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Of cold Olympus rul'd the middle air,

Their higheft Heav'n; or on the Delphian cliff,
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds

Of Doric land; or who with Saturn old
Fled over Adria to th' Hefperian fields,
And o'er the Celtic roam'd the utmost iles.

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All thefe and more came flocking; but with looks Down caft and damp, yet fuch wherein appear'd Obscure fome glimpfe of joy, to' have found their chief Not in defpair, to' have found themfelves not loft 525 In lofs itself; which on his count'nance caft

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Noah, is fuppofed to have fettled in the fouth-weft part of Afia Minor, about lonia, which contains the radical letters of his name. His defcendents were the Ionians and Grecians and the principal of their Gods were Heaven and Earth; hoitan was their eldeft fon, he was Defather of the giants, and his empire was felfed by his younger brother Saturn, as Saturn's was by Jupiter fon of Saturn and Rhea. Thefe hilt were known in the iland Crete, now Candia, in which is mount Ida, where Jupiter is faid to have been born; thence paffed over into Greece, and refided on mount Olympus in Theffaly; the •Trowy top of cold Olympus, as Ho mer calls it, Oxuptor dyarvigor, d: Hiad. 1: 420, and XVIII. 615. Ou XUpw89/porfor. which mountain af

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terwards became the name of Heaven among their worshippers; or on the Delphian cliff, Parnaffus, whereon was feated the city Delphi famous for the temple and oracle of Apollo; or in Dodona, a city and wood adjoining facred to Jupiter; and through all the bounds of Doric land, that is of Greece, Dos ris being a part of Greece; or fled over Adria, the Adriatic, to th' Hefperian fields, to Italy; and o'er the Celtic, France and the other countries overrun by the Celtes, roam'd the utmost iles, Great Britain, Ireland, the Orkneys, Thule or Iceland, Ultima Thule, as it is call'd, the utmoft boundary of the world. Such explications are needlefs to those who are converfant with the claffic authors; they are written for thofe who are not.

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529. Semp

Like doubtful hue: but he his wonted pride
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth not fubftance, gently rais'd
Their fainting courage, and difpell'd their fears. 530
Then ftrait commands that at the warlike found
Of trumpets loud and clarions be uprear'dod A
His mighty standard: that proud honor clam❜ddgn I
Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall;

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Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurl'd 535
Th' imperial enfign, which full high advanc'd
A

529. Semblance of worth not fubfance,] An expression of Spenfer's Fairy Queen, B. z. Cant. 9. St. 2.

Full lively is the femblaunt, though

the fubftance dead. Thyer.

530. Their fainting courage,] In the first edition he gave it Their fainted courage, if that be not an error of the press.

532: Of trumpet's loud and clarions] A clarion is a fmall fhrill treble trampet, a claro quem edit fono.

Hume. So Fairfax mentions and diftinguifhies them; Cant. I. St. 7r. When trumpets loud and clarions fhrill were heard.

533. that proud honor clam'd Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall;] Azazel is not the scape-goat, as it is commonly call'd, but fignifies fome

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Demon, as the learned Dr. Spencer hath abundantly proved in his differtation De birco emiffario. He fhows that this name is used for ancient authors Jewish and Chri fome Demon or Devil by feveral

ftian, and derives it from two Hebrew words, Az and Axel fignifying brave in retreating, a proper appellation for the ftandard-bearer to the fall'n Angels. We fee Milton gives Azazel a right to be ftandard-bearer on account of his ftature; he had no notion of a dapper enfign who can hardly carry his colors.

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Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind, on
With gems and golden luftre rich imblaz'd,
Seraphic arms and trophies; all the while
Sonorous metal blowing martial founds:
At which the universal host up sent

A shout, that tore Hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand banners rife into the air.

With orient colors waving:

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with them rofe

540

545

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559

A foreft huge of fpears; and thronging helms
Appear'd, and ferried shields in thick array
Of depth immeafurable: anon they move
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood
Of flutes and foft recorders; fuch as rais'd
To highth of nobleft temper heroes old
Arming to battel, and instead of rage
Deliberate valor breath'd, firm and unmov'd du G
With dread of death to flight or foul retreats
Nor wanting pow'r to mitigate and fwage

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555

With folemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase Anguish and doubt and fear and forrow' and pain From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they Breathing united force with fixed thought

Their arms, impreffes, colors, gold

and stone,

Gainst the fun beams fmil'd, flamed, fparkled, fhone.

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Of dry topt oaks they feem'd two

forests thick; So did each hoft with fpears and pikes abound.

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550. to the Dorian mood &c.] All accounts of the mufic of the Ancients are very uncertain and confus'd. There feem to have been three principal modes or measures among them, the Lydian, the Phrygian, and the Dorian. The Lydian the moft fprightly, and the Dorian was the most doleful, the Phrygian the moft grave and majestic. And Thyer. Milton in another part of his works ufes grave and Doric almost as fynonymous terms. "If we think "to regulate printing, thereby to "rectify manners, we muft reguHume." late all recreations and paftimes, "all

Fairfax.

548. — ferried fields] Lock'd one within another, link'd and clafp'd together, from the French ferrer, to lock, to fhut close.

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Mov'd on in filence to foft pipes, that charm'd
Their painful steps o'er the burnt foil; and now
Advanc'd in view they ftand, a horrid front
Of dreadful length and dazling arms, in guise
Of warriors old with order'd fpear and shield,.,
Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose: He through the armed files
Darts his experienc'd eye, and foon traverfe
The whole battalion views, their order due,
Their vifages and ftature as of Gods,

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579 Their number laft he fums. And now his heart Diftends with pride, and hard'ning in his strength Glories: for never fince created man,

Met fuch imbodied force, as nam'd with thefe

"all that is delightful to man.
"No music must be heard, no fong
"be fet or fung, but what is grave
"and Doric." (See his Speech for
the liberty of unlicenc'd Printing.
Vol. I. p. 149. Edit. 1738.) This
therefore was the measure beft
adapted to the fall'n Angels at this
juncture; and their inftruments were
flutes and pipes and foft recorders, for
the fame reason that Thucydides
and other ancient hiftorians affign
for the Lacedemonians making use
of these inftruments, because they
infpir'd them with a more cool and
deliberate courage, whereas trum

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pets and other martial mufic incited and inflam'd them more to rage. See Aulus Gellius, Lib. I. cap. 11. and Thucyd. L. 5.

560. Breathing united force with fixed thought

Mov'd on in filence] Thus Homer makes the Grecians march on in filence breathing force, Iliad. III. 8.

Οι δ' άρ ισαν σιγή μένεα πνείον
τις Αχαιοι,
Εν θυμώ κ. τ. λ.

567. He through the armed files
Darts his experienc'd eye,-] Not
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