Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky, 45. Hurl'd headlong flaming from th' ethereal fky,] Hom. Iliad. I. 591, τριψε, ποδι τελαγων, αποβάλε θεσπεσίοιο. Hurl'd headlong downward from th' ethereal height. Pope. 46. With bideous ruin and tombustion,] Ruin is deriv'd from ruo, and includes the idea of falling with violence and precipitation, and combuftion is more than flaming in the foregoing verfe, it is burning in a dreadful manner. So that he was not only burl'd head. long flaming, but he was hurl'd headlong flaming with bideous ruin and combuftion; and what occafion is there then for reading with Dr. Bentley confufion inftead of combuftion? 45 Both 48. In adamantin chains] Æschy. Ius Prometh. 6. Αδαμαντίναις πεδησιν. 50. Nine times &c.] The nine days aftonishment, in which the Angels lay intranced after their dreadful overthrow and fall from Heaven, before they could recover either the use of thought or speech, is a noble circumftance, and very finely imagined. The divifion of Hell into feas of fire, and into firm ground impregnant with the fame furious element, with that particular circumftance of the exclufion of hope from those infernal regions, are inftances of the fame great and fruitful invention. Addifon. 63. darkness vifible] Milton feems to have used thefe words to fignify gloom: Abfolute darkness Both of loft happiness and lasting pain A dungeon horrible on all fides round Serv'd only to discover fights of woe, 55 Seneca has a like expreffion, fpeaking of the Grotta of Paufilypo, Senec. Epift. LVII. Nihil illo carcere longius, nihil illis faucibus obfcurius, quæ nobis præftant, non ut per tenebras videamus, fed ut ipfas. And, as Monf. Voltaire obferves, Antonio de Solis, in his excellent Hiftory of Mexico hath ventur'd on the fame thought, when speaking of the place wherein Montezuma was wont to confult his Deities; " "Twas a large dark "fubterraneous vault, fays he, 60 Regions is ftrictly speaking invifible; but "where fome difmal tapers afwhere there is a gloom only, there "forded juft light enough to fee is fo much light remaining as "the obfcurity." See his Effay ferves to show that there are ob- on Epic Poetry, p. 44. Euripides jects, and yet that thofe objects too expreffes himself in the fame cannot be diftinctly feen: In this poetical manner. Bac. 510. fenfe Milton feems to use the ftrong and bold expreffion, darkness vifible. Pearce. πως αν σκοτίον εισορᾳ κνέφας. There is much the fame image in Spenfer, but not fo bold, Fairy Queen, B. 1. Cant. 1. St. 14. 76; Regions of forrow, doleful fhades, where peace 65 In utter darkness, and their portion set T And inly grieve, as doth an hidden moth The inner garment fret, not th’utter touch. And again, B. 4. Cant. 10. St. 11. 70 A 0 Till to the bridge's utter gate I came. 74. As from the center thrice to th' utmost pole.] Thrice as far as it is from the center of the earth (which is the center of the world according to Milton's fyftem, IX. 103. and X. 671.) to the pole of the world; for it is the pole of the univerfe, far beyond the pole of the earth, which is here call'd the utmost pole. It is obfervable that Homer makes the feat of Hell as far beneath the deepest pit of earth, as the Heaven is above the earth, ནྟཾ ༤ཟི? Τόσσον ενερθ' αΐδεω, ὅσον «ρανθ es' awo youns. Iliad. VIII. 16. Virgil makes it twice as far, Tum Tartarus ipfe. O how unlike the place from whence they fell! 75 If thou beeft he; but O how fall'n! how chang'd Bis patet in præceps tantum tenditque fub umbras, Quantus ad æthereum cœli fufpe&tus Olympum. Æn. VI. 577. And Milton thrice as far, 30 As far remov'd from God and light of Heaven, As from the center thrice to th' utmost pole : 80 ferrea turris, and horrifono firidentes cardine porte of Virgil, in comparifon with this defcription by Milton, concluding with that artful contraft, O how unlike the place from whence they fell ! 81. Beelzebub.] The lord of flies, an idol worshipped at Ecron, a city of the Philiftines, 2 Kings I. 2. He is called prince of the Devils, Mat. XII. 24. therefore deservedly here made fecond to Satan himself. Hume. As if these three great poets had ftretched their utmoft genius, and vied with each other, who fhould extend his idea of the depth of Hell fartheft. But Milton's whole 82. And thence in Heav'n call'd defcription of Hell as much exSatan,] For the word Satan ceeds theirs, as in this fingle cir- in Hebrew fignifies an enemy: he cumftance of the depth of it. And is the enemy by way of eminence, how cool and unaffecting is the the chief enemy of God and Man. G ταρταρον κεροενία, the σιδηραιof ४० 84. If thou beeft be; &c.] The Homer, and the lugentes campi, the thoughts in the first speech and de From him, who in the happy realms of light 85 Join'd with me once, now mifery hath join'd 41 defcription of Satan, who is one of the principal actors in this poem, are wonderfully proper to give us a full idea of him. His pride envy and revenge, obftinacy defpair and impenitence, are all of them very artfully interwoven. In fhort, his firft fpeech is a complication of all thofe paffions, which discover themselves feparately in feveral other of his fpeeches in the poem. Addifon. The change and confufion of these enemies of God is moft artfully exprefs'd in the abruptnefs of the beginning of this fpeech: If thou art he, that Beelzebub He ftops, and falls into a bitter reflection on their prefent condition, compared with that in which they lately were. He attempts again to open his mind; cannot proceed on what he intends to fay, but returns to thofe fad thoughts; ftill doubting whether 'tis really his affoeiate in the revolt, as now in mifery and ruin; by that time he had expatiated on this (his heart was opprefs'd with it) he is affured to 90 From whom he speaks, and goes on to |