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660

Within unfeen. Far lefs abhorr'd than thefe
Vex'd Scylla bathing in the fea that parts
Calabria from the hoarfe Trinacrian fhore:
Nor uglier follow the night-hag, when call'd
In fecret, riding through the air fhe comes,
Lur'd with the fmell of infant blood, to dance
With Lapland witches, while the lab'ring moon 665
Eclipfes at their charms. The other shape,
If fhape it might be call'd that shape had none
Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb,

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.

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Or fubftance might be call'd that shadow feem'd,

For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night, 670
Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,

And fhook a dreadful dart; what feem'd his head
The likeness of a kingly crown had on...

Satan was now at hand, and from his feat.

The monster moving onward came as faft: 675
With horrid ftrides, Hell trembled as he ftrode.
Th' undaunted Fiend what this might be admir'd,
Admir'd, not fear'd; God and his Son except,

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,

Death with mof grim and grifly
vifage feen,

Yet is he nought but parting of

the breath,

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Created

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Created thing nought valued he nor fhunn'd;
And with disdainful look thus first began.

686

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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
To wafte eternal days in woe and pain?
And reckon'ft thou thyfelf with Spirits of Heaven,
Hell-doom'd, and breath'ft defiance here and scorn
Where I reign king, and to enrage thee more,
Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment,
Falfe fugitive, and to thy speed add wings,
Left with a whip of fcorpions I pursue
Thy lingring, or with one stroke of this dart
Strange horror feife thee', and pangs unfelt before.

So fpake the grilly terror, and in shape,

So fpeaking and so threatning, grew tenfold
More dreadful and deform: on th' other fide

Incens'd with indignation Satan stood
Unterrify'd, and like a comet burn'd,

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

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That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge

710

In th' arctic fky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes peftilence and war. Each at the head
Level'd his deadly aim; their fatal hands
No fecond stroke intend, and fuch a frown
Each caft at th' other, as when two black clouds,
With Heav'n's artillery fraught, come rattling on
Over the Cafpian, then stand front to front
Hovering a space, till winds the fignal blow
To join their dark encounter in mid air:
So frown'd the mighty combatants, that Hell

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.

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