not be afraid to pronounce Milton's verse superiour to any of these above-quoted, both in the brevity and energy of expreffion, and juftnefs of the thought, arifing from the nature of the foregoing fpeech, and Satan's prefent mifery.

Ver. 131.

CALLANDER.

endanger'd Heaven's perpetual king,] The reader fhould remark here the propriety of the word perpetual. Beelzebub does not say eternal king, for then he could not have boasted of endangering his kingdom: but he endeavours to detract as much as he can from God's everlasting dominion, and calls him only perpetual king, king from time immemorial or without interruption, as Ovid uses perpetuum, Met. i. 4.

"primáque ab origine mundi.

"Ad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen."

What Beelzebub means here, is expreffed more at large afterwards by Satan, v. 637, &e. NEWTON.

Though all our glory extinct, and happy state
Here fwallow'd up in endless mifery.
But what if he our Conquerour (whom I now
Of force believe Almighty, fince no less
Than fuch could have o'er-power'd fuch force as
ours)

145

Have left us this our fpirit and strength entire
Strongly to fuffer and fupport our pains,
That we may fo fuffice his vengeful ire,
Or do him mightier service as his thralls
By right of war, whate'er his business be,
Here in the heart of Hell to work in fire,
Or do his errands in the gloomy deep;
What can it then avail, though yet we feel
Strength undiminish'd, or eternal being,

150

Ver. 141. Though all our glory extinct,] As a flame put out and extinguished for ever. This word is very properly applied to their irrecoverable lofs of that angelick beauty, which accompanied them when in a state of innocence. The Latins have ufed the word extinctus in the fame metaphorical fenfe. Thus Virgil, En. iv. 322.

"te propter eundem

"Extinctus pudor, et, qua fola fidera adibam,
"Fama prior." CALLANDER.

Ver. 150.

whate'er his business be,] The business which God has appointed for us to do. So, in B. ii. 70, "his torments" are the torments which he has appointed for us to fuffer. Many inftances of this way of fpeaking may be found in this Poem. PEARCE.

155

To undergo eternal punishment?

Whereto with speedy words the Arch-Fiend

replied.

160

Fallen Cherub! to be weak is miferable Doing or fuffering: but of this be fure, To do aught good, never will be our task,) But ever to do ill our fole delight, As being the contrary to his high will Whom we refift. If then his providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, Our labour must be to pervert that end, And out of good still to find means of evil; 165 Which oft-times may fucceed, fo as perhaps Shall grieve him, if I fail not, and disturb His inmoft counfels from their deftin'd aim. But fee! the angry Victor hath recall'd

Ver. 156. Whereto] To what he had faid laft, which had ftartled Satan, and to which he thinks it proper to make a Speedy reply. Speedy words are better applied here than are always in Homer. NEWTON.

Ver. 157.

to be weak is miferable Doing or fuffering:] Satan having in his fpeech boasted that the "ftrength of Gods could not fail,” v. 116; and Beelzebub having faid v. 146, " If God has left us this our strength entire to fuffer pain strongly, or to do him mightier service as his thralls, what then can our strength avail us?" Satan here replies very properly, whether we are to suffer or to work, yet still it is fome comfort to have our strength undiminished: For it is a miferable thing, fays he, to be weak and without ftrength, whether we are doing or Suffering. This is the fenfe of the place; and this is farther confirmed by what Belial fays, B. ii. 199. "To fuffer, as to do,

"Our Strength is equal." PEARCE.

Ver. 169. But fee! the angry victor hath recall'd &c.] Dr.

170

His ministers of vengeance and pursuit
Back to the gates of Heaven: the fulphurous hail,

Bentley has really made a very material objection to this and fome other paffages of the poem, wherein the good Angels are represented, as pursuing the rebel hoft with fire and thunderbolts, down through Chaos, even to the gates of Hell; as being contrary to the account, which the Angel Raphael gives to Adam in the vith book. And it is certain that there the good Angels are ordered to ftand still only and behold, and the Meffiah alone expels them out of Heaven; and, after he has expelled them, and Hell has closed upon them, B. vi. 880,

"Sole victor from the expulfion of his foes
"Meffiah his triumphal chariot turn'd;
"To meet him all his Saints, who filent stood

Thefe accounts are plainly contrary the one to the other : but the author does not therefore contradict himself, nor is one part of his fcheme inconfiftent with another. For it fhould be confidered, who are the persons that give these different accounts. In book the vith the Angel Raphael is the speaker, and therefore his account may be depended upon as the genuine and exact truth of the matter. But in the other paffages Satan himself or some of his Angels are the speakers; and they were too proud and obftinate ever to acknowledge the Meffiah for their conquerour; as their rebellion was raised on his account, they would never own his fuperiority; they would rather afcribe their defeat to the whole hoft of heaven than to him alone; or, if they did indeed imagine their pursuers to be fo many in number, their fears multiplied them, and it serves admirably to exprefs how much they were terrified and confounded. In book the vith, 830, the noife of his chariot is compared to the found of a numerous hoft; and perhaps they might think that a numerous hoft were really pursuing. In one place indeed we have Chaos speaking thus, B. ii. 996.

"and Heaven gates

"Pour'd out by millions her victorious bands
Pursuing:"

66