660 Within unfeen. Far lefs abhorr'd than thefe 660. Vex'd Stylla bathing in the fea] For Circe having poifon'd that part of the fea where Scylla ufed to bathe, the next time Scylla bathed, her lower parts were changed into dogs, in the fea that parts Calabria, the fartheft part of Italy towards the Mediterranean, from the boarfe Trinacrian fore, that is from Sicily, which was formerly called Trinacria from its three promontories lying in the form of a triangle: and this fhore may well be called hoarfe not only by reafon of a tempeftuous fea breaking upon it, but likewife on account of the noifes occafion'd by the eruptions of mount Etna; and the number of r's in this verfe very well exprefs the hoarfnefs of it. You have the ftory of Scylla in the beginning of the 14th book of Oria's Metamorphofis, ver. 59. &c. Or fubftance might be call'd that shadow feem'd, For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night, 670 And fhook a dreadful dart; what feem'd his head Satan was now at hand, and from his feat. The monster moving onward came as faft: 675 affected by magical practices, and the Latin poets call the eclipfes of the moon labores lune. The three foregoing lines, and the former part of this contain a short account of what was once believ'd, and in Milton's time not so ridiculous as now. Richardjon. 666. The other shape &c.] This poetical defcription of Death our author has pretty evidently borrowed from Spenfer. Fairy Queen, B. 7. Cant. 7. St. 46. But after all came Life, and lastly Death with mof grim and grifly Yet is he nought but parting of the breath, Created Created thing nought valued he nor fhunn'd; 686 685 Whence and what art thou, execrable shape, That dar'ft, though grim and terrible, advance Thy mifcreated front athwart my way To yonder gates? through them I mean to pass, That be affur'd, without leave afk'd of thee: Retire, or taste thy folly', and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with Spirits of Heaven. To whom the goblin full of wrath reply'd. Art thou that traitor Angel, art thou He, Who firft broke peace in Heav'n and faith, till then Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms 691 Drew after him the third part of Heav'n's fons Conjúr'd against the Hig'heft, for which both thou 683. mifcreated] We have been told that Milton firft coin'd the word mifcreated, but Spenser ufed it before him, as Fairy Queen, B. 1. Cant. 2. St. 3. And I mean not thee intreat To pafs; but mauger thee will pafs, or die. Fortin. 692. Drew after him the third part of Heav'n's Sons] An Eftfoons he took that mifcreated opinion, as we noted before, groun fair. and B. 2. Cant. 7. St. 42. ded on Rev. XII. 3, 4. Behold a great red dragon and his tail drew - Nor mortal steel empierce his mif. the third part of the fears of Heaven and caft them to the earth. created mold. Bentley. 684. through them I mean to pafs, &c.] Spenfer, Fairy Queen, B. 3. Cant. 4. St. 15. 693. Conjur'd against the Hig'beft,] Banded and leagued together against the moft High. Of the Latin 695 And they, outcast from God, are here condemn'd So fpake the grilly terror, and in shape, So fpeaking and so threatning, grew tenfold Incens'd with indignation Satan stood conjurare to bind one another by oath to be true and faithful in a defign undertaken, Et conjuratos cœlum refcindere fratres. Virg. Georg. I. 280. Aut conjurato defcendens Dacus ab Iftro. Georg. II. 497. Hume. 697. Hell-doom'd,] As Satan had called Death Hell-born, ver. 687, Death returns it by calling Satan Hell doom'd. 700. Falfe fugitive,] He is here called falfe because he had called 700 705 That That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge 710 In th' arctic fky, and from his horrid hair rius as it is commonly call'd, a length of about 40 degrees, in th' araic fky, or the northern hemifphere, and from his horrid hair bakes peftilence and war. Poetry delights in omens, prodigies, and fuch wonderful events as were fuppofed to follow upon the appearance of comets, eclipfes, and the like. We have another inftance of this nature in I 598. and Taffo in the fame manner compares Argantes to a comet, and mentions the like fatal effects, Cant. 7. St. 52. Qual con le chiome fanguinofe horrende Splender cometa fuol per l'aria adufta, Che i regni muta, e i feri morbi adduce, Ai purpurei tiranni infaufta luce. 716 |