Dawning through heav'n: forth rush'd with whirl wind sound The chariot of paternal Deity, Two days are therefore past, the third is thine; For thee I have ordain'd it, and thus far Have suffer'd, that the glory may be thine Of ending this great war, since none but Thou Can end it. Which he most gloriously did, when the third sacred morn began to shine, by vanquishing with his own almighty arm the powers of hell, and rising again from the grave and thus as St. Paul says, Rom. i. 4. He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Greenwood. 749. -forth rush'd with whirlwind sound &c.] Milton has raised his description in this book with many images taken out of the poetical parts of Scripture. The Messiah's chariot is formed upon a vision of Ezekiel, who, as Grotius observes, has very much in him of Homer's spirit in the poetical parts of his prophecy. Addison. The whole description indeed is drawn almost word for word from Ezekiel, as the reader will see by comparing them together. -forth rush'd with whirlwind sound The chariot of paternal Deity, Flashing thick flames, And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself. i. 4. Or perhaps the author here drew Isaiah likewise to his assistance, Isa. lxvi. 15. For beVOL. I. 750 hold the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind. -wheel within wheel undrawn, Itself instinct with spirit, but convoy'd By four cherubic shapes ; Also out of the midst thereof came and their appearance was as it the likeness of four living creatures, were a wheel in the middle of a wheel; and when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them, for the spirit of the living i. 5, 16, 19, 20. creature was in the wheels. Ezek. Of beryl, and careering fires between; The beryl is a precious stone of a sea-green colour, and careering fires are lightnings darting out by fits, a metaphor taken from the running in tilts; The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. i. 16, 13. Over their heads a crystal firmament, Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure Amber, and colours of the show'ry arch. Ee Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn, Itself instinct with spirit, but convoy'd By four cherubic shapes; four faces each Had wondrous; as with stars their bodies all And wings were set with eyes, with eyes the wheels Of beryl, and careering fires between ; Over their heads a crystal firmament, Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought, 756 760 765 were critics and commentators are by no means agreed; but the word Urim signifies light and Thummim perfection; and therefore Milton very properly gives the epithet of radiant to Urim. It is most probable that Urim and Thummim were only names given to signify the clearness and certainty of the divine answers, which were obtained by the high-priest consulting God with his breast-plate on, in contradistinction to the obscure, enigmatical, uncertain, and imperfect answers of the heathen oracles. 765. And from about kim fierce effusion roll'd Of smoke and bickering flame and sparkles dire:] A furious tempest pouring forth smoke and fighting flame round about him. Bickering, fighting Of smoke and bickering flame and sparkles dire: His army, circumfus'd on either wing, and thence destroying, of the 767. Attended with ten thousand thousand saints, He onward came, &c.] Jude 14. Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints. And twenty thousand (I their number heard), Chariots of God, The chariots of God are twenty thousand. Psalm 1xviii. 17. I heard the number of them. Rev. vii. 4. Let it be remarked, how much of his sublimity, even in the sublimest part of his works, Milton owes to Scripture. 770 775 780 771. He on the wings of cherub &c.] Psalm xviii. 10. He rode upon a cherub &c. Greenwood. 776. his sign] The sign of the cross probably. Greenwood. 779. Under their Head] Rom. xii. 5. We being many are one body in Christ. Col. i. 18. He is the head of the body. Greenwood. 781. At his command &c.] We frequently read in the Scriptures of the hills and mountains trembling and moving at the presence or the command of the Lord but it is generally, if not always, mentioned as the effect or proof of his high displeasure. Here the poet lays hold of the same thought, and applies it as an instance of his great goodness, to renew the wonted face of heaven. Greenwood. Each to his place; they heard his voice and went In heav'nly spirits could such perverseness dwell? They harden'd more by what might most reclame, Took envy; and aspiring to his highth, Stand still in bright array, ye saints, here stand 787. -hope conceiving from despair.] Imitated from Virgil. Una salus victis nullam sperare salutem. En. ii. 354. Or rather from Quintus Curtius. Lib. v. cap. 4. Ignaviam quoque necessitas acuit, et sæpe desperatio spei causa est. 788. In heav'nly spirits could such perverseness dwell?] -Tantæne animis cœlestibus íræ ? 783 790 795 800 797. In universal ruin last;] So it is in Milton's two first editions; and if he wrote last, it must be understood the same whether it would not be better as at last but I was thinking to read In universal ruin lost, when I found it so in Dr. any note upon it, or any thing Bentley's edition, but without to distinguish the alteration, as if it had been so printed in all the former editions. ye done 805 Accepted, fearless in his righteous cause, 809. Vengeance is his, or whose he sole appoints:] To me belongeth vengeance and recompense, Deut. xxxii. 35. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord, Rom. xii. 19. 826. And full of wrath bent on his enemies.] Dr. Bentley is for rejecting this verse as mean and superfluous. I suppose he understood it thus, And full of 810 815 820 825 wrath bent his course, went on his enemies; this is said afterwards, ver. 831. He on his impious foes right onward drove, &c. But it may be understood thus, He changed his countenance into terror, and bent it so changed and full of wrath upon his enemies; and I cannot see how this is either mean or superfluous. Or rather bent may be a participle |