which convinced him of the truth of the Copernican theory of astronomy. (See p. 22.) He was tried twice by the Inquisition for holding 'erroneous' opinions, and silenced. He was living near Florence, a prisoner to the Inquisition, for thinking in astronomy otherwise than the licensers thought', when Milton visited him in 1638-39. He had become blind in 1636. In v. 262, he is mentioned by name. 289, 290. Fesolè, now Fiesolè, is a hill near Florence. Valdarno, i.e. Val d'Arno, the valley in which Florence is situated. 291. spotty, refers to the dark patches in the moon; they are the shadows cast by the mountains. It was Galileo that discovered the unevenness of the moon's surface. In v. 420 Milton attributes the 'spots' to the presence of vapour. It is now generally agreed that there are no rivers (nor vapour) in the moon. 292. to equal which, compared with which. 294. ammiral, the chief ship of a fleet, so called from its carrying the superior officer. (Arabic, amir, ruler, cp. ameer, and al, the.) 296. marle, ground; properly a soft, rich soil. Cp. 562. 297. Heaven's azure, the crystal floor of Heaven. 299. Nathless, none the less; now displaced by nevertheless. The word is common in Chaucer. 300. inflamed, in its literal sense, burning, in flames. 301. entranced. (G.) What other terms are used to describe their conditions? 303. Vallombrosa ('shady valley'), a beautiful and thickly wooded valley and hilly slope about 18 miles from Florence. It is said that Milton spent several days at a monastery that stood here. Etruria, Tuscany. 304. imbower, form bowers. sedge, in Hebrew the Red Sea is called 'the sedgy sea', on account of the large quantity of sea-weed found in it. 305. Orion (Orīon), a constellation so named from a companion of Artemis or Diana, the goddess of hunting. The time of year at which this constellation sets-November or early December-was generally associated by the poets with bad weather. 'Quam multi Libyco volvuntur marmore fluctus Virgil, Aeneid, vii. 218-19. (Give other instances of poetical traditions in this Book.) armed, some of the stars of Orion appear to be arranged in the form of a sword and belt. 307. Busiris, here identified with the Pharaoh of Exodus. Memphian, Egyptian, from the ancient capital Memphis, on the west bank of the Nile. chivalry, army-horse and foot, though in this case mainly horse. (Exodus, xiv. 28.) Doublet cavalry'. See 575 n. on infantry and cavalry. 308. perfidious. Pharaoh had given the Israelites permission to leave Egypt. 309. sojourners, temporary dwellers in a place. (O.F. sojourner, fr. L. diurnus, fr. dies, a day.) Goshen, a district east of the delta of the Nile. who beheld, &c. See Exodus xxiv. 30. 311. so...abject and lost-as what? Analyse the similes in lines 302-13. With 309-12 cp. 323-25. abject, cast down. 318-22. Or...or, whether...or. virtue, valour, bravery: lit. manliness. (L. vir.) Scan 1. 318: which word is made emphatic? 320, 321. See v. 640, &c., for the evening 'repast' and slumbers of the angels. 322. sworn To adore the Conqueror. In both questions Satan is taunting them: 'They had previously risked all rather than do this-were they going to give in now?' 324. Cherub and Seraph, the two kinds of angels, 'angels of love and angels of light': see p. 19. Of course the reference here is to Satan's followers-under their former names. Cp. 157, 'Fallen Cherub'. 325. ensigns, standards, distinguishing marks or signs. (L. insignia.) till. The construction is abrupt: supply 'and will continue to watch us' before till. 326. His pursuers: what kind of genitive, objective or subjective? 337. obey, in M. E. took a dative case. (Cp. Fr. obéir à.) 338, &c. Alluding to Moses and the plagues. See Exodus x. 12, &c. 341. warping. (1) This is usually regarded as a peculiar use of the nautical term 'warp', that is, to haul a ship forward, by means of a cable fixed some distance ahead. But this would not produce the zigzag course required by the usual explanation-'an undulatory forward motion' of a large mass. (2) Is not the word more probably used in the sense of 'floating about' at the mercy of the wind, like the Ark in the Flood? Compare the following passage from The Deluge, a poem of the 13th century : (The Ark) "luged about Where the wind and the weder warpen hit wolde ". 345. cope, roof, vault. Cp. iv. 992, "Starry cope of heaven ". (Cp. cap and cape.) 347. the uplifted...waving. What is the construction? 348. sultan (or soldan, 764), victor, prince: in 378 'emperor'. 350. brimstone, i.e. 'burning stone': why? 351-55. The Goths, from the province of Dacia, north of the Danube (Danaw), pressed forward by the Huns, settled in 'the Empire' in 376; soon afterwards they defeated the Romans in battle. Forty years later the west Goths sacked Rome, and some passed into Gaul and Spain. German tribes too were at this time crossing the Rhine (Rhene), and pressing on into Gaul and Spain. Hordes of Huns now attacked Romans, Goths, and Germans alike, but were defeated in 451 at Châlons-one of the world's critical battles. Some Germans called Vandals, who had at first settled in Spain, crossed into Africa (Libya) in 429, and founded a kingdom, with Carthage as capital. Even in Italy some east Goths settled. From these various settlements the Romance nations sprung. 356. squadron, lit. 'that which is squared'. (It. squadrone, L. esquadratum.) Cp. 758, 'squared regiments and bands'. 360. erst, superl. of ere; once, at first. For thrones, cp. 128 and 737 n. 362. rased, for 'erased'. What is the difference? (L. rasum, scrape.) 363. Books of Life. Revelation iii. 5. 370. Glory-what is the case? 372. religions, decorations. So, in Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar, the statues of Cæsar are "decked with ceremonies". 358-375. Milton assumes the belief of the early Christian Church that the Pagan gods were fallen angels in disguise. In Par. Reg. (e.g. II. 121-6) he identifies the fallen angels with the 'demons' of the four elements. 380. promiscuous, mixed, confused. 382. Cp. 1 Peter v. 8, "Your adversary the devil... walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 383. seat of God, the Temple at Jerusalem. 385, 386. durst abide, stood their ground in spite of. Cp. 470. thundering out of Sion, referring perhaps to what was thundered (the ten commandments, one of which forbad idolatry). 387. Cherubim, two figures in the sanctuary of the Temple. I Kings vi. 23. 388. shrines, altars. See 2 Kings xxi. 4, "And he (i.e. King Manasseh) built altars in the house of the Lord." (G.) 389. abominations: referring to the idolatrous character of the shrines. 390. profaned, defiled, made unholy, desecrated. (L. profanus, unholy; lit. before (or outside of) a temple, fanum.) 392-521. See the Table of Heathen Deities, p. 77. 394. Timbrel, a kind of tambourine. 403. that opprobrious hill, that hill of scandal (416), the offensive mountain (443), all refer to the Mt. of Olives, near Jerusalem. opprobrious. (G.) 404, 405. Hinnom was a deep narrow ravine bounding Jerusalem on the south-west. To put an end to the idol worship carried on there -with its human sacrifices-Josiah rendered it 'ceremonially unclean' by spreading human bones, &c., in it. Henceforward the refuse of the city was deposited there. By reason of its evil associations the later Jews used its name Ge Hinnom or Gehenna, to denote the place of torment. Tophet was the south-eastern part of the valley. Here, facing the city on the 'hill of scandal', Solomon erected his high places to Moloch. (Smith's Bible Dict.) 406. obscene, foul, repulsive. 414, 415. wanton rites = lustful orgies. The worship of some of the heathen deities was attended with all kinds of wild excesses, drunkenness, &c. (Cp. the account of the offering to Baal in 1 Kings xviii. 28.) wanton, wild, unrestrained. (G.). orgies, originally ceremonies observed in the worship of Bacchus (god of wine), distinguished by furious revelry. (Gk. orgé, fury.) (G.) 417. homicide. (G.) 419. bordering flood, because forming the south or south-west boundary of Canaan. Genesis xv. 18. 423. feminine for 'female'. 424. soft, pliable, able to take any shape. 424, 425. so soft And uncompounded, &c. Milton regards the Angels as 'pure intelligential substances', pure spirit-that is, as beings possessing mental powers of various kinds, but unconnected with a material body. They require nutriment (Raphael explains to Adam), just as we rational beings do, digesting, assimilating, and turning the material substance into immaterial. See v. 407-8, 438, 497; and vi. 350 "All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear, They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size 424,425. essence pure, then, is the immaterial angelic substance,— conceived as of the same character throughout (homogeneous), like perfectly pure water, or pure oxygen; uncompounded denotes the absence of composite organs or groups-like the heart, &c., in man— and hence its freedom to take any particular form. 426. manacled, lit. handcuffed: not limited in their movements, size, or shape by joints and limbs. (Manacle, a handcuff, from L.) 427. founded, built upon as a foundation. What does 'brittle' qualify? What is the figure? in what shape: note instances. 429. obscure, dark, shadowy. 430. aery, in or through the air. 435. bestial, refers either to the grossness of their worship, or to 476-89 below. In Egypt the sacred bulls "maintained...in the great temples of their respective cities were perpetually adored and prayed to by thousands during their lives, and at their deaths were entombed with the utmost care in huge sarcophagi, while all Egypt went into mourning for them" (Rawlinson). 436. Parse bowed and sunk. 438. Astoreth or Ashtoreth (singular form of Ashtaroth), representing the moon, which might be considered the fainter reflection or wife of the sun, and was, as the moon, addressed as 'queen of heaven'. Jeremiah vii. 18. (Sayce). 439. crescent horns, the horns of the crescent moon. 441. paid their vows and songs: What figure of speech is this? 444. uxorious, referring to his having many wives. 455. See Ezekiel viii. 14, "Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house,...and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz". 456. dark, wicked, horrible. 457. alienated, estranged. (L. alienus, strange, foreign.) 458. in earnest, i.e. as compared with the mourning of the Jewish women for Tammuz. 460. grunsel, i.e. groundsill or threshold. 479. abused, deceived and enticed. 480. Fanatic, superstitious, raving. See 435 n. (L. fanaticus, fr. fanum, a temple.) 485. Jeroboam, King of Israel, who rebelled against Rehoboam, set up two golden calves. 486. grazed, fed on grass. (M 46) E |