328 with Borders Long the Rivers.

the Rivers were Crown'd (v. 326.) with Long Borders.

Ibid.

Earth now

Seem'd like to Heav'n, a Seat where Gods might Dwell,

'Twas not yet inhabited, but Seem'd another Heaven upon Account of its Beauty, and prepar'd for the Dwelling of Gods, (Angels,) as V. 373.

331

though God had Yet not Rain'd

upon the Earth,

This, and what follows to the Middle of the 337 verfe is not faid by Mofes 'till Gen. ii. 5, 6. Milton's Thought Seems to have been that Rain would ftill Add to the Pleasure of the Place.

All was Supply'd by this Moisture; God fent what was Equivalent to Rain; Himself fupply'd the Office of a Gardener 'till He Intended was Created.

338 So Ev'n and Morn Recorded the Third Day,

Recorded, Celebrated, Caus'd to be Remem-. ber'd. This was done by the Ev'n and Morning Chorus (v. 275.) the Ev'ning Harps and Mattin (450) What is done by the Voices and Inftruments is Poetically Afcrib'd to the Time in which they were Employ'd..

346 and God made Two Great Lights, Great for their Ufe

to Man, the Greater to have Rule by Day, the Lefs by Night

it was Sufficient for Mofes, who Undertook not Here, as neither did Milton, to talk as an Aftronomer, to Defcribe thefe Lights as they Appear, Great indeed Compar'd with the Stars; but the Poet has taken Care to Intimate that he was not Ignorant of the Vaft Difference of their Magnitudes, by Explaining what is Alfo to be Understood by Great; Great for their Ufe. And though the Moon has no Light Inherent in her Self, as he alfo Obferves, v. 377. and III. 730. She being made to Administer Light, in what Manner foever, is Properly and Strictly a Light as well as the Sun, Great Palace Now of Light.

348

Alterne:

First This, then That, then This again, and

Sa On.

Ibid.

and made the Stars,

and Set them in the Firmament

the Stars come In Here just as in Gen. i. 16. as it were by the By. Them in v. 349. referrs to the Sun, Moon, and all the Hoft of Heaven.

351

Unlight fome First,

though of Ethereal Mould:

Milton Imagines the Sun, though form'd of the Quintefcence, the Ethereal Matter as III. 716. was at First Opaque, without any Light: So the Moon and Stars, and that Then they were Supply'd from the Cloudy Tabernacle where the Light had been Deposited as v. 247, 360.

358 And fow'd with Stars the Heav'n thick as a Field

This Allufion is extremely Elegant Manil. V. 726.

Tunc conferta licet Cæli fulgentia Templa
Cernere Seminibus denfis, totifque micare
Floribus.

Where Milton feems to have read Conferta, much more Beautiful, and his Reading to be Prov'd by the Word Denfis, which would be Unneceffary, and even Bad with the Word conferta.

361

made Porous to receave

and

and Drink the Liquid Light, Firm to Retaine

Her gather'd Beams,

Porous yet Firm. Milton feems to have taken This Thought from what is faid of the Bologna Stone, which being plac'd in the Light will Imbibe, and for Some time Retain it fo as to Enlighten a Dark place.

362 and Drink the Liquid Light Largus item Liquidi fons Luminis Etherius Sol,

LUCRET. V. 282.

364 Hither, as to their Fountain Other Stars Repairing, in their Golden Urns draw Light,

the Sun is Here call'd a Star, Other Stars; Common in Poetry. That Milton means the Stars in General, and not the Planets only, appears from the Context, and from III. 579. and that the Sun's being call'd their Fountain refers only to that Augmentation of Light he supposes they have from Him appears, v. 368. where 'tis faid they had their own Peculiar, This is Strange Doctrine to a New Philofopher who Confiders the Fixt Stars as Suns like Ours, and as Him Attended by their Planets; Each a Sovereign in his Own Syftem throughout Immense Space. a Moft Sublime Idea of God! But This, though not Forgotten in This Poem, could not be a part of its Syftem. Milton's

Y 4

Milton's Thought Here is Warranted by SpenJer, Prolog. to his V. Book, Stanz. 7. Shakefp. Venus and Adonis, p. 38. Edit. 1609. Camoens Lufiad, Book II. Stan. 60. 'Tis a Fine Thought, and a Natural One.

365 in their Golden Urns draw Light. This is finely Imagin'd, and I think in no Poet Latin or Greek; Shakespear only has

O thou Clear God, and Patron of all Light From whom each Lamp and Shining Star doth Borrow

the Beauties Influence that makes him bright. Ven. and Adon. p. 38. Edit. 1609.

366 and Hence the Morning Planet guilds her Horns;

Venus is Horned as the New and the Decreafing Moon. the Other Planets receive their Light from the Sun, This does So more Remarkably, as being his Conftant Attendant, Never far from Him, and very properly taken more particular Notice of, not only for That reafon, but upon account of Her diftinguifh'd Splendour and Exquifitely Beautiful Colour.

She is faid to be the Morning Planet as being alfo the Morning Star, and Then call'd Phofphorus. In the First Edit. 'twas His Horns Therefore, and as being a Planet which is Mafculine in Greek and Latin: but as Morning Star 'tis not a Planet, as Such 'tis Venus;

and