In billows, leave i'th' midft a horrid vale. Then with expanded wings he fteers his flight 225 That felt unufual weight, till on dry land And such appear'd in hue, as when the force of fubterranean wind transports a hill 230 Torn from Pelorus, or the fhatter'd fide 235 With With stench and smoke: Such refting found the fole Is this the region, this the foil, the clime, 240 That we must change for Heav'n, this mournful gloom For that celestial light? Be' it fo, fince he 245 Who it is likewise in VIII. 591. and IX. Pearce. And afterwards 246. Sovran] So Milton spells it after the Italian Sovrano. It is not eafy to account for the formation of our word Sovereign. 247-farthest from him is beft,] This is exprefs'd from the Greek proverb wooow A TE & ECUve, Far from Jupiter but far too from thunder. Bentley. 248. Whom reafon hath equal'd, ] Reofon is to be pronounced here as one fyllable, or two fhort ones, as Here at least Amidst those impieties which this care to introduce none that is not big with abfurdity, and incapable of fhocking a religious reader; his words, as the poet himself defcribes them, bearing only a femb lance of worth, not fubftance. He is likewife with great art defcribed as Who now is Sovran can difpofe and bid What shall be right: farthest from him is best, Whom reas'on hath equal'd, force hath made fupreme owning his adverfary to be almighty. Whatever perverse interpretation he puts on the juftice, mercy and other attributes of the Supreme Being, he frequently confeffes his omnipotence, that being the perfection he was forced to allow him, and the only confideration which could fupport his pride under the fhame of his defeat. Nor muft I omit that beautiful circumftance of his bursting out into tears, upon his furvey of those innumerable Spirits whom he had involved in the fame guilt and ruin with himself. Addifon. 252. Receive thy new possessor ;] This paffage feems to be an improvement upon Sophocles, Ajax 395, where Ajax, before he kills himfelf, cries out much in the fame manner. Ελιπ' ελεπ' οικητόρα, Can 253.- by place or time.] Milton is excellent in placing his words: invert them only, and fay by time or place, and if the reader has any ear, he will perceive how much the alteration is for the worse. For the paufe falling upon place in the first line by time or place, and again upon place in the next line The mind is its own place, would offend the ear, and therefore is artfully varied. A mind not to be chang'd by place or time. The mind is its own place. 254. The mind is its own place,] Thefe are fome of the extravagances of the Stoics, and could not be better ridiculed than they are here by being put in the mouth Iw onor, quor qu, speμce of Satan in his prefent fituation. 2 patver as quol, Thyer. 257.--all Can make a Heav'n of Hell, a Hell of Heav'n. 255 And what I should be, all but less than he Here we may reign fecure, and in my choice To reign is worth ambition though in Hell: But wherefore let we then our faithful friends, 257. —all but] I have heard it propos'd to read albeit, that is although; but prefer the common reading. 259-th Almighty hath not built Here for his envy,] This is not a place that God fhould envy us, or think it too good for us; and in this fenfe the word envy is ufed in feveral places of the poem, and particularly in IV. 517. VIII. 494. and IX. 770. 263. Better to reign in Hell, than Serve in Heaven.] This is a wonderfully fine improvement upon Prometheus's answer to Mercury in fchylus. Prom. Vinct. 965. Της σης λατρείας την εμην δυσπραξίαν, 260 265 And And call them not to share with us their part 35 Regain'd in Heav'n, or what more loft in Hell? 270 So Satan spake, and him Beelzebub Thus anfwer'd. Leader of thofe armies bright, If once they hear that voice, their livelieft pledge 275 Of hope in fears and dangers, heard fo oft |