Birth-day of Heav'n and Earth; with joy and shout: Again, God said, Let there be firmament 261 265 In circuit to the uttermoft convex Of this great round: partition form and sure, The to view one after another, in fuch 261. Again. God said, &c.] When a manner, that the reader seems he makes God speak, he adheres present at this wonderful work, and closely to the words of Scripture. to affit among the quires of Angels, And God said, Let there be a firmament, who are the spectators of it. How in the midf of the waters, and let it.. glorious is the conclufion of the first divide the waters from the waterse day! Addison. Gen. I. 6. But when he says that 256. -- with joy and shout God made the firmament he explains The hollow universal orb they fill d,] what is meant by the firmament, The Angels singing and shouting for The Hebrew word, which the Greeks joy at the creation of the world render by sepseud, and our trans. seems to be founded upon Job lators by firmament, fignifies expan. XXXVIII. 4, 7. Where waft thou foon: it is render'd expansion in the rben I laid the foundations of the margin of our bibles, and Milton tarth; when the morning fars fang rightly explains it by the expanse of together, and all the sons of God elemental air. jouted for joy? And with this joy 264.- liquid air,) Virg. Æn. VI. and thout they fill'd the hollow uni. 202. liquidumque per acra. versal orb, the great round (as it is 267. – partition form and fure,] calid ver. 267.7 of the universe, For its certainty not solidity. St. bellow as being concave and having Augustin upon Genesis. It is not to creatures to inhabit it. call'd firmament as being a solid body, but 250 Ethereal, first of things, quintessence pure 225 Birthtators; though others think this light 249. God saw the light was was the light of the fun, which good; &c.] What follows is shone as yet very imperfectly, and little more than the words of Moses did not appear in full lustre till the versify’d. And God saw the light that fourth day. It is most probable, it was good, and God divided ibe ligbt that by light (as it was produc'd the from the darkness: Milton adds how first day) we must not understand it was divided, by the bemisphere, the darting of rays from a luminous And light from darkness by the body, such as do now proceed from hemisphere the fun, but those particles of matter Divided. which we call fiore (whose properties we know are light and beat) which And God called the light day, and the Almighty produc'd, as a proper darkness be called night; and the eveninftrument for the preparation and ing and morning were the firft day. digestion of other matter. So Bishop Gen. I. 4, 5. Patrick upon the text. However it 253. Nor past uncelebrated, &c.] be, Milton's account is certainly very The beauties of description lie fo poetical, tho' you may not allow very thick, that it is almost impofit to be the most philosophical, and fible to enumerate them. The poet is agreeable to the description before has employ'd on them the whole quoted from Vida. See Mr. Thyer's energy of our tongue. The several note upon ver. 211. great scenes of the creation rực up to Birth-day of Heav'n and Earth; with joy and shout Again, God faid, Let there be firmament 261 265 In circuit to the uttermoft convex Of this great round: partition form and sure, The to view one after another, in such 261. Again, God said, &c.] When a manner, that the reader seems he makes God speak, he adheres present at this wonderful work, and closely to the words of Scripture. to aflift among the quires of Angels, And God said, Let there be a firmament, who are the spectators of it. How in the midf of the waters, and let it. glorious is the conclusion of the first divide the waters from the waters. day! Addison. Gen. I. 6. But when he says that 256. with joy and foout God made the firmament he explains The hollow universal orb they fill d] what is meant by the firmament, The Angels singing and shouting for The Hebrew word, which the Greeks joy at the creation of the world render by sepseud, and our trans. seems to be founded upon Job lators by firmament, fignifies expanXXXVIII. 4, 7. Where waft ibou foon: it is render'd expansion in the when I laid the foundations of the margin of our bibles, and Milton earth; when the morning fars Jang rightly explains it by the expanse of together, and all the sons of God elemental air. joated for joy? And with this joy 264.- liquid air,] Virg. Æn. VI. and thout they fillid the hollow uni. 202. liquidumque per acra. verfal orb, the great round (as it is 267. – partition form and furen] cali'd ver. 267.) of the universe, For its certainty not solidity. St. bollow as being concave and having Augustin upon Genesis. 1 is not to creatures to inhabit it. call'd firmament as being a solid body, but The waters underneath from those above The but because it is a bound or term be- sembling water. Who layeth the beams tween the upper and nether waters; of his chambers in the waters. Psal. a partition firm and immoveable, not CIV. 3. Praise him ye Heavens of upon account of its station, but of its Heavens, and ye waters above the firmness and intransgresibility. Heavens. Pfal. CXLVIII. 4. To Hume and Richardson. this sense our poet agrees, and thus infers, that as God built the earth, 268. The waters underneath from and founded it on waters (fretched those above out the earth above the waters. Psal. Dividing :] They who understand CXXXVI. 6. By the word of God the firmament to be the vast air, ex- the Heavens were of old, and the earth panded and stretch'd out on all confifing out of the water and in the lides to the starry Heavens, esteem water. 2 Pet. III. 5.) so also he the waters above it to be those ge- establish'd the whole frame of the nerated, in the middle region of heavenly orbs, in a calm crystallin the air, of vapors exhaled and drawn sea surrounding it, left the neighup thither from the steaming earth bourhood of the unruly Chaos thou!d and nether waters; which descend difturb it. But all search in works again in such vast showers and mighty so wonderful, fo difiant and undif foods of rain, that not only rivers, cernable, as well as undemcifireble, but seas may be imaginable above, is quite confounded. Hume. as appeared when the cataraEts came down in a deluge, and the flood gales 274. And Hrau'n he non'd the of Heaven were open'd. Gen. VII.11. firmament:] So Gen. 1. 8. Others, and those many, by these And God called thr firmament Heaven. waters above understand the crystal. But it may seem ftrange if the firlin Heaven (by Gassendus made mament means the air and armosphere, double) by our author better named that the air fhould be called Heaven: cryftallin ocean, by its clearness re. but so it is frequently in the lan guage The earth was form’d; but in the womb as yet 280 Into the rising mountains, and to sink 282. God said again with the falling waters. 285. In. |
