1 Nor folid might refift that edge: it met fuesse las mello, in hizo senal en ellas." To which I may add the fword of Renaldo, Orl. Fur. C. xvi. TODD. Ver. 325. Defcending,] The defcending of the fword is the almoft univerfal language of romance. "La efpada defcendio hafta lus pechos," Amad. de Gaul. 1. i. c. 6. c. 39. l. iii. "El efpada decendio al cuello del cavallo," Palmerin de Oliva fol. 59. 6. "L'efpée l'atteignit fur l'un des cottez en defcendant," Huon de Bourdeaux, 45. "Scende la fpada, &c." Boiardo, Orl. Innam. 1. i. C. xix. ft. 14. "La fpada del ciel fcende," Arioko, Orl. Fur. C. xxxiii. ft. 15. BowLE. And in our own language: "He fo furiously prepared his good fworde Scindifer, as Marcimedes, loath to abide the doubtfull fury of his defcending blade, caft away his weapons, &c." Knight of the Sea, 1600, p. 91. TODD. Ver. 327. Thus, Then Satan first knew pain, And writh'd him to and fro convolv'd;] where Priamond is wounded, and bleeds, in Spenfer's F. Q. iv. iii. 9. "That he for paine himself n'ot right upreare, "But to and fro in great amazement reel'd.". TODD. Ver. 328. fo fore The griding fword with difcontinuous wound &c.] Difcontinuous wound is faid in allufion to the old definition of a wound, that it feparates the continuity of the parts, "Vulnus eft folutio continui:" And griding is an old word for cutting, as in Spenfer, Faer. Qu. ii. viii. 36. "That through his thigh the mortal fteel did gride." NEWTON. The wounding of Satan, and his behaviour after the battle, seem to be an improvement upon Spenser, Faer. Qu. iv. iv. 24. The griding fword with discontinuous wound Pafs'd through him: But the ethereal substance 'clos'd, Not long divisible; and from the gash A ftream of nectarous humour iffuing flow'd Sanguine, fuch as celeftial Spirits may bleed, "The wicked fteele, for mischief firft ordained, "And therein made a very griefly wound, "That streames of bloud his armour all bedide: 330 "Out of the field, that none perceiv'd it plaine." BOWLE. Mr. Church and Mr. Callander refer alfo to Spenfer, Faerie Queene, i. v. 9. "The cruell fteele fo greedily doth bight "In tender flesh, that streames of blood down flow; "With which the armes, that earst so bright did fhow, "Into a pure vermillion now are dyde." To which I may add on account of the rhythm, as well as the expreffion, Faer. Qu. ii. viii. 37. "his brother faw the red blood rayle "Adowne fe faft, and all his armour steepe:". See ver. 334. "And all his armour ftain'd." So attentive was Milton, in this defcription, to his acknowledged and favourite mafter. TODD. Ver. 332. Aftream of nectarous humour iuing flow'd Sanguine,] Here is an odious blunder. Nectar is the drink of the Gods; and was Satan's humour or blood a proper drink? But the next line fhows what the author dictated, "Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed." The whole diftich is, word for word, taken from a verfe in Homer, Σχωρ, οἷός πέρ τε ρέει μακάρεσσι θεοίσιν. And all his armour ftain'd, ere while fo bright. Forthwith on all fides to his aid was run 335 By Angels many and strong, who interpos'd Defence, while others bore him on their shields Back to his chariot, where it stood retir'd Homer's Gods, when wounded, bled Ichor, different from human blood, and peculiar to them. And Milton makes his angels bleed the fame humour, that has no other name. He gave it therefore "A ftream of ichorous humour iffuing flow'd." BENTLEY, I should have thought, that an attentive reader could not have miffed observing that the stream, which Milton fpeaks of, was not of nectarous humour only, but of nectarous humour sanguine, that is, converted into what celeftial fpirits bleed: And what is that but the fame which Homer expresses by one word Ichor? If this was the poet's meaning, the doctor's objection is wide of the mark. Befides, if nectarous was wrong, ichorous would not feem to be right; because the middle fyllable of it should be long, according to the profody of the word from which it is derived. PEARCE. was run] A Latinifm, fays Ver. 335. Dr. Newton, as in Virgil, "Poftquam arma dei ad Vulcania ventum eft." Milton, I obferve, thus writes in his Hift. of Eng. B. ii. "Now was fought eagerly on both fides." TODD. Ver. 336. who interpos'd] Thus Homer makes the chief of the Trojans interpose between their wounded hero, when he was overborne by Ajax. Satan lighted out of his fun-bright chariot at ver. 103, and, according to the Homerick manner, is now wounded, and borne (on the shields of Seraphim) back to it, where it was placed out of the range and array of battle, Iliad xiv. 428. Τὸν δ ̓ ἄρ ἑταῖροι Χερσὶν ἀείραντες φέρον ἐκ πόνυ, ἔφ ̓ ἐκεθ ίππος Ωκέας, οἱ οἱ ὄπισθε μάχης ἠδὲ πτολέμοιο Ἔφασαν, ηνίοχόντε καὶ ἅρματα ποικίλ' ἔχοντες, κ. τ. λ. much more loofe and redundant than our expreffive author. HUME. From off the files of war: There they him laid Yet foon he heal'd; for Spirits that live throughout In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins, Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound 345 ear, 350 Ver. 344. Yet foon he heal'd;] Pfellus relates of devils, "that they feele paine if they be hurt; that, if their bodies be cut, with admirable celerity they come together againe; that, in their fall, their bodies were changed into a more aeriall and groffe fubftance." See Burton's Anat. Melanch. ed. 1624, p. 37. And compare alfo the following paffage in this book; "Pureft at firft, now grofs by finning grown." TODD. Ver. 349. - no more than can the fluid air:] The fame comparison as Dr. Newton remarks, in Shakspeare's Macbeth: "As eafy may'ft thou the intrenchant air "With thy keen fword imprefs, as make me bleed." And fo Marcellus fpeaks of the ghost in Hamlet: "For it is, as the air, invulnerable." TODD. eye, all ear, Ver. 350. All heart they live, all head, all All intellect, all fenfe;] This is expreffed very much like Pliny's account of God, Nat. Hift. L. i. c. vii. "Quifquis eft Deus, fi modo eft alius, quacunque in parte, totus eft fenfus, totus vifus, totus auditus, totus animæ, totus animi, totus fui." NEWTON, They limb themselves, and colour, fhape, or fize Affume, as likes them beft, condenfe or rare. V Mean while in other parts like deeds deferv'd Memorial, where the might of Gabriel fought, 355 And with fierce enfigns pierc'd the deep array Of Moloch, furious king; who him defied, And at his chariot-wheels to drag him bound Threaten'd, nor from the Holy One of Heaven Refrain'd his tongue blafphémous; but anon 360 Down cloven to the waift, with fhatter'd arms And uncouth pain fled bellowing. On each wing Uriel, and Raphaël, his vaunting foe, Ver. 359. nor from the Holy One of Heaven Refrain'd his tongue blafphemous;] From 11 Kings xix. 22. "Whom haft thou reproached and blafphemed?-even the Holy One of Ifrael." GILLIES. Ver. 362. And uncouth pain fled bellowing.] Uncouth is a word very common with Spenfer; but Milton, no doubt, in this particular application of it, had in view the following lines, Faer Qu, i. xi. 20. "The piercing steele there wrought a wound full wyde, THYER. Ver. 363. Uriel, and Raphaël,] The fpeaker here is Raphael; and it had been improper to mention himself as a third perfon, and tell his own exploits; but that Adam knew not his name. Had he known it, he must have faid "Uriel and I;" which he cared not to do. BENTLEY. Ibid. Uriel, and Raphaël, his vaunting foe,] Dr. Bentley and Mr. Thyer are of opinion, that a word is left out in this line, and that the fenfe and the measure would be improved by reading it thus; "Uriel, and Raphael, each his vaunting foe." NEWTON. |