In all his lineaments, though in his face
The glimpses of his Father's glory shine.
Ye see our danger on the utmost edge

Of hazard, which admits no long debate,

But must with something sudden be oppos'd,

Not force, but well couch'd fraud, well woven snares,

Ere in the head of nations he appear

Their king, their leader, and supreme on earth.
I, when no other durst, sole undertook

The dismal expedition to find out

And ruin Adam, and th' exploit perform'd
Successfully; a calmer voyage now

Will waft me; and the way found prosp'rous once
Induces best to hope of like success.

He ended, and his words impression left
Of much amazement to th' infernal crew,
Distracted and surpris'd with deep dismay
At these sad tidings; but no time was then
For long indulgence to their fears or grief:
Unanimous they all commit the care
And management of this main enterprize

95

100

105

110

To him their great dictator, whose attempt
At first against mankind so well had thriv'd
In Adam's overthrow, and led their march
From hell's deep-vaulted den to dwell in light,
Regents and potentates, and kings, yea Gods
Of many a pleasant realm and province wide.
So to the coast of Jordan he directs
His easy steps, girded with snaky wiles,

113. To him their great dictator,] Milton applies this title very properly to Satan in his present situation, as the authority he is now vested with is quite dictatorial, and the expedition on which he is going of the utmost consequence to the fallen angels. Thyer.

116. Hell's deep-vaulied den] In the Par. Lost there are some similar descriptions of hell.

115

120

danger and difficulty as in his first expedition to ruin mankind. It is said in reference to what he had spoken before,

I, when no other durst, sole under-
took

The dismal expedition to find out
And ruin Adam-

-a calmer voyage now
Will waft me &c.

Girded with snaky wiles, alluding to the habit of sorcerers and necromancers, who are represented

—the fiery concave. ii. 635. Hovering on wing under the cope of in some prints as girded about

hell.

i. 345.

the middle with the skins of snakes and serpents; a cincture totally opposite to that recommended by the Apostle, Eph. vi. 14. having your loins girt about with truth; and worn by our Saviour, Isa. xi. 5. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

120.-girded with snaky wiles,] The imagery very fine, and the circumstances extremely proper. Satan is here figured engaging on a great expedition, succinct, and his habit girt about him with a girdle of snakes; which puts us in mind of the instrument of the fall. Warburton.

But girded here is used only in a metaphorical sense, as in

C

Where he might likeliest find this new-declar'd,
This man of men, attested Son of God,
Temptation and all guile on him to try;
So to subvert whom he suspected rais'd
To end his reign on earth so long enjoy'd:
But contrary unweeting he fulfill'd

The purpos'd counsel pre-ordain'd and fix'd
Of the Most High, who in full frequence bright
Of angels, thus to Gabriel smiling spake.

the passages cited from the
Scriptures by Bishop Newton.
So dolis instructus, Virg. Æn. ii.
150. And thus also Satan is
described in the Par. Reg. iii. 5.

At length collecting all his serpent wiles.

Dunster.

122. This man of men, attested Son of God,] The phrase is low, and I wish the poet had rather written

This man, of heav'n attested Son of
God.

In the holy Scriptures God of
gods, and heaven of heavens, are
truly grand expressions: but
then there is an idea of great

ness in the words themselves to support the dignity of the phrase: which is wanting in Milton's man of men. Calton.

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 particularly 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 Saviour to his virgin mother. And the Jewish Rabbis say, that 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 reason this speech is directed to Gabriel in particular. And God's 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,
Thou and all angels conversant on earth
With man or men's affairs, how I begin
To verify that solemn message late,

On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure
In Galilee, that she should bear a Son

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
O'er-shadow her: this man born and now up-grown,
To show him worthy of his birth divine
And high prediction, henceforth I expose
To Satan; let him tempt and now assay
His utmost subtlety, because he boasts

contrary to the usage of our language. So ver. 221. of this 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 pleas'd.

We may in this respect apply to Milton what Cicero has said of the ancient orators; Grandes erant verbis, crebri sententiis, compressione rerum breves, et ob eam ipsam causam interdum subobscuri. Brutus, 29. Ed. Proust. Dunster.

137. Then told'st her doubting
how these things could be
To her a virgin, &c.]
The words are from Luke i. 34,
35. Dunster.

144. because he boasts
And vaunts &c.]

And vaunts of his great cunning to the throng
Of his apostasy; he might have learnt
Less overweening, since he fail'd in Job,
Whose constant perseverance overcame

Whate'er his cruel malice could invent.
He now shall know I can produce a man
Of female seed, far abler to resist
All his solicitations, and at length

All his vast force, and drive him back to hell,
Winning by conquest what the first man lost
By fallacy surpris'd. But first I mean

To exercise him in the wilderness,

There he shall first lay down the rudiments
Of his great warfare, ere I send him forth

145

150

155

To conquer Sin and Death, the two grand foes,
By humiliation and strong sufferance:
His weakness shall o'ercome Satanic strength,
And all the world, and mass of sinful flesh;
That all the angels and ethereal powers,

This alludes to what Satan had
just before said to his compa-
nions, ver. 100.

I, when no other durst, sole undertook &c.

Thyer.

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.