Upon the wing, as when Men wont to watch
On duty, fleeping found by whom they dread,
Rouse and beftir themselves ere well awake.
Nor did they not perceive the evil plight

In which they were, or the fierce pains not feel;
Yet to their general's voice they foon obey'd
Innumerable. As when the potent rod

Of Amram's fon, in Egypt's evil day,

335

Wav'd round the coaft, up call'd a pitchy cloud 340
Of locufts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o'er the realm of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darken'd all the land of Nile:
So numberless were those bad Angels feen

Hovering on wing under the

cope of Hell
'Twixt upper, nether, and furrounding fires;
Till, as a fignal giv'n, th' up-lifted spear
Of their great Sultan waving to direct

Their course, in even balance down they light
On the firm brimftone, and fill all the plain;

him.

345

350

A

Stanza 18, will find our author has upon the land, and the caft-wind feen him, tho' borrow'd little of brought the locufts: and the locufts Hume. went up over all the land of Egypt338. As when the potent rod &c.] fo that the land was darken'd. See Exod. X. 13. Mofes firetched 341-warping] Working themforth bis rod over the land of Egypt, felves forward, a fea term. and the Lord brought an caft wind VOL. I.

M

Hume and Richardson.

351.4

A multitude, like which the populous north
Pour'd never from her frozen loins, to pass
Rhene or the Danaw, when her barbarous fons
Came like a deluge on the fouth, and fpread
Beneath Gibraltar to the Lybian fands. }
Forthwith from every fquadron and each band
The heads and leaders thither hafte where ftood
Their great commander; Godlike fhapes and forms
Excelling human, princely Dignities,

And Pow'rs that erft in Heaven fat on thrones;

Though of their names in heav'nly records now

351. A multitude, like which &c.] This comparifon doth not fall below the reft, as fome have imagin'd. They were thick as the leaves, and numberless as the locufts, but fuch a multitude the north never pour'd forth; and we may obferve that the fubject of this comparifon rifes very much above the others, leaves and locufs. The populous north, as the northern parts of the world are obferved to be more fruitful of people, than the hotter countries: Sir William Temple calls it the northern hive. Pour'd never, a very proper word to exprefs the inundations of these northern nations. From her frozen loins, it is the Scripture expreffion of children and defcendents coming out of the leins, as Gen. XXXV. 11. Kings fall come out of thy loins; and these are call'd frozen lains only on ac

355

360

Be

count of the coldness of the climate. To pafs Rhene or the Danaw, He might have faid confiftently with his verfe The Rhine or Danube, but he chose the more uncommon names Rhene of the Latin, and Danaw of the German, both which words are ufed too in Spenfer. When her barbarous fons &c. They were truly barbarous; for befides exercising feveral cruelties, they deftroy'd all the monuments of learning and politenefs wherever they came. Came like a deluge. Spenfer defcribing the fame people has the fame fimile. Fairy Queen. B. 2. Cant. 10. St. 15.

And overflow'd all countries far

Be no memorial, blotted out and ras'd
By their rebellion from the books of life.
Nor had they yet among the fons of Eve

Got them new names, till wand'ring o'er the earth,
Through God's high fufferance for the trial of man,"
By falfities and lies the greatest part

Of mankind they corrupted to forfake
God their Creator, and th' invisible

Glory of him that made them to transform
Oft to the image of a brute, adorn'd
With gay religions full of pomp and gold,

and Vandals, who overrun all the fouthern provinces of Europe, and croffing the Mediterranean beneath Gibraltar landed in Africa, and fpread themfelves as far as the fandy country of Libya. Beneath Gibraltar that is more fouthward, the north being uppermoft in the globe. 363-the backs of life.] Dr. Bentley reads the book of life, that being the Scripture expreffion. And Shakespear fays likewife blotted from the book of life, Richard II. A&. I.

My name be blotted from the

book of life.

But the author might write books in the plural as well as records just before; and the plural agrees better with the idea that he would give of the great number of Angels.

367- By falfities and lies] That

1

379

And

is, as Mr. Upton obferves, by falfe
idols, under a corporeal reprefen-
tation, belying the true God. The
poet plainly alludes to Rom. I. 22,
&c. When they knew God, they glor
rified him not as God and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image who changed the
truth of God into a lie. So Amos
II. 4. Their lies caufed them to err,
Jerem. XVI. 19. Surely our fathers
have inherited lies &c.

369.
and th' invifible
Glory of him that made them to
transform

Oft to the image of a brute,] Alluding to Rom. I. 23. And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beafts, and creeping things.

372. With gay religions full of pomp and gold,] By religions M 2

Milton

And Devils to adore for Deities:

375

Then were they known to men by various names,
And various idols through the Heathen world.
Say, Mufe, their names then known, who firft, who last,
Rous'd from the flumber, on that fiery couch,
At their great emperor's call, as next in worth
Came fingly where he stood on the bare ftrand,
While the promiscuous croud stood yet aloof.
The chief were those who from the pit of Hell
Roaming to feek their prey on earth, durft fix

376. Say, Mufe, &c.] The catalogue of evil Spirits has abundance of learning in it, and a very agreeable turn of poetry, which rifes in a great measure from its defcribing the places where they were worshipped, by thofe beautiful marks of rivers, fo frequent among the ancient poets. The author had doubtlefs in this place Homer's catalogue of fhips, and Virgil's lift of warriors in his view.

Addifon. Dr. Bentley fays that this is not the fineft part of the poem: but I think it is, in the defign and drawing, if not in the coloring for the Paradife Loft being a religious epic, nothing could be more artful than thus deducing the original of

380

Their

fuperftition. This gives it a great advantage over the catalogues, he has imitated, for Milton's becomes thereby a neceffary part of the work, as the original of fuperfti. tion, an effential part of a religious epic, could not have been shown without it. Had Virgil's or Homer's been omitted, their poems would not have fuffered materially, because in their relations of the following actions we find the foldiers, who were before catalogued: but by no following history of fu perftition that Milton could have brought in, could we find out thefe Devils agency, it was therefore neceffary he fhould inform us of the fact. Warburton. Say, Mufe, &c. Homer at the beginning of his catalogue invokes his Mufe afresh in a very pompous manner. Virgil does the like, and Milton follows both fo far as to make a fresh invocation, though

fhort;

Their feats long after next the feat of God,
Their altars by his altar, Gods ador'd
Among the nations round, and durst abide
Jehovah thund'ring out of Sion, thron'd..
Between the Cherubim; yea, often plac'd
Within his fanctuary itself their shrines,
Abominations; and with curfed things
His holy rites and folemn feasts profan'd,
And with their darkness durft affront his light.
First Moloch, horrid king, befmear'd with blood

short; because he had already made a large and folemn addrefs in this very book, at the beginning of his poem.

376. their names then known,] When they had got them new names. Milton finely confider'd that the names he was obliged to apply to these evil Angels carry a bad fignification, and therefore could not be thofe they had in their state of innocence and glory; he has therefore faid their former names are now loft, ras'd from amongst those of their old affos ciates who retain their purity and happiness. Richardfon. 376. who firft, who loft,] Quem telo primum, quem poftremum &c. Virg. Æn. X1.664. 386.

-

thron'd Between the Cherubim ;] This relates to the ark being placed between the two golden Cherubim,

385

399

Of

1 Kings VI. 23. 1 Kings VIII. 6 and 7. See alfo 2 Kings XIX. 15. O Lord God of Ifrael which dwelleft between the Cherubim. Hezekiah's prayer. Hume.

387. yea, often plac'd Within his fanctuary itself their forines, Abominations;] This is complain'd of by the prophet Jeremiah VII. 30. For the children of Judab have done evil in my fight, faith the Lord; they have fet their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it. And we read of Manaffeh, z Kings XXI. 4 and 5. that He built altars in the boufe of the Lord, of which the Lord faid, In Ferufalem will I put my name: And he built altars for all the hoft of Heaven, in the two courts of the houfe of the Lord. See alfo Ezek. VII. 20. and VIII. 5, 6.

392. First Moloch, borrid king] Firft after Satan and Beelzebub. M 3

The