Shone like a meteor ftreaming to the wind, With gems and golden luftre rich imblaz'd, At which the univerfal hoft up fent A fhout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond unfurls; as alfo of that ghaftly light, by which the fiends appear to one another in their place of torments: the fhout of the whole hoft of fallen Angels when drawn up in battel array: the review which the leader makes of his infernal army: the flash of light which appear'd upon the drawing of their fwords: the fudden production of the Pandemonium: and the artificial illuminations made in it. Addison. 543. Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.] Reign is ufed like the Latin regnum for kingdom: and fo in Spenfer's Fairy Queen, B. 2. Cant. 7. St. 21. That ftrait did lead to Pluto's grifly reign. 545. Ten thousand banners rife into the air 540 545 A A foreft huge of spears; and thronging helms array Appear'd, and ferried shields in thick Of flutes and foft recorders; fuch as rais'd Nor wanting pow'r to mitigate and swage 359 555 With folemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase Anguish and doubt and fear and forrow' and pain From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they Breathing united force with fixed thought 560 Mov'd 550. to the Dorian mood &c.] All accounts of the mufic of the Ancients are very uncertain and confus'd. There feem to have been three principal modes or measures among them, the Lydian, the Phrygian, and the Dorian. The Lydian the moft fprightly, and the Dorian was the most doleful, the Phrygian the moft grave and majestic. And Milton in another part of his works ufes grave and Doric almost as fynonymous terms. "If we think "to regulate printing, thereby to rectify manners, we must regulate all recreations and paftimes, all Mov'd on in filence to foft pipes, that charm'd 565 570 Their number laft he fums. And now his heart Distends with pride, and hard'ning in his strength Glories: for never fince created man, Met fuch imbodied force, as nam'd with these "all that is delightful to man. "No mufic must be heard, no fong "be fet or fung, but what is grave "and Doric." (See his Speech for the liberty of unlicenc'd Printing. Vol. I. p. 149. Edit. 1738.) This therefore was the meafure beft adapted to the fall'n Angels at this juncture; and their inftruments were flutes and pipes and foft recorders, for the fame reafon that Thucydides and other ancient hiftorians affign for the Lacedemonians making use of these instruments, because they infpir'd them with a more cool and deliberate courage, whereas trum Could merit more than that small infantry Birgirt with British and Armoric knights; 575 580 585 When unlike that in Shakespear, Anth. fide the heroes were affifted by the & Cleop. A& I.. thofe his goodly eyes Gods, therefore call'd auxiliar Gods; and what refounds even in fable or That o'er the files and mufters of romance of Uther's fon, king Arthur, the war Have glow'd like plated Mars. 575 that fmall infantry Warr'd on by cranes ;] All the heroes and armies that ever were affembled were no more than pygmies in comparison with these Angels; though all the giant brood of Phlegra, a city of Macedonia, where the giants fought with the Gods, with th' heroic race were join'd that fought at Thebes, a city in Boeotia, famous for the war between the fons of Edipus, celebrated by Statius in his Thebaid, and Ilium made ftill more famous by Homer's Iliad, where on each fon of Uther Pendragon, whose exploits are romanticly extoll'd by Geoffry of Monmouth, begirt with British and Armoric knights, for he was often in alliance with the king of Armorica, fince called Bretagne, of the Britons who fettled there; and all who fince joufted in Afpramont or Montalban, romantic names of places mention'd in Orlando Furiofo, the latter perhaps Montauban in France, Damafco or Marocco, Damafcus or Morocco, but he calls them as they are call'd in romances, or Trebifond, a city of Cappadocia in the leffer Afia, all these places are famous in romances, for jouftings between the baptiz'd and infi dels; When Charlemain with all his dels; or whom Biferta, formerly call'd Utica, fent prom Afric fhore, that is the Saracens who pafs'd from Biferta in Africa to Spain, when Charlemain with all his peerage fell by Fontarabbia, Charlemain king of France and emperor of Germany about the year 800 undertook a war against the Saracens in Spain, and Mariana and the Spanish hiftorians are Milton's authors for faying that he and his army were routed in this manner at Fontarabbia (which is a ftrong town in Biscay at the very entrance into Spain, and efteem'd the key of the kingdom): but Mezeray and the French writers give a quite different and more probable account of him, that he was at laft victorious over his enemies and died in peace. And tho' we 590 595 In cannot agree with Dr. Bentley in rejecting fome of thefe lines as fpurious, yet it is much to be wish'd that our poet had not fo far indulged his tafte for romances, of which he profeffes himself to have been fond in his younger years, and had not been oftentatious of fuch reading, as perhaps had better never have been read. 589.- he above the reft &c. ] What a noble defcription is here of Satan's perfon! and how different from the common and ridiculous representations of him, with horns and a tail and cloven feet! and yet Taffo hath fo defcrib'd him, Cant. IV. The greatest mafters in painting had not fuch fublime ideas as Milton, and among all their Devils have drawn no portrait comparable to this; as every body |