And worship me as thy superior lord, Whom thus our Saviour answer'd with disdain. 170 I never lik'd thy talk, thy offers less, Now both abhor, since thou hast dar'd to utter But I indure the time, till which expir'd, It is written Thou hast permission on me. seemed most likely to forward 175 180 not be done without changing the whole plan of the poem; as by pushing the question immediately to a point, it must have precluded the gradually progressive temptations which the poet so finely brings forward. It might perhaps have been wished that the circumstance of Satan's thus betraying himself and his purpose had been kept back till the subsequent temptation had been tried, and had also failed. But the apologetic speech of Satan, (v. 196.) in which he so far recovers himself, and repairs the indiscretion of his present irritation, as to pave the way for another temptation, is not only marked with such admirable art and address, but gives likewise such material variety and relief to this part of the poem, that I cannot wish it to have been in any respect different from what it is. Dunster. And more blasphemous? which expect to rue. If giv'n, by whom but by the King of kings, Long since. Wert thou so void of fear or shame, To me my own, on such abhorred pact, To whom the Fiend with fear abash'd replied. Than these thou bear'st that title, have propos'd 185 190 195 188. But gratitude in thee is being the Son of God, he must of course be like him whose son he is; and being like him, it necessarily follows, that he is lord and king. S. Athanas. Or. 3. contra Arianos. Op. vol. i. p. 387. edit. Col. Calton. 191.abhorred pact,] He uses the word pact, as it is the technical term for the contracts of sorcerers with the devil. Warburton. 199. have propos'd What both from men and angels I receive, &c.] The terms of worship and vassalage. See v. 166. supra. Dunster. What both from men and angels I receive, When slipping from thy mother's eye thou went'st 201. Tetrarchs of fire, air, flood, 203. God of this world invok'd] Milton pursues the same notion, which he had adopted in his Paradise Lost, of the gods of the Gentiles being the fallen angels, and he is supported in it by the authority of the primitive fathers, who are very unanimous in accusing the heathens of worshipping devils for deities. Thyer. The devil, in Scripture, is termed the god of this world, 2 Cor. iv. 4. Dunster. 213. 200 205 210 215 -addicted more To contemplation] Milton, Par. Lost, iv. 297. describes Adam in his state of innocence for contemplation formed. Dunster. 217. -there wast found] In Milton's own edition, and in most of the following ones, it was printed by mistake was found; but the syntax plainly requires wast, as there is thou went'st in the verse preceding. 219. -fitting Moses' chair,] Moses' chair was the chair in which the doctors sitting expounded the law either publicly Teaching not taught; the childhood shows the man, 225 230 Of worth, of honour, glory, and popular praise. The gradation also in the several allurements proposed is very fine; and I believe one may justly say, that there never was a more exalted system of morality comprised in so short a compass. Never were the arguments for vice dressed up in more delusive colours, nor were they ever answered with more solidity of thought or acuteness of reasoning. Thyer. 230. Ruling them by persuasion as thou mean'st;] Alluding to those charming lines, i. 221. Yet held it more humane, more heav'nly first By willing words to conquer willing hearts, And make persuasion do the work of fear. But Satan did not hear this; it was part of our Saviour's selfconverse and private meditation. Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes? Error by his own arms is best evinc'd. Look once more e'er we leave this specular mount Westward, much nearer by southwest, behold Where on the Ægean shore a city stands 234. Their idolisms, traditions, paradoxes?] Idolisms is, I believe, a word of Milton's fabrication. It seems to mean not so much the idolatrous worship of the Gentiles, as the opinions with which they might endeavour to defend it. Our author has idolists, Sams. Agon. 453. -and op'd the mouths Of Idolists and Atheists; By traditions we may understand opinions collected from those philosophers who instructed publicly, without committing their precepts to writing; which was the case with Pythagoras, Numa, and Lycurgus. See the lives of the two latter by Plutarch. Paradoxes allude to the paradoxes of the Stoic philosophers, then in high repute. Evinced (v. 235.) is used in its Latin signification of subdued, conquered; in which sense it is more forcible and appropriate, than as we commonly use it for shewn, proved. Dunster. 236. -this specular mount] This mount of speculation, as in Paradise Lost, xii. 588, where see the note. 237. Westward, much nearer by southwest,] This corresponds exactly to our Saviour's supposed situation upon mount Taurus. The following description of Athens and its learning is extremely grand and beautiful. 235 Milton's muse, as was before observed, is too much cramped down by the argumentative cast of his subject, but emerges upon every favourable occasion, and like the sun from under a cloud bursts out into the same bright vein of poetry, which shines out more frequently, though not more strongly, in the Paradise Lost. Thyer. . This might be understood W. by S. that is, one point from west towards southwest; which is nearly the actual position of Athens, with respect to Mount Niphates. Or it may only mean, that as Athens was four degrees south of Rome, our Lord must now direct his view so much more to the southwest, than when he was looking at Rome, which lay nearly west of Mount Niphates. Dunster. And the words much nearer seem also to shew that the description had reference to the position of Rome, which was more distant from the specular mount. E. 238. Where on the Egean shore a city stands] So Milton caused this verse to be printed, whereby it appears that he would have the word 'gean pronounced with the accent upon the first syllable, as in Paradise Lost, i. 746. and as Fairfax often uses it, as was there remarked. Built nobly, and Homer in his time |