A third part of the Gods, in fynod met Their deities to affert, who while they feel 160 165 From me fome plume, that thy fuccefs may show that the Sectaries, tho' fewer in 161.-that thy fuccefs may show word fuccefs is ufed in the fame 161.-that thy fuccefs may show 167. Miniftring Spirits,] So they are called Heb. I. 14. Are they not all miniftring Spirits? and Satan mentions it in derifion. Compare this with that of Virgil, Æn. IX. 614. Vobis picta croco et fulgenti mu rice veftis: Defidiæ cordi: juvat indulgere choreis: Et tunicæ manicas et habent re- O vere Phrygiæ, neque enim Tymr Servility with freedom to contend, 175 As both their deeds compar'd this day fhall prove. 170 180 Reign Tu mihi qui imperitas, aliis fervis mifer Quifnam igitur liber? fapiens, fibi qui imperiofus. And as to what is here faid of fervitude, fee Aristotle's Politics, B. 1. C. 3 & 4. 183.in Hell thy kingdom;] Not that it was fo at prefent. This is faid by way of anticipation. God had order'd him to be caft out, ver. 52. and what the Almighty had pronounc'd, the good Angel looks upon as done. And this fentiment Reign thou in Hell thy kingdom; let me ferve 185 Yet chains in Hell, not realms expect: mean while From me return'd, as erft thou faidft, from flight, This greeting on thy impious creft receive. So fay'ing, a noble ftroke he lifted high, He back recoil'd; the tenth on bended knee Reign thou in Hell thy kingdom; let me ferve In Heav'n God ever bleft, is defign'd as a contraft to Satan's vaunt in I. 263. Better to reign in Hell, than ferve in Heaven. 187. From me return'd, as erft thou faidf, from flight, This greeting &c.] So Afcanius in Virgil retorts his adverfary's term of reproach, Æn. IX. 635. 195 Sidelong 189. So fay'ing, &c.] Saying is here contracted into one fyllable, or is to be pronounc'd as two short ones, which very well expreffes the eagerness of the Ange!. He ftruck at his foe before he had finish'd his fpeech, while he was fpeaking, which is much better than Dr. Bentley's reading So faid, as if he had not aim'd his blow, till after he had spoken. 195. -as if on earth Winds under ground, &c.] Hefind Bis capti Phryges hæc Rutulis re- compares the fall of Cygnus to an fponfa remittunt, alluding to ver. 599. oak or a rock falling, Scut. Herc. 421. Ήριπε Sidelong had push'd a mountain from his feat Half funk with all his pines. Amazement feis'd The rebel Thrones, but greater rage to fee Thus foil'd their mightieft; ours joy fill'd, and fhout, Prefage of victory, and fierce defire 201 Of battel: whereat Michäel bid found And fimiles of this kind are very frequent amongst the ancient poets, but though our author might take the hint of his from thence, yet we muft allow, that he has with great art and judgment highten'd it in proportion to the fuperior dignity of his fubject. But perhaps he might rather more probably allude to Spenfer's defcription of the fall of the old dragon, under which allegory he intended to reprefent a Chriftian's victory over the Devil. Faery Queen, B. 1. Cant. 11. St. 54. So down he fell, as an huge rocky clift, Whofe falfe foundation waves have wafh'd away, With dreadful poife is from the main land rift, Sc. Thyer. 210. and the madding wheels] What strong and daring figures are Hofanna here! Every thing is alive and animated. The very chariot wheels are mad and raging. And how rough and jarring are the verses, and how admirably do they bray fcribe! The word bray (probably the horrible difcord they would defrom the Greek Brax ftrepo) fignifies to make any kind of noife, tho' now it be commonly appropriated to a certain animal. It is apply'd by Spenfer to the found of a trumpet, Faery Queen, B. 3. Cant. 12. St. 6. And when it ceas'd, fhrill trumpets loud did bray. But it ufually fignifies any difagreeable noise, as B. 1. Cant. 6. St. 7. Her fhrill outcries and fhrieks fo loud did bray: and B. 1. Cant. 8. St. 11. He loudly bray'd with beastly yelling found: and Hofanna to the High'eft: nor ftood at gaze and fometimes it is used as a verb active, as here in Milton; Faery Queen, B. 5. Cant. 11. St. 20.. Even blafphemous words, which The doth bray: and in Shakespear's Hamlet, A&t I. The kettle drum and trumpet thus bray out The triumph of his pledge. 212.-over head the difmal bifs Of fiery darts] Now the author is come to that part of his poem, where he is moft to exert what faculty he has of, magnilo quence of ftile, and fublimity of thought, Nunc, veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore fonandum. Virg. Georg. III. 294. He has executed it to admiration: but the danger is, of being hurried away by his unbridled fteed; and of deferting propriety, while he's hunting after found and tumor. 205 219 Of And 'tis hard to guefs, what fault to charge on the printer, fince poetic fury is commonly both thought and allow'd to be regardlefs of fyntax. But here in this fentence, which is certainly vicious, the hifs flew in volies, and the bifs vaulted the hofts with fire: the author may be fairly thought to have given it -over head with dismal hifs The fiery darts in flaming volies flew. Bentley. But if there be any place in this As the learned Mr. Upton remarks |