NOTES. LINES 1-16. 1. (1) Of, prep.-sing of disobedience; (3) whose, agreeing with anteced. fruit; (8) sing, imper. mood; (9) muse, nom. of address, sec. pers.; (10) first, adj. qual. who; (14) that, anteced. song; (15) yet, adv. 2. It points out the tree, as a thing well known. 3. Woe with loss. They stand in close relation to one another. Fruit with loss. This construction makes the loss one of the subjects, which agrees with the name of the poem, and with the beginning of the Argument to this book. The first book proposes, first in brief, the whole subject, man's disobedience, and the loss thereupon of Paradise.' 4. The subjunctive mood is used only where uncertainty and futurity are both implied.' 6. Mortal,-deadly, death-giving. Compare And so are subject to mortality.'-Davies. Fast by, close to, as in Pope Fast by the throne, obsequious Fame resides.' Rhyme,-verse in general, poetry. When Milton means the jingling sound of like endings, he spells the word rime. 7. (1) Rom. v. 12; (2) see Gen. ii.; (3) 1 Cor. xv. 45; (4) Ps. lxxvii. 20, and Exod. iii. I; (5) Gen. i. I, 2; (6) John ix. 7, Neh. iii. 15, Isa. viii. 5, 6. 8. Horeb or Sinai is the name of a lofty ridge of mountains, in the peninsula to the south of Arabia Petrea. Of this ridge, the northern end is termed Horeb, and the southern, Sinai, or Jebel Musa, the mountain of Moses. For this distinction, however, we are indebted to the monks, and it is probable that Horeb was the name of the district generally, while Sinai was the name of some particular mountain. Secret,-from the Lat. secretus, separated. The top of this mountain may be called secret-(1) because it was the scene of the secret interview between God and Moses, during which, if even a beast so much as touched the mountain, it was instantly to be put to death. See also the expressions used in describing it'a thick cloud,' Ex. xix. 9, 16; 'the thick darkness,' Ex. xx. 21, &c. (2) Because Josephus says that 'it is not only difficult to be ascended by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be seen without pain of the eyes.—Antiq., book iii. ch. 5. Besides, as De Quincey suggests, a group on the top of any mountain, 3500 feet high, is invisible to those below except by the aid of glasses. 9. Chaos, -empty abyss, Gen. i. 12. The Chaos of the Greeks was an infinite void, out of which the world arose. The Chaos of Ovid was a rude and shapeless mass of matter, out of which the Divine Being formed the universe by dividing it into the four elements of fire or ether, air, earth, and water. II. Oracle, Lat. oraculum (from oro, I utter)—(1) an utterance of the Pagan gods; (2) a place where oracular responses were given. For its meaning here, see I Kings, vi. 16—‘He even built them for it within, even for the oracle, for the most holy place.' Also, v. 19—' And the oracle he prepared for the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.' 12. Aonian mount,-Helicon, now Zagora, a mountain in the south-west of Boeotia, or as the poets have it, Aonia. It was on the borders of Phocis, famous as the seat of Apollo and the Muses, who, from this circumstance, were called Heliconiades. To soar above the Aonian mount means to take a loftier flight than was ever accomplished by the Greek poets. Cf. Par. Lost,' vii. 3, 4. Above the Olympian hill, I soar, Above the flight of Pegasean wing.' See also IX. 13-19. 14. Urania (the heavenly) the Muse of Astronomy. Clio (celebrating glorious deeds) of History. Calliope (fine voice) of Epic Poetry. Melpomene (the singer) of Tragedy. Thalia (the joyous) of Comedy. Euterpe (the pleasing) of Music and Lyric Poetry. Terpsichore (dance-loving) of Choral Poetry and Dancing. Erato (the lovely) of Elegia and Amatory Poetry. LINES 17-26. 1. (7) Part. pres. used as an adj. qual. thou; (8) adj. qual. abyss, second obj. of mad'st; (9) nom. to is dark; (12) pres. pot.; (13) ways to men. 2. (7) Is dark, noun clause (obj.); (12) may assert, adv. clause (purpose). 3.* (1) Chief-ly,-from Fr. chef, the head, and the affix ly,— principally, above all. (2) Pre-fer,-Lat. prae, before, and fero, I bear or carry,literally, to bear or carry before; hence to esteem above another. (3) Temples,-Lat. templum (temno, I cut off),—1. a place marked off; 2. a place dedicated to some deity. (4) Up-right,-Sax. up and riht,-I. right up, erect; 2. honest, undeviating from the right path. (5) In-struct,-Lat. instruo, instructum,-1. to pile upon; 2. to teach, or to inform. (6) Brood-ing,-Sax, brod, a brood,-spreading over, as with wings. (7) A-byss,-Gk. a, without, byssos or bythos, a bottom,-the (8) Il-lumine,—Lat. illumino (in lumino),—to enlighten. sustain. (10) Height, or highth,-Sax. heahness,-1. the top, the end; 2. excellence. 4. Argument,—(1) subject; (2) Lat. argumentum, proof, evidence. It was also used by the Romans to signify the subject of an argument or written composition, and of an artistic representation. Men in their attempts at arguing, that is, proving or convincing, have generally ended in arguing, in its present and very different meaning. This is one of a large class of words, the history of which is humbling to man's mental or moral nature. Compare retract, retaliate, prejudice, quarrel, wicked, tyrant, despot, &c. 5. (1) See I Cor. iii. 16, and vi. 19; (2) consult Gen. i. 2. "Brooded' is a better translation than 'moved.' Compare 'Par. Lost,' vii. 235. 'Darkness profound Cover'd the abyss, but on the watery calm (3) Read Luke iii. 22. 6. That in a style corresponding to the loftiness of this grand subject. *We give the etymology of the words in this lesson to shew what is required, and how the exercise may be written out. In the others, we shall explain only the most difficult. The derivation and meaning of the rest may be found in Reid's Dictionary. 7. (1) Providence is here used in the literal sense of providentia, foresight, or foreknowledge. (3) Pope says 'And vindicate the ways of God to men.' Why he preferred vindicate to justify, it would be difficult to say. 'Justify' is the Scripture word. See Rom. iii. 4-'That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings,' &c. 8. and 9. The following extract from the beginning of Milton's Second Book of The Reason of Church Government,' refers to his design of writing a great poem, and will illustrate this address to the Holy Spirit :- -'Neither do I think it shame to cove nant with any knowing reader, that for some few years yet I may go on trust with him toward the payment of what I am now indebted, as being a work not to be raised from the heat of youth or the vapours of wine, .. nor to be obtained by the invocation of Dame Memory and her siren daughters, but by devout prayer to that Eternal Spirit that can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out His seraphim with the hallowed fire of His altar, to touch and purify the lips of whom He pleases.' LINES 27-44. 1. (2) Tract, nom. to hides understood; (4) part. past. qual. parents; (6) pres. inf., remote object of moved; (7) shews relation between to fall off' or 'transgress,' and 'one restraint'; (8) in app. to parents; (11) part. past. 2. Adv. (time) mod. say. 3. What time, attempt, adv. to deceived (time). all his host, &c.,-adv. to had cast (circumstance). tious aim, &c.,-adv. to raised (purpose). 4. Heaven or the deep tract With With ambi nothing. Heaven hides nothing, and the deep tract of hell hides . . . view. 5. (4) Guile,-old French guile, introduced into English by the Normans, though it was the same word originally as the Saxon wile. There are several other words that occur in the language under two different forms, -one the pure Saxon, and the other under a Roman disguise,—as guise and wise, guard and ward, &c. (8) Ambitious,-Lat. ambitio, from ambio, I go round. Ambition means literally, a going round; hence, the going about of candidates suing for office in Rome; figuratively, it means a seeking after rank or preferment. 6. (1) Grand parents,-old parents, or illustrious original parents; so grandfather, &c. (2) To cross his will, because they were restrained in one particular. (3) Besides,-in all things else. (4) What time, at the time when, or simply when. Milton makes use of this Latinism very often. (5) Battle proud, —a proud armed force. Battle was formerly used to denote, not |