In dim eclipse disastrous twilight sheds The fellows of his crime, the followers rather For ever now to have their lot in pain, 600 605 Millions his face Deep fears of thunder had in trench'd,] Had cut into, had made trenches there, of the French trencher to cut. Shakespear ufes the fame word speaking of a fcar, It was this very word intrench'd it. All's well that ends well, Act II. 609. amerc'd] This word is not used here in its proper lawfenfe, of mulct'd, fin'd, &c. but as Mr. Hume rightly observes has a ftrange affinity with the Greek auspd, to deprive, to take away, as Homer has used it much to our purpose. Οφθαλμων μεν αμερσε, διδα ♪ndelar aviny. The Mufe amerc'd him of his eyes, but 610 Millions of Spirits for his fault amerc'd Of Heav'n, and from eternal fplendors flung For his revolt, yet faithful how they stood, Their glory wither'd: as when Heaven's fire Hath fcath'd the foreft oaks, or mountain pines,' With finged top their stately growth though bare Stands on the blafted heath. He now prepar'd 615 To speak; whereat their doubled ranks they bend From wing to wing, and half inclose him round With all his peers: attention held them mute. Thrice he affay'd, and thrice in spite of scorn Tears, fuch as Angels weep, burft forth: at last 620 Words wither'd glory of the Angels; and the laft with great propriety, fince their luftre was impair'd by thunder, as well as that of the trees in the fimile: and befides, the blafted heath gives us fome idea of that finged burning foil, on which the Angels were ftanding. Homer and Virgil frequently ufe comparisons from trees, to express the ftature or falling of a hero, but none of them are apply'd with fuch variety and propriety of circumftances as this of Milton. See An Efay upon Milton's imitations of the Ancients, p. 24. 619. Thrice he affay'd, and thriceTears burft forth] He had Ovid in his thought, Metam. XI. 419. Ter Words interwove with fighs found out their way. O Myriads of immortal Spirits, O Powers Matchlefs, but with th' Almighty, and that ftrife Was not inglorious, though th' event was dire, As this place teftifies, and this dire change Hateful to rter: but what pow'r of mind Foreseeing or prefaging, from the depth 625 Of knowledge paft or prefent, could have fear'd, 635 If Ter conata loqui, ter fletibus ora and to the intended deftruction of rigavit. Bentley. the greatest people in the world, to gratify his own vain glory. 623. and that firife Was not inglorious,] Ovid. Met. IX. 6. Tears fuch as Angels weep, Like Homer's Ichor of the Gods which was different from the blood of mortals. This weeping of Satan on furveying his numerous hoft, and the thoughts of their wretched ftate, puts one in mind of the story of Xerxes weeping on feeing his vaft army, and reflecting that they were mortal, at the time that he was haft'ning them to their fate, nec tam Turpe fuit vinci, quam contendiffe decorum eft. 633. Hath emptied Heav'n,] It is conceiv'd that a third part of the Angels fell with Satan, according to Řev. XII. 4. And his tail drew the If counfels different, or danger fhunn'd 640 By me, have loft our hopes. But he who reigns 645 New war, provok'd; our better part remains the third part of the ftars of Heaven, and caft them to the earth; and this opinion Milton hath exprefs'd in feveral places, II. 692. V. 710. VI. 156: but Satan here talks big and magnifies their number, as if their exile had emptied Heaven. 642. Which tempted our attempt,] Words tho' well chofen and fignificative enough, yet of jingling and unpleasant found, and like marriages between perfons too near of kin, to be avoided. Hume. This kind of jingle was undoubted There ly thought an elegance by Milton, and many inftances of it may be fhown not only in his works, but I believe in all the best poets both ancient and modern, tho' the latter I am afraid have been fometimes too liberal of them. 647. that be no lefs &c.] Satan had own'd juft before, ver. 642. that they had been deceiv'd by God's concealing his ftrength; He now fays, He also fhall find himself miftaken in his turn; He fhall find our cunning such as that tho' There went a fame in Heav'n that he ere long 655 Full counsel muft mature: Peace is defpair'd, 660 For who can think fubmiffion? War then, War Open or understood must be refolv’d. He tho' we have been overpower'd, diers, when they applauded a fpeech we are not more than half fubdued. Richardfon. 662. underflood] Not exprefs'd, not openly declar'd, and yet imply'd as when we say that a fubitantive or verb is underflood in a fentence. Pearce. 664.drawn from the thighs] It may be obferved here that Milton, to keep up the dignity of language, has purposely avoided the trite phrafe drawn from the fides, and adopted the Greek way of expreffing it. Thus Homer, Iliad. I. 190. Η όγε φασγανον οξύ ερυσαμεν παραμηρε. Thyer. of their general, was to fmite their fhields with their fwords. Bentley. And the epithet grafped, join'd to arms, determins the expreffion to mean words only, which were spoken of a little before, ver. 664. Pearce. 669. Hurling defiance toward the vault of Heaven.] Dr. Bentley reads the walls of Heaven, Heaven the habitation of God and Angels being never defcribed as vaulted; and Dr. Pearce approves the emendation; and without doubt the wall or walls of Heaven is a common expreffion with our au thor. But may we not by the vault of Heaven understand cali convexa, our visible Heaven, which is often defcribed as vaulted, the sphere of the |