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At which the universal host up sent

A shout that tore hell's concave, and beyond
Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand banners rise into the air,
With orient colors waving: with them rose
A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms
Appeared, and serried shields in thick array
Of depth immeasurable. Anon they move
In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood

Of flutes and soft recorders; such as raised
To highth of noblest temper heroes old
Arming to battle, and instead of rage
Deliberate valor breathed, firm, and unmoved
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat;
Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage

545

550

555

With solemn touches troubled thoughts, and chase

Anguish and doubt and fear and sorrow and pain
From mortal or immortal minds. Thus they,
Breathing united force with fixed thought,

560

tion?-542. Shout. Cowper thinks this far surpasses Homer's description of the shouts of Greeks and Trojans, Il. XIII., last lines. 543. Reign (Lat. regnum, Fr. règne, realm, kingdom. So Chaucer and Spenser). Par. Lost, II. 890-916. — 546. Orient (Lat. oriens, rising; oriri, to rise). Hence 'rising,' as 'orient sun,' Par. Lost, V. 175; 'eastern,' as 'orient wave,' Hymn on the Nativity, 231; 'bright,' as in this line. Browne. Orient colors, the colors of the eastern sky at dawn? streakings of the morning light'?-547. They rally to their respective 'colors.' Other poets talk of a 'crop' or 'field' of bristling swords or spears; Milton and Tasso of a 'forest' of spears. Now follows a description of a grand muster and review. 548. Serried (Fr. serré, close-locked), compact, or, perhaps, locked together. They form in 'close column.' - 550. Phalanx. The famous Spartan array? Plut. Lycurgus; Thucyd. V. 70. - Dorian, grave; as the Lydian was soft, and the Phrygian sprightly. The Spartans were of Dorian descent. The whole army is consolidated into a corps. - 551. Recorders. "The figures of recorders are straight; the recorder hath a less bore and a greater, above and below." Bacon. - 554. Breathed, inspired. "Music feedeth that disposition which it findeth." Bacon. Why 'trumpets and clarions' in 1. 532, but 'flutes and recorders' in l. 551 ? — 558. Effect of this repetition

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Moved on in silence to soft pipes that charmed
Their painful steps o'er the burnt soil. And now
Advanced in view they stand, a horrid front
Of dreadful length and dazzling arms, in guise
Of warriors old, with, ordered spear and shield,
Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose. He through the armèd files
Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse
The whole battalion views, their order due,
Their visages and stature as of gods:

565

570

Their number last he sums. And now his heart

Distends with pride, and, hardening in his strength,
Glories for never, since created man,

Met such embodied force as, named with these,

Could merit more than that small infantry

575

Warr'd on by cranes; though all the giant brood

of 'and'?-560. Breathing united force. So in Homer, 'the Abantes breathing strength,' Il. II. 536; and "The Achæans breathing might, advanced in silence." Il. III. 8, 9. — 561. Moved on. Technically passed in review' before the commander-in-chief, who had taken his stand by the headquarters colors?-563. Horrid (Lat. horridus, bristling. Horace speaks of agmina pilis horrentia, columns bristling with javelins), bristling. Front. They are in line of battle,' in two ranks? See 1. 616. 565. Ordered. A phrase of drill in Milton's time as in ours, 'order pikes' being then the equivalent of our 'order arms'; on which word of command soldiers stand with their weapons resting perpendicularly by their sides, the butts on the ground. Masson. What evidence exists of Milton's having studied tactics?-567. Files. As general-in-chief, he passes along the front to see if they 'cover files? 568. Traverse. He now moves along the flank to see if they are 'dressed' into straight lines?-571. Sums. Staff officers report 'all present or accounted for,' and the aggregate is known!-- 572. His for its, note on 1.254. Hardening. Like Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. v. 20.-573. Since created since man was created (Lat. post hominem creatum). So Shakes. 'after well-entered soldiers,' All's Well That Ends Well, II. 1. 6. — 575–6. Small infantry, etc. The Pygmies (Gr. Tʊyμn, pygme, a fist-fight; πv, pyx, fist; πvyμaîoi, pygmaeoi, 'fistlings.' Пuyun is also a measure of length, from the elbow to the knuckles, or 131⁄2 inches), a fabulous race of dwarfs, Indian or Ethiopian, or in the far north, who every spring fight with the cranes. The latter at last destroy them. See Class. Dict. What dwarfish races exist in the extreme North? What in Africa? Addison censures Milton for pun

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Of Phlegra with the heroic race were joined
That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side
Mixed with auxiliar gods; and what resounds
In fable or romance of Uther's son
Begirt with British and Armoric knights;
And all who since, baptized or infidel,
Jousted in Aspramont, or Montalban,
Damasco, or Morocco, or Trebisond,
Or whom Biserta sent from Afric shore
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell
By Fontarabbia. Thus far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed
Their dread commander.

He, above the rest

580

585

ning on the word infantry. But is there a pun here?-577. Phlegra (Gr. pλéyw, to burn; hence implying a volcanic district), Pallene, a peninsula of Macedonia where the giants fought against the gods? Phlegra in Sicily? in Italy? 578. Thebes in Boeotia, famous for the war of "The Seven against Thebes," and of the "Epigoni"; Ilium, seat of the ten years' war, in which the gods took sides and fought. See Class. Dict. -579. Resounds, is loudly celebrated? 580. Uther's. Prince Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, lived in South Wales in the fifth or sixth century?-581. Armoric (Celtic ar, on, at; Lat. ad; Celtic mor, Lat. mare, the sea), spoken of Brittany or Bretagne in the N. W. of France. Knights, 'of the Round Table.' The cycle of Arthurian romances is well treated by Tennyson in Idyls of the King. -582. Baptized, Christians; Infidel, Mohammedans?-583-4. Jousted (pronounced and often spelled justed. Lat. juxta, near; Fr. jouter, to tilt), grappled, pushed with lance or sword in mock fight. Aspramont, in Limburg, Netherlands. Montalban, in Languedoc, France? Morocco, in N. W. of Africa. Trebisond, in Pontus, on the Black Sea. -585. Biserta, ancient Utica (near Carthage), whence the Saracens invaded Spain. -586. Fell. Milton here either follows the Spanish romances or uses 'fell' figuratively. At Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees, near Fontarabbia, the rear of Charlemagne's army was annihilated by the Basques in 778. He lived till 814. Milton has grouped the wars of the Giants, of Thebes, of Troy, of Arthur, and of Charlemagne. What else? -587-8. Thus far, i. e. though thus far. Beyond compare. An old English phrase. In the ballad of Helen of Kirconnel we read, 'O Helen fair beyond compare!' Observed, obeyed. So we say, 'observe the rules.' Lat. observare. 589. Above. Tallness in leaders was more admired in ancient times than now? Instances? The following description is universally regarded as among the finest in Milton. Point out its excellences.-591. Yet. In this one word we have a hint of what Milton never forgets, that the process

In shape and gesture proudly eminent,

Stood like a tower. His form had yet not lost
All her original brightness, nor appeared
Less than archangel ruined, and the excess
Of glory obscured: as when the sun, new-risen,
Looks through the horizontal misty air,
Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the moon,
In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
On half the nations, and with fear of change
Perplexes monarchs. Darkened so, yet shone
Above them all the archangel: but his face
Deep scars of thunder had intrenched; and care
Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows
Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride
Waiting revenge. Cruel his eye, but cast
Signs of remorse and passion, to behold
The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
(Far other once beheld in bliss), condemned
Forever now to have their lot in pain;

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Millions of spirits for his fault amerced

590

595

600

605

of deterioration is gradual. This fact, too often overlooked, sufficiently answers the theologians who insist that as God ought to be represented as wholly good, so the devil ought to be painted as wholly bad! Give the latter his due! 592. Her, to avoid 'its,' and (so the critics say) because Lat. forma, form, is fen. See 'right hand forget her cunning,' Ps. cxxxvii. 5. — 593. Archangel. Par. Lost, V. 659, 660, 'he, of the first, if not the first archangel,' etc. "Lucifer. after his fall, was vailed with a grosser substance." Nash's Pierce Penniless (1592). — 597. Disastrous (Lat. dis, ill, unfavorable; astrum, star. This word, like ill-starred,' 'mercurial,' 'saturnine,' 'jovial,' 'influence,' is a relic of the old belief in astrology), inauspicious. 598. Half. Why 'half'?-601. Intrenched (Fr. trancher, to cut), cut into, furrowed, gashed deep. So in Shakes. 'twenty trenched gashes on his head.' Macbeth, III. 4. 603. Considerate, considering, thoughtful. So in Shakes. Pride. Subject of 'sat,' or object of 'of'?-604. Cruel. A trochee may take the place of an iambus. See quotation from Keightley in note on Bondage of Rhyming in the preface. Eye. Note the steps of this description; Satan's stature, solidity, form, splendor, furrowed face, resolute brows, cruel eye! - 605. Remorse (Lat. re-, again, mordere, to gnaw). Meaning? Repeatedly in Shakes. it means pity. Passion Lat. pati, to suffer; passio), suffering. Keightley defines it here 'com

Of heaven, and from eternal splendors flung
For his revolt; yet faithful how they stood,
Their glory withered: as, when heaven's fire
Hath scathed the forest oaks or mountain pines,
With singed top, their stately growth, though bare,
Stands on the blasted heath. He now prepared
To speak; whereat their doubled ranks they bend
From wing to wing, and half enclose him round
With all his peers: attention held them mute.
Thrice he assayed, and thrice, in spite of scorn,
Tears, such as angels weep, burst forth at last
Words interwove with sighs found out their way.
O myriads of immortal spirits! O powers

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Matchless, but with the Almighty! — and that strife
Was not inglorious, though the event was dire,

610

615

620

As this place testifies, and this dire change
Hateful to utter! But what power of mind,

625

Foreseeing or presaging, from the depth

Of knowledge past or present, could have feared

How such united force of gods, how such

630

As stood like these, could ever know repulse?

passion, feeling.'-609. Amerced (Lat. misericordia, pity, from misereri, to pity; and cor, heart; or, better, from merc, price; Fr. à merci, Lat. în misericordia, at the mercy of a court. Mercy is said to have been originally the commutation-money paid for forfeited life. The singular resemblance of our amerce,' in form and meaning, to the Gr. aμepoe, amerse, is accidental), deprived. 611. How follows 'behold,' 1. 605. - 613. Scathed (Gr. άσкηs? uninjured; A. S. sceadhian; Ger. schaden, to hurt), blighted, blasted.-615. Blasted heath. Shakespeare's phrase, Mac. I. 3. Note minutely the parts of this magnificent simile. 616. They bend. Half of each wing wheels inward, the whole army making exactly half of a hollow square? Had the square been completed, he would have been in its centre?— 618. Attention. The command, Attention! brings a body of troops to perfect stillness. 619. Thrice, etc. Three is a sacred and favorite number, Bentley quotes," Ter conata loqui, ter fletibus ora rigavit," thrice endeavored to speak, thrice watered the face with weeping. We must vividly conceive of this scene, the dismal region, these millions of eyes fixed upon his luminous face (and what besides ?) to realize the pathos of this passage.-621. Inter"All past participles of strong verbs once ended in en." Storr. - 630

Wove.

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