695

And they, outcaft from God, are here condemn'd
To waste eternal days in woe and pain?
And reckon'ft thou thyself with Spirits of Heaven,
Hell-doom'd, and breath'ft defiance here and fcorn
Where I reign king, and to enrage thee more,
Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment,
Falfe fugitive, and to thy fpeed add wings,
Left with a whip of fcorpions I pursue
Thy lingring, or with one ftroke of this dart
Strange horror feife thee', and pangs unfelt before.

So fpake the grifly terror, and in shape,

So speaking and so threatning, grew tenfold
More dreadful and deform: on th' other fide

Incens'd with indignation Satan stood
Unterrify'd, and like a comet burn'd,

conjurare to bind one another by
oath to be true and faithful in a de-
fign undertaken,

Et conjuratos cœlum refcindere fra-
tres. Virg. Georg. I. 280.
Aut conjurato defcendens Dacus ab
Iftro. Georg. II. 497. Hume.

697. Hell doom'd,] As Satan had called Death Hell-born, ver. 687, Death returns it by calling Satan Hell-doom'd.

700. Falle fugitive,] He is here called falfe because he had called

700!

705

That

That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge

R

710

In th' arctic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes peftilence and war. Each at the head
Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No second stroke intend, and fuch a frown
Each caft at th' other, as when two black clouds,
With Heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on i>
Over the Cafpian, then ftand front to front
Hovering a space, till winds the fignal blows
To join their dark encounter in mid air:

So frown'd the mighty combatants, that Hell

rius as it is commonly call'd, a length of about 40 degrees, in thartic fky, or the northern hemifphere, and from his horrid hair Shakes peftilence and war. Poetry delights in omens, prodigies, and fuch wonderful events as were fuppofed to follow upon the appearance of comets, eclipfes, and the like. We have another inftance of this nature in I 598. and Taffo in the fame manner compares Argantes to a comet, and mentions the like fatal effects, Cant. 7. St. 52.

Qual con le chiome fanguinofe horrende

Splender cometa fuol per l'aria
adufta,

Che i regni muta, e i feri morbi
adduce,
Ai purpurei tiranni infaufta luce.

716

As when a comet far and wide

defcried,

In fcorn of Phœbus midft bright

Heav'n doth fhine,

And tidings fad of death and mifchief brings

To mighty lords, to monarchs, Fairfax. and to kings.

714.-as when two black clouds,

&c.] It is highly probable, that Milton took the hint of this noble fimile from one of the famę fort in Boiardo's Orlando Inamo rato, tho' it must be own'd that he has excell'd the Italian much, both in the variety of its circumftances, and the propriety of its applica tion. Boiardo is defcribing an encounter betwixt Orlando his hero, and the Tartar king Agricane, and begins it thus, B. 1. C. 16.

Se

I

Grew darker at their frown, fo match'd they ftood;
For never but once more was either like

To meet so great a foe: and now great deeds
Had been achiev'd, whereof all Hell had rung,
Had not the fnaky forceress that sat

Fast by Hell gate, and kept the fatal key,
Ris'n, and with hideous outcry rush'd between.
O Father, what intends thy hand, the cry'd,
Against thy only Son? What fury', O Son,
Poffeffes thee to bend that mortal dart

721

725

729

Against thy Father's head? and know'ft for whom;

Se vedifte infieme mai fcontrar dua toni

Da Levante a Ponente al ciel diverfo,

Cofi proprio s'urtar quei dua baroni.

Thyer.

For

722. fo great a foe:] Jefus Chrift who (as it follows ver. 734.)

715. — Heav'n's artillery] Thun- will one day destroy both Death der. Juv. Sat. XIII. 9.

Quicquid habent telorum arma

mentaria coli. Hume.

716. Over the Cafpian,] That fea being particularly noted for ftorms and tempefts. So Horace, Od. II. IX. 2..

Non mare Cafpium
Vexant inæquales procellæ

Ufque

and him that has the power of death that is the Devil, Heb. II. 14.

730. and know'ft for whom;] These words are read with a femicolon in Milton's own editions, and not with a note of interrogation, as in fome others; and the meaning is, at the fame time that thou knoweft for whom; Cum nôris bene cui facías hoc; as Dr. Trapp tranflates it. If this is not the

And fo Fairfax, in Taffo, Cant. 6. fenfe of the words, they must be

St. 38.

read with a note of interrogation,

737. Se

For him who fits above and laughs the while
At thee ordain'd his drudge, to execute

Whate'er his wrath, which he calls justice, bids;
His wrath, which one day will destroy ye both.
She fpake, and at her words the hellish peft 735
Forbore, then thefe to her Satan return'd.

So ftrange thy outcry, and thy words so strange
Thou interpofeft, that my fudden hand
Prevented fpares to tell thee yet by deeds

740

What it intends; till first I know of thee,
What thing thou art, thus double-form'd, and why
In this infernal vale first met thou call's
Me Father, and that phantafm call'ft my Son;

I know thee not, nor ever saw till now
Sight more detestable than him and thee.

745

T'whom thus the portrefs of Hell gate reply'd.

Haft thou forgot me then, and do I feem
Now in thine eye fo foul? once deem'd fo fair
In Heav'n, when at th'affembly, and in fight

737. Sa Arange thy outcry, and

thy words fo frange] The change in the pofition of the words fo frange in this verfe has a peculiar beauty in it, which Dr. Bentley's alteration of the latter frange into new utterly deftroys.

Of

Of all the Seraphim with thee combin'd

In bold confpiracy against Heav'n's king,
All on a sudden miserable pain

750

760

Surpris'd thee, dim thine eyes, and dizzy fwum
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and faft
Threw forth, till on the left fide opening wide, 755
Likeft to thee in fhape and count'nance bright,
Then shining heav'nly fair, a Goddess arm'd
Out of thy head I fprung: amazement feis'd
All th' hoft of Heav'n; back they recoil'd afraid
At first, and call'd me Sin, and for a fign
Portentous held me; but familiar grown,
I pleas'd, and with attractive graces won
The most averse, thee chiefly, who full oft
Thyfelf in me thy perfect image viewing
Becam❜st enamour'd, and fuch joy thou took'st 765
With me in fecret, that my womb conceiv'd
A growing burden. Mean while war arose,
And fields were fought in Heav'n; wherein remain’d
(For