BOOK X.

(504-547.)

So having said, a while he stood, expecting
Their universal shout and high applause
To fill his ear; when, contrary, he hears,
On all sides, from innumerable tongues
A dismal universal hiss, the sound
Of public scorn. He wondered, but not long
Had leisure, wondering at himself now more.
His visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare,
His arms clung to his ribs, his legs entwining
Each other, till, supplanted, down he fell,
A monstrous serpent on his belly prone,
Reluctant, but in vain; a greater power
Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned,
According to his doom. He would have spoke,
But hiss for hiss returned with forked tongue
To forked tongue; for now were all transformed
Alike, to serpents all, as accessories
To his bold riot. Dreadful was the din

1

Of hissing through the hall, thick-swarming now
With complicated monsters, head and tail
Scorpion,1 and Asp,1 and Amphisbæna 1 dire,
Cerastes horned, Hydrus,' and Ellops1 drear,
And Dipsas1 (not so thick swarmed once the soil

1 All names of serpents.

510

520

Bedropt with blood of Gorgon,' or the isle
Ophiusa); but still greatest he the midst,
Now Dragon grown, larger than whom the Sun
Engendered in the Pythian vale on slime,
Huge Python;2 and his power no less he seemed
Above the rest still to retain. They all
Him followed, issuing forth to the open field,
Where all yet left of that revolted rout,
Heaven-fallen, in station stood or just array,
Sublime with expectation when to see
In triumph issuing forth their glorious Chief.
They saw, but other sight instead a crowd
Of ugly serpents! Horror on them fell,

530

And horrid sympathy; for what they saw

540

They felt themselves now changing. Down their arms,

Down fell both spear and shield; down they as fast,
And the dire hiss renewed, and the dire form

Catched by contagion, like in punishment

As in their crime. Thus was the applause they meant Turned to exploding hiss, triumph to shame

Cast on themselves from their own mouths.

[Some time thereafter, the infernal angels were permitted to assume their former shapes, and, escaping to the Earth, to delude the heathen world with false religions (cf. Book I. 364+). Meanwhile, at God's command, mighty angels so disturbed the mechanism of the World as to destroy the benign conditions which had hitherto universally prevailed upon the Earth, and war sprang up among various living things. Thus the Earth reflected man's sinfulness, and Adam and Eve in despair contemplated self-destruction. Better counsels prevailed, and they determined to work out

in patience whatever fate God might ordain for them (Book X.). God, at his Son's intercession, was reconciled to man, but denied to the guilty pair the further enjoyment of Paradise. Before bidding farewell to his home, however, Adam was comforted by a revelation (in a prophetic vision) of the history of his Seed up to the time of God's covenant with Abraham (see 81) and of the ultimate salvation of the race through Christ's atoning sacrifice (Books XI. and XII.). - ED.]

NOTES.

PARADISE LOST.

These notes aim to call attention to the literary art of the composition. It is assumed that the pupil will employ the glossary and the introduction in elucidating the meaning of the poem, without repeated injunctions to do so.

Book I.

1-26. Note in what relation (see p. 7+) this stands to the entire poem. Trace the successive subjects treated, and their logical connection. What is gained by inverting the first sentence? Note the use of figurative expression (see p. 10+). Listen to the lines, one by one. At what point does the musical quality become more noticeable? What in the subject at that point calls for heightened emotional expression?

Is the imitation of pagan invocations in good taste in a poem so peculiarly Christian? Is the imitation well executed? To what in the former do Sinai, Horeb, Siloa's brook, correspond?

27-49. In what relation does this stand to the first book of Paradise Lost? Read aloud the closing passage, beginning " Him the Almighty Power." Note the distribution of accents at the beginning and at the end, and show the purpose of such distribution. What consonant sounds are especially suggestive? Is the sentence made long for a special purpose? What class of words has been used in its construction?

50-75. Describe this scene in your own words and in some systematic order, e.g. beginning with the roof. Compare your order with Milton's. What principle of arrangement did he follow? Critics have said that in lines 73 and 74 Milton was simply trying

to outdo Virgil, who places Tartarus twice as far down as Earth. Was there any independent reason for choosing the ratio thrice?

76-191. Examine the analysis of Satan's speech on page 8. What order would the divisions of Beelzebub's speech naturally follow? Test your theory by making an outline of his speech. What difference of spirit do the speeches show? What double end does Satan's second speech serve? Group into systematic form the elements of Satan's character as exhibited in his two speeches, and compare them with Milton's previous description of his qualities. Are the description and the speeches consistent?

Why should Satan's opening sentence be disjointed? Lines 109, 110 have been considered obscure because it is uncertain to what words the phrase "that glory" refers. Is the thought in the speaker's mind obscure, either to himself or to his hearer? Is there any logical reason for his incompleteness of expression? Why does Satan refer to God in the terms that he does? Listen to the metrical effect of lines 157 and 158. How many natural stresses in 157? Is the movement here hastened or retarded? Is this in harmony with the contents of the passage? with the state of mind of the speaker? What artistic contrast in the quality of the lines from 169 to 191? What is the prevailing tone of Beelzebub's reply? Is he, then, with pertinence called "bold" in line 127?

What general truths do we find nobly and Concisely expressed in these speeches?

192-241. What kind of composition is exemplified in this passage? How does Milton intensify the images of Satan and of the land on which he alights (104, 105)? What motive for inverting the normal order of the sentence beginning with 203? Observe the suggestiveness of each detail in the illustration of the Leviathan. Is there illustrative pertinence in the expressions slumbering, foam, pilot, night invests the sea, scaly rind? Critics have said that Milton's similes are continued beyond the point of resemblance which he aimed to bring out. In this simile has he allowed his mind to wander from the subject in hand, and introduced description for its own sake? Apply the same critical method to the examination of the simile of the volcano. In lines 210+ note the first step