Under the ribs of death: but O ere long

Too well I did perceive it was the voice

Of

my most honor'd Lady, your dear Sister.

Amaz'd I stood, harrow'd with grief and fear, 565 And O poor hapless nightingale thought I,

How sweet thou fing'ft, how near the deadly fnare! Then down the lawns I ran with headlong hafte,

At laft a fweet and folemn breathing found

Rofe like a team of flow diftill'd perfumes.

557-that even Silence &c] We fee in these three lines the luxuriancy of a juvenile poet's fancy; there is fomething more correct and manly in three words upon a like occafion in the Paradife Loft, IV. 6c4.

Silence was pleas'd But in a young genius there fhould always be fomething to lop and prune away. As Cicero fays De Orat. II. 21. volo effe in adolefcente, unde aliquid amputem. If there is not fomething redundant in youth, there will be fomething deficient in age.

561.that might create a foul Under the ribs of death:] The general image of creating a foul by harmony is again from Shakefpear. But the particular one of a foul under the ribs of death, which is extremely grotesque, is

Through

taken from a picture in Alciat's emblems, where a foul in the figire of an infant is represented within the ribs of a skeleton, as in its prifon. This curious picture is That might create a foul, that is, says prefented by Quarles. Warburton. Mr. Sympfon, recreate avaluxer: and Mr. Theobald proposed to read recreate,

And took in ftrains might recreate a foul :

but I prefume they knew not of the allufion juft mention'd.

563. Too well I did perceive] In the Manufcript it is

-

Too well I might perceive →→→ 565. barrow'd with grief and fear,] So in Shakespear, Hamlet A&t 1. Sc. 1. Horatio of the Ghost, it barrows me with fear and wonder.

And Sc. 8. the Ghoft to Hamlet,

I could a tale unfold, whose
lighteft word
Would barrow up thy foul.
574. The

Through paths and turnings often trod by day,
Till guided by mine ear I found the place,
Where that damn'd wifard hid in fly difguife
(For fo by certain figns I knew) had met
Already, ere my beft fpeed could prevent,
The aidlefs innocent Lady his wish'd prey,
Who gently ask'd if he had seen fuch two,
Suppofing him fome neighbour villager.
Longer I durft not stay, but foon I guess'd
Ye were the two fhe meant; with that I sprung
Into fwift flight, till I had found you here,,

But further know I not.

2. BROTHER.

O night and shades,

How are ye join'd with Hell in triple knot,
Against th' unarmed weakness of one virgin
Alone, and helplefs! Is this the confidence
You gave me, Brother?

574. The aidlefs innocent Lady] At first he had written helpless, but alter'd it, that word occurring again within a few lines afterwards.

589. Virtue may be affail'd, but never hurt,] Milton feems in this line to allude to the famous anfwer of the philofopher to a ty

57°

575

580

ELDER

rant, who threaten'd him with
death, Thou mayeft kill me, but thou
const not hurt me.
And it may
be obferved, that not only in this
fpeech, but alfo in many others
of this poem, our author has
made great ufe of the noble and
exalted fentiments of the Stoics

con

ELDER BROTHER.

Yes, and keep it fill,

Lean on it fafely; not a period

Shall be unfaid for me: against the threats

Of malice or of forcery, or that power

Which erring 'men call Chance, this I hold firm,
Virtue may be affail'd, but never hurt,

58'5

Surpris'd by unjuft force, but not inthrall'd;

590

Yea even that which mischief meant most harm,
Shall in the happy trial prove moft glory:

But evil on itself fhall back recoil,

And mix no more with goodness, when at laft
Gather'd like fcum, and fettled to itself,

It shall be in eternal restless change

Self-fed, and felf-confumed: if this fail,

The pillar'd firmament is rotterness,

595

And earth's bafe built on ftubble. But come let's on.

Against th' oppofing will and arm of Heaven

600

May

concerning the power of virtue. body, and after a while difappear

Thyer.

597. Self-fed, and felf-confumed:] This image is wonderfully fine. It is taken from the conjectures of aftronomers concerning the dark fpots, which from time to time appear on the furface of the fun's

again, which they fuppofe to be the fcum of that fiery inatter, which firft breeds it, and then breaks thro' and confumes it. Warburton.

598. The pillar'd firmament] See Paradife Regain'd, IV. 455. and the note there.

605. or

May never this just sword be lifted up;

But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt
With all the grifly legions that troop

Under the footy flag of Acheron,

604

Harpyes and Hydra's, or all the monftrous forms
'Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out,
And force him to restore his purchase back,
Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,
Curs'd as his life.

SPIRIT.

Alas! good ventrous Youth,

I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise;
But here thy fword can do thee little ftead;
Far other arms, and other weapons muft

Be thofe that quell the might of hellish charms: He with his bare wand can unthred thy joints, And crumble all thy finews.