Prince of the air; then rifing from his grave 18; In open show, and with ascension bright The realm itself of Satan long ufurp'd, Whom he shall tread at laft under our feet; 190 Ev'n he who now foretold his fatal bruife, 195 On Adam last thus judgment he pronounc'd. Because thou' haft hearken'd to the' voice of thy wife, And eaten of the tree, concerning which I charg'd thee, fay'ing, Thou shalt not eat thereof: 199 Curs'd 197. On Adam Laft thus judgment under our feet: Rom. XVI. 20. And the God of peace fhall bruife Satan he pronounc'd. &c.] He is under your feet. We fee by thefe equally exact in reporting the fen inftances what use our author had tence pronounc'd upon Adam, Gen. made of reading the Scriptures. III. 17, 18, 19. And unto Adam be 192. And to the Woman thus his faid, Because thou haft hearken'd fentence turn'd. &c.] Gen. to the voice of thy wife, and hat III. 16. Unto the Woman be faid, I eaten of the tree of which I com will greatly multiply thy forrow and manded thee faying, Thou shalt not est thy conception; in forrow thou shalt of it: curfed is the ground for th bring forth children; and thy defire fake; in forrow shalt thou eat of i fhall be to thy husband; and he shall all the days of thy life: Thorns alo and thistles shall it bring forth to thes rule over thee. Curs'd is the ground for thy fake; thou in forrow Thorns alfo' and thistles it shall bring thee forth 211 So judg'd he Man, both judge and saviour sent, And th' instant stroke of death denounc'd that day Remov'd far off; then pitying how they stood Before him naked to the air, that now Muft fuffer change, disdain'd not to begin Thenceforth the form of fervant to affume, As when he wash'd his fervants feet, fo now As father of his family he clad thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: In the fweat of thy face fhalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it waft tbou taken; for duft thou art, and unto duft fhalt thou return. We quote thefe paffages at length, that without any trouble they may be compar'd with the poem. 214. the form of fervant to affume, &c.] Alluding to Phil. II. 7. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form 215 Their of a fervant. As when he wash'd came Their nakedness with skins of beasts, or flain, Of beafts, but inward nakedness, much more came by the skins of beafts; and therefore our author adds they were either flain, but he does not fay whether by one another, or for facrifice, or for food; or they shed their coats like Snakes and were repaid with new ones, a notion which we may prefume he borrow'd from fome commentator rather than advanc'd of himself. It feems too odd and extravagant to be a fancy of his own, but he might introduce it out of vanity to how his reading. Pliny indeed mentions fome lefler creatures fhedding their skins in the manner of fnakes, but that is hardly authority fufficient for fuch a notion as this. 219. And thought not much to clothe his enemies:] Dr. Bentley fays that this line is certainly of the editor's manufacture, and quite fuperfluous; because it divides what is naturally connected, and changes the fentiments, from a family under a gracious father, to the condition of enemies. But I don't fee that it divides any natural connexion: and as for changing the fentiments, it does it to a beauty, not to a fault: for it fhows more goodness in a man to clothe his enemy, than only one of his family. Milton feems to have had in his thoughts what St. Paul fays, Rom. V. 1o. Whe we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Sa. Milton again had much the fame fentiment, when he makes Adam fay in ver. 1059. Cloth'd usu worthy. Pearce. 222. with his robe of rightoufness,] Ifa. LXI. 10. He bab clothed me with the garments of sel vation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness. 229. Mean while ere thus I finn'd and judg'd on earth. Two imperfonals: Before Man had thus finn'd, and God had judged him, Sin and Death fat in counterview within the gates of Hell; but now upon Man's tranfgreffion and God's judgment Sin thus began and addrefs'd herself to Death. We 230. — fat Sin and Death,] are now to confider the imaginary perfons, or Sin and Death, who att a large part in this book. Such beautiful extended allegories are certainly return'd, 225 To him with swift ascent he up Into his blissful bofom reaffum'd In glory as of old; to him appeas'd All, tho' all-knowing, what had pass'd with Man Recounted, mixing interceffion fweet. Mean while ere thus was finn'd and judg'd on Earth, Within the gates of Hell fat Sin and Death, certainly fome of the finest compofitions of genius: but, as I have before obferved, are not agreeable to the nature of an heroic poem. This of Sin and Death is very exquifite in its kind, if not confider'd as a part of fuch a work. The truths contained in it are fo clear and open, that I shall not lofe time in explaining them; but fhall only obferve, that a reader, who knows the ftrength of the English tongue, will be amazed to think how the poet could find fuch apt words and phrafes to defcribe the actions of thofe two imaginary perfons, and particularly in that part where Death is exhibited as forming a bridge over the Chaos; a work fuitable to the genius of Milton. Since the fubject I am upon, gives me an opportunity of fpeaking more at large of fuch fhadowy and imaginary perfons as may be introduced into heroic poems, I fhall beg leave to explain myself in a matter which is curious in its kind, and which none of the critics have treated of. It is certain Homer and Virgil are full of imaginary perions, who are 230 In very beautiful in poetry, when they are just fhown, without being engaged in any feries of action. Homer indeed reprefents Sleep as a perfon, and afcribes a fhort part to him in his Iliad; but we must confider that tho' we now regard fuch a perfon as entirely fhadowy and unfubftantial, the Heathens made ftatues of him, placed him in their temples, and looked upon him as a real deity. When Homer makes use of other fuch allegorical perfons, it is only in fhort expreffions, which convey an ordinary thought to the mind in the moft pleafing manner, and may rather be looked upon as poetical phrafes than allegorical defcriptions. Inftead of telling us, that men naturally fly when they are terrified, he introduces the perfons of Flight and Fear, who, he tells us, are infeparable companions. Instead of fay ing that the time was come when Apollo ought to have received his recompenfe, he tells us, that the Hours brought him his reward. Inftead of defcribing the effects which Minerva's Ægis produced in battel, he In counterview within the gates, that now For he tells us, that the brims of it plain that these I have mention'd, were incompaffed by Terror, Rout, in which perfons of an imaginary Difcord, Fury, Purfuit, Maffacre nature are introduced, are fuch and Death. In the fame figure of short allegories as are not defigned fpeaking, he reprefents Victory as to be taken in the litteral fenfe, following Diomedes; Difcord as the but only to convey particular cir mother of funerals and mourning; cumftances to the reader after an Venus as dreffed by the Graces; unufual and entertaining manner. Bellona as wearing Terror and Con- But when fuch perfons are intro fternation like a garment. I might duced as principal actors, and en give feveral other inttances out of gaged in a series of adventures, Homer, as well as a great many they take too much upon them, out of Virgil. Milton has like- and are by no means proper for an wife very often made ufe of the heroic poem, which ought to ap fame way of speaking, as where he pear credible in its principal parts. tells us, that Victory fat on the I cannot forbear therefore thinking right hand of the Meffiah when he that Sin and Death are as improper marched forth against the rebel agents in a work of this nature, as Angels; that at the rifing of the Strength and Neceffity in one of the fun the Hours unbarr'd the gates tragedies of Æfchylus, who repreof light; that Difcord was the fented those two perfons nailing daughter of Sin. Of the fame na- down Prometheus to a rock, for ture are thofe expreffions, where which he has been justly cenfur'd defcribing the finging of the night- by the greateft critics. I do not ingale, he adds, Silence was pleas'd; know any imaginary person made and upon the Meffiah's bidding ufe of in a more fublime manner peace to the Chaos, Confufion heard of thinking than that in one of bis voice. I might add innume- the prophets, who defcribing God rable inftances of our poet's writ- as defcending from Heaven, and ing in this beautiful figure. It is vifiting the fins of mankind, adds that 10 |
