Where he might likeliest find this new-declar'd, The purpos'd counsel pre-ordain'd and fix'd the passages cited from the At length collecting all his serpent wiles. This man, of heav'n attested Son of In the holy Scriptures God of 128. in full frequence] So frequent and full, Par. Lost, i. 797. where see the note. E. 129.-thus to Gabriel smiling spake.] This speech is properly addressed to Gabriel particularly among the angels, as he seems to have been the angel particuJarly employed in the embassies and transactions relating to the Gospel. Gabriel was sent to in 125 form Daniel of the famous prophecy of the seventy weeks; Gabriel notified the conception of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and of our blessed And the Jewish Rabbis say, that Saviour to his virgin mother. Michael was the minister of severity, but Gabriel of mercy: Gabriel the guardian angel of and accordingly our poet makes Paradise, and employs Michael to expel our first parents out of Paradise and for the same reaGabriel in particular. And God's son this speech is directed to being represented as smiling may be justified not only by the heathen poets, as Virg. Æn. i. 254. Olli subridens hominum sator atque deorum : but by the authority of Scripture itself. See Paradise Lost, v. 718. 129. Tasso speaking of Gabriel, in the opening of the Gerusalemme Liberata, says, E tra Dio questi e l' anime migliori Interprete fedel, nuncio giocondo: Giù i decreti del ciel porta, ed al cielo Riporta dè mortali i preghi, e 'l zelo. 'Twixt God and souls of men that righteous been Ambassador is he for ever blest; Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold, On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure Great in renown, and call'd the Son of God; 130 Then told'st her doubting how these things could be To her a virgin, that on her should come 135 141 The Holy Ghost, and the pow'r of the Highest The just commands of heaven's eternal King contrary to the usage of our Twixt skies and earth, he up and language. So ver. 221. of this down doth bring. Fairfax. Smiling is here no casual expletive. It is particularly meant to contrast the description of Satan, in the preceding part of the book, where his "gloomy consistory," it is said, With looks aghast and sad he thus bespake. Dunster. book, Yet held it more humane &c. where the passage is confused for want of the pronoun I. So also ver. 85. This is my Son belov'd. In him am We may Dunster. 137. Then told'st her doubting 144. because he boasts And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng All his vast force, and drive him back to hell, To This alludes to what Satan had I, when no other durst, sole under took &c. Thyer. 146. Of his apostasy;] That is, of his apostates; the abstract for the concrete, as in Par. Lost, xii. 131. -a cumbrous train Of flocks and herds, and numerous servitude. 157. -the rudiments Of his great warfare,] Primitiæ juvenis miseræ, bellique propinqui Dura rudimenta. Virg. Æn. xi, 156. 145 150 155 1.60 Quod si militiæ jam te, puer inclyte, prima Clara rudimenta. Stat. 5. Sylv. ii. 3. 161. His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength, And all the world,] We may compare Par. Lost, xii. 567. See also 1 Cor. i. 27. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And Ps. viii. 2. compared with Matt. xxi. 16. And John xvi. 33. I have overcome the world. Dunster. 163. That all the angels and ethereal powers, &c.] Not a word is said here of the Son of God, but what a Socinian would allow. They now, and men hereafter may discern, From what consummate virtue I have chose This perfect man, by merit call'd my Son, To earn salvation for the sons of men. His divine nature is artfully concealed under a partial and ambiguous representation; and the angels are first to learn the mystery of the incarnation from that important conflict, which is the subject of this poem. They are seemingly invited to behold the triumphs of the man Christ Jesus over the enemy of mankind; and these surprise them with the glorious discovery of the God -inshrin'd In fleshly tabernacle, and human form. That Christ was perfect man is a partial truth, and serves to keep the higher perfection of his divine nature, for the present, out of sight, without denying or excluding it. It is likewise very truly said of this perfect man, that he is by merit called the Son of God. Justin Martyr observes in his second Apology, [p. 67. Ed. Col.] that Christ, considered only as man, deserved for his superior wisdom to be called the Son of God. Υίος δε Θεου ὁ Ιησους λεγομενος, ει και κοινως μόνον ανθρωπος, δια σοφιαν αξιος υἱος Θεου λεγεσθαι. In either capacity of God or Man he had a claim of merit to the title. The Father, speaking to his eternal Word in Paradise Lost, iii. 308. on his generous undertakings for mankind, saith, -and hast been found By merit more than birthright Son of God. 165 Again, the words consummate virtue are ambiguous, and may be referred to the divine nature of Christ as well as the human. Their present connexion applies them directly to the human nature: but they had a secret reference, I conceive, in the poet's meaning to the majesty of that heavenly part of him, which denominates Christ in the holy Scriptures the wisdom of God and the power (or virtue) of God, so duvau, Dei virtutem, Lat. Vulg. 1 Cor. i. 24. Hunc tamen solum primogenitum divini nominis appellatione dignatus est, patria scilicet virtute, ac majestate pollentem. Esse autem summi Dei filium, qui sit potestate maxima præditus, non tantùm voces prophetarum, sed etiam Sibyllarum vaticinia demonstrant. Lactantius, Div. Inst. lib. iv. 6. Cum igitur a prophetis idem manus Dei, et virtus, et sermo dicatur. ibid. 29. Paradise Lost, vi. 713. -Into thee such virtue and grace Immense I have transfus'd. Christ shewed his heavenly wisdom upon every trial: but his divine virtue broke out, to the amazement of the Tempter, in the last. Note, that the preposition from, From what consummate virtueis used here as we and præ, to signify for or because of. Cal ton. So spake th' eternal Father, and all heaven 168. So spake th' eternal Father, 169. then into hymns Burst forth, and in celestial 170 may judge from the numerous plans of tragedies which he left behind him. Indeed he has frequent allusions to dramatic compositions in all his works. In the second book of his Reason of Church Government against Prelacy he terms the Song of ma, consisting of two persons and Solomon 66 a divine Pastoral draa double chorus:" and he speaks of the Apocalypse of St. John, as high and stately tragedy, shutas "the majestic image of a ting up and intermingling her solemn scenes and acts with a sevenfold chorus of halleluiahs and harping symphonies." Dun ster. 171. while the hand We have pretty near the same Sed postquam fuerant digiti cum voce Edidit hæc dulci tristia vérba modo. And the word hand is used by Milton once again in this poem, and also in the Arcades, to dis tinguish instrumental harmony from vocal, iv. 254. There thou shalt hear and learn the secret power Of harmony in tones and numbers hit By voice or hand. measures mov'd,] Milton, we may suppose, had here in his mind the ancient chorus. In his original plan of the Par. Lost, under a dramatic form, he proposed to introduce a chorus of angels. The drama Arcades, 77. seems to have been his favourite species of poetry, and that which particularly caught and occupied his imagination: so at least we If my inferior hand or voice could hit Calton. Compare also the Hymn on the |