Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns;
To whose bright image nightly by the moon
Sidonian virgins paid their vows and songs;
In Sion also not unsung, where stood

Her temple on the offensive mountain, built

By that uxorious king, whose heart, though large m,
Beguiled by fair Idolatresses, fell

n

To idols foul. Thammuz " came next behind,
Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate
In amorous ditties, all a summer's day;
While smooth Adonis from his native rock
Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood
Of Thammuz yearly wounded: the love-tale
Infected Sion's daughters with like heat;
Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch
Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,
His eye survey'd the dark idolatries

Of alienated Judah. Next came one

Who mourn'd in earnest, when the captive ark
Maim'd his brute image, head and hands lopp'd off
In his own temple, on the grunsel edge,

Where he fell flat, and shamed his worshippers:
Dagon his name P; sea monster, upward man
And downward fish: yet had his temple high
Rear'd in Azotus, dreaded through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath, and Ascalon,
And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds.
Him follow'd Rimmon 4, whose delightful seat
Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks
Of Abbana and Pharphar, lucid streams.
He also against the house of God was bold :
A leper once he lost, and gain'd a king;
Ahaz his sottish conquerour, whom he drew
God's altar to disparage, and displace
For one of Syrian mode, whereon to burn
His odious offerings, and adore the gods
Whom he had vanquish'd. After these appear'd

m Whose heart, though large.

1 Kings, iv. 29 :-"And God gave Solomon largeness of heart."-TODD.

n Thammuz.

He was the god of the Syrians, the same with Adonis.-NEWTON.

See 2 Kings, xvi. 10; and 2 Chron. xxviii. 23.--NEWTON.

440

445

450

455

460

465

470

475

A crew, who under names of old renown,
Osiris, Isis, Oruss, and their train,

With monstrous shapes and sorceries abused
Fanatic Egypt and her priests, to seek

Their wandering gods disguised in brutish forms
Rather than human. Nor did Israel 'scape

The infection, when their borrow'd gold composed
The calf in Oreb; and the rebel king
Doubled that sin in Bethel and in Dan,
Likening his Maker to the grazed ox;

:

Jehovah, who in one night, when he passed u
From Egypt marching, equal'd with one stroke
Both her first-born and all her bleating gods.
Belial came last, than whom a spirit more lewd
Fell not from heaven, or more gross to love
Vice for itself to him no temple stood
Or altar smoked; yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
Turns atheist, as did Eli's sons, who fill'd
With lust and violence the house of God?
In courts and palaces he also reigns,
And in luxurious cities, where the noise

s Orus, &c.

Orus was the son of Osiris and Isis.-NEWTON.

t Nor did Israel 'scape

The infection.

480

485

490

495

The Israelites, by dwelling so long in Egypt, were infected with the superstitions of the Egyptians.-NEWTON.

"Who in one night, when he pass'd.

See Exod. xii. 12, and Numb. xxxiii. 3, 4. See also Virg. Æn. viii. 698 :-
Omnigenûmque Deûm monstra, et latrator Anubis.

▾ Belial came last.

NEWTON.

Belial is described in the first book as the idol of the lewd and the luxurious: he is in the second book, pursuant to that description, characterised as timorous and slothful; and, if we look into the sixth book, we find him celebrated in the battle of angels for nothing but that scoffing speech which he makes to Satan, on their supposed advantage over the enemy. As his appearance is uniform, and of a piece, in these three several views, we find his sentiments in the infernal assembly every way conformable to his character. Such are his apprehensions of a second battle, his horrors of annihilation, his preferring to be miserable rather than not to be. I need not observe, that the contrast of thought in this speech, and that which precedes it, gives an agreeable variety to the debate. Mammon's character is so fully drawn in the first book, that the poet adds nothing to it in the second. We were told that he was the first who taught mankind to ransack the earth for gold and silver, and that he was the architect of Pandemonium, or the infernal palace, where the evil spirits were to meet to counsel. His speech in the second book is every way suitable to so depraved a character. How proper is that reflection, of their being unable to taste the happiness of heaven, were they actually there, in the mouth of one, who, while he was in heaven, is said to have had his mind dazzled with the outward pomps and glories of the place, and to have been more intent on the riches of the pavement, than on the beatific vision! I shall also leave the reader to judge how agreeable the sentiments are to the same character, b. ii. 262, &c.

Beelzebub, who is reckoned the second in dignity that fell, and is, in the first book, the second that awakens out of the trance, and confers with Satan on the situation of their affairs, maintains his rank in the second book.-ADDISON.

Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers,
And injury, and outrage: and when night
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.
Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
Exposed a matron to avoid worse rape.

These were the prime w in order and in might;
The rest were long to tell, though far renown'd,
The Ionian gods, of Javan's issue, held
Gods, yet confess'd later than heaven and earth,
Their boasted parents. Titan, heaven's first born,
With his enormous brood, and birthright seized
By younger Saturn: he from mightier Jove,
His own and Rhea's son, like measure found ;
So Jove usurping reign'd: these first in Crete
And Ida known; thence on the snowy top
Of cold Olympus ruled the middle air,

Their highest heaven; or on the Delphian cliff",
Or in Dodona, and through all the bounds
Of Doric landa; or who with Saturn old
Fled over Adria to the Hesperian fields,
And o'er the Celtic roam'd the utmost isles b.

All these and more came flocking, but with looks
Downcast and damp; yet such wherein appear'd
Obscure some glimpse of joy, to have found their chief
Not in despair, to have found themselves not lost
In loss itself; which on his countenance cast
Like doubtful hue: but he, his wonted pride
Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
Semblance of worth, not substance c, gently raised
Their fainted courage, and dispell'd their fears:
Then straight commands, that at the warlike sound

w These were the prime.

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505

510

516

520

525

530

Because these are the idols who are mentioned in the most ancient records, viz. by the sacred text.-CALLANDER.

The Ionian gods.

Javan, the fourth son of Japhet, is supposed to have settled in the south-west part of Asia Minor, about Ionia.-NEWTON.

See Deut. xxxii. 17.-TODD.

y Yet confess'd later.

The Delphian cliff.

The famous oracle of Apollo at Delphos; and Dodona, the oracle of Jupiter.-CAL

LANDER.

a Doric land.

Greece; the Hesperian fields, Italy; and o'er the Celtic, France and the other countries overrun by the Celtes.-NEWTON.

Of trumpets loud and clarions, be uprear'd
His mighty standard: that proud honour claim'd
Azazeld as his right, a cherub tall;

e

Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurl'd
The imperial ensign, which, full high advanced,
Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind,
With gems and golden lustre rich imblazed,
Seraphic arms and trophies; all the while
Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds:
At which the universal host f
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 colours waving: with them rose
A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms
Appear'd, 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 battel; 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 'suage
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,
Moved on in silence to soft pipes, that charm'd
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 warriours old with order'd spear and shield,
Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose: he through the armed files
Darts his experienced eye, and soon traverse
The whole battalion views; their order due,
Their visages and stature as of gods;

Their number last he sums. And now his heart

d Azazel.

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540

545

550

555

560

565

570

This name is used for some demon or devil by several ancient authors, Jewish and Christian.-NEWTON.

• Shone like a meteor.

This line has been borrowed by Gray, and applied to the description of his Bard, but with less grandeur and propriety.

fAt which the universal host.

A most magnificent and inimitable passage.

Dorian mood.

Exciting to cool and deliberate courage.-NEWTON.

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

Met such imbodied force, as named with these
Could merit more than that small infantry
Warr'd on by cranes; though all the giant brood
Of Phlegra with the heroic race were join'd
That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side
Mix'd with auxiliar gods i; and what resounds
In fable or romance of Uther's son 3,
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 Fontarabiak. Thus far these beyond
Compare of mortal prowess, yet observed
Their dread commander: he, above the rest 1
In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
Stood like a tower: his form had yet not lost

h Hardening in his strength.

575

580

585

590

See Dan. v. 20:- "His heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride."— GILLIES.

Mix'd with auxiliar gods.

In the war between the sons of Edipus at Thebes, and between the Greeks and Trojans at Ilium, the heroes were assisted by the gods, who are therefore called auxiliar gods.-NEWTON.

i Uther's son.

King Arthur, whose exploits Milton once intended to celebrate in an epic poem.TODD.

By Fontarabia.

Borrowed from Dante. See Cary's Dante.

1 He, above the rest.

The greatest masters in painting had not such sublime ideas as Milton; and, among all their devils, have drawn no portrait comparable to this; as everybody must allow who has seen the pictures or the prints of "Michael and the Devil," by Raphael; or of the same by Guido; and of the "Last Judgment," by Michael Angelo.-Newton.

And in what does this poetical picture consist? In images of a tower; an archangel; the sun rising through mists, or in an eclipse; the ruin of Monarchs; and the revolutions of kingdoms. The mind is hurried out of itself, by a crowd of great and confused images, which affect because they are crowded and confused; for, separate them, and you lose much of the greatness; and join them, and you infallibly lose the clearness.-Burke.

I can find neither confusion nor obscurity in this passage. The firmness of the devil's station or posture is here compared to that of a tower, and his faded or diminished splendor to that of the sun seen through a morning haze, or from behind the moon during an eclipse; all which is perfectly clear; the objects of comparison being at once grand and illustrative; and the description of them, as far as they are described, distinct, correct, and circumstantial. The properties of solidity and firmness only, in the tower, being the objects of comparison, to have described its form or magnitude would have been silly and impertinent; but the diminution of brightness is an occasional effect; and when an occasional effect is made the object of poetical comparison or description, it is always necessary to state its causes and circumstances,which the poet has here done with equal conciseness, precision, perspicuity, and energy; and it is to this that its sublimity is, in a great degree, owing.-R. P. KNIGHT.