Have found him, view'd him, tafted him, but find Far other labor to be undergone Than when I dealt with Adam firft of Men, Though Adam by his wife's allurement fell, If he be man by mother's fide at least, 135 With more than human gifts from Heav'n adorn'd, And amplitude of mind to greatest deeds. Of my fuccefs with Eve in Paradife 140 Tell Athens, in the frequence of degree, From high to low throughout. 136. If he be man by mother's fide at leaft,] The Tempter had no doubt of Chrift's being a man by the mother's fide: but the want of a comma in its due place after man, hath puzzled both the fenfe and the conftruction. He is must be understood at the end of the verfe, to fupport the fyntax. If he be man, by mother's fide at least [he is]. Calton. We have still preserved the pointing of Milton's own edition; for fome perhaps may choose to join the whole together, and understand it thus. Satan had heard him de Deceive clar'd from Heav'n, and knew him to be the Son of God; and now after the trial that he had made of him, he queftions whether he be man even by the mother's fide, If he be man by mother's fide at least. And it is the purport of Satan in this fpeech not to fay any thing to the evil Spirits that may leffen, but every thing that may raise their idea of his antagonist. 139. And amplitude of mind to greatest deeds.] There is a great deal of dignity as well as fignificancy in this expreffion, and none certainly could have been better felected to exprefs the idea which the poet intended to convey. He borrowed it very probably from the Deceive ye to perfuafion over-fure Thought none my equal, now be over-match'd. 145 So fpake th' old Serpent doubting, and from all With clamor was affur'd their utmost aid At his command; when from amidst them rofe Belial, the diffoluteft Spi'rit that fell, 150 The fenfualleft, and after Afmodai the following paffage in Tully's Tufc. Difp. II. 25. Hoc igitur tibi propone, amplitudinem et quafi quandam exaggerationem quam altiffimam animi, quæ maxime eminet contemnendis et defpiciendis doloribus, unam effe omnium rem pulcherrimam. Milton had a very happy talent in the choice of words, and indeed it is a very confiderable part of the poet's art. Let the reader but try to fubftitute any other word of the fame fignification in the place of amplitude in this verfe, and he will foon be convinc'd, that none can be found to fill it up with equal beauty and propriety. Thyer. 150. Belial, the diffoluteft &c.] I have heard thefe three lines ob Set jected to as harsh and inharmonious, but in my opinion the very objection points out a remarkable beauty in them. It is true, they don't run very smoothly off the tongue, but then they are with much better judgment fo contriv'd, that the reader is obliged to lay a particular emphafis, and to dwell as it were for fome time upon that word in each verfe which moft ftrongly expreffes the character defcrib'd, viz. diffoluteft, fenfualleft, flefblieft. This has a very good effect by impreffing the idea more ftrongly upon the mind, and contributes even in fome measure to increase our averfion to the odious character of Belial, by giving an air of deteftation to the very Set women in his eye, and in his walk, 155 160 Skill'd very tone of voice with which thefe of Raguel, and deftroyed her feverfes must neceffarily be read. Thyer. 153. Set women in his eye, &c.] As this temptation is not mention'd, nor any hint given of it in the Gofpels, it could not fo well have been propos'd to our Saviour, it is much more fitly made the fubject of debate among the wicked fpirits themselves. All that can be faid in commendation of the power of beauty, and all that can be alledged to depreciate it, is here fumm'd up with greater force and elegance, than I ever remember to have feen it in any other author. And the character of Belial in the Paradife Loft, and the part that he fuftains there, fufficiently fhow how properly he is introduced upon the prefent occafion. He is faid to be the fleshlieft Incubus after Afbmodai, or Ajmadai, as it is written Paradise Loft VI. 365. or Afmodeus IV. 168. the luftful Angel, who loved Sarah the daughter 2 ven hufbands, as we read in the book of Tobit. 155. paffing fair] Our author had feveral times met with this phrafe in his beloved Spenfer and Shakespeare; and particularly in Romeo's commendations of his miftrefs. Act 1. Scene 2. Show me a mistress, that is pas fing fair; What doth her beauty serve, but as a note, Where I may read, who pafs'd that paffing fair? 161. Skill'd to retire, and in retiring draw Hearts after them] In the fame manner Milton in his defcription of Eve. Paradife Loft. VIII. 504. Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retir'd, The more defirable. Hearts after them tangled in amorous nets. Milton feems to ufe the word amorous Skill'd to retire, and in retiring draw amorous rather in the fenfe of the Italian amorofo, which is applied to any thing relating to the paffion of love, than in its common Englifh acceptation, in which it generally expreffes fomething of the paffion itself. Thyer. 166. Draw out with credulous defire,] This beautiful expreffion was form'd partly upon the Spes animi credula mutui of Horace. Od. IV. I. 30. -fond hope of mutual fire, The ftill-believing, flill-renew'd defire, as Mr. Pope paraphrafes it. And as Mr. Thyer thinks, it is partly an allufion to Terence. Andria. IV. I. 23. -Non tibi fatis effe hoc vifum folidum eft gaudium. Nifi me lactaffes amantem, et falfa fpes produceres. 168. As the magnetic hardest iron draws.] Lucian hath this fiVOL. I. 165 Women, mile in his Imagines Vol. II. p. 2. Ed. Græv. Ει δε κακεινη προσο βλέψεις σε, τις εται μηχανη αποσηναι αυτης; απαξει γαρ σε αναδησαμενη ενθα αν εθέλη, όπερ και η λιθα η ήρακλια δρα τον σιδηρον. But if the fair one once look upon you, what is it that can get you from her? She will draw you after her at pleasure, bound hand and foot, juft as the loadstone draws iron. We may obferve that Milton, by reftraining the comparison to the power of beauty over the wifeft men and the moft ftoical tempers, hath given it a propriety, which is loft in a more general application. See a little poem of Claudian's on the Magnet. It is the 5th of his Eidyllia. Calton. As the magnetic, It fhould be the magnet, or the magnetic ftone: but Milton often converts the adjective, and ufes it as the fubftantive. Mr. Thyer wifhes fome authority could be found to justify the omitting of this line, which in his F opinion 170 Women, when nothing elfe, beguil'd the heart Thou thyself doat'dft on womankind, admiring 175 opinion is very low and mean; and appears too the more fo, as it immediately follows fome of the finest and most masterly verfes in the whole poem. The fimile is in itself trite and common, and the conceit implied in the word hardest boyish to the laft degree. This fhows that all Milton's learning and genius could not entirely preferve him from being infected with that fanciful fort of wit, which too much prevailed in the age, in which he firft form'd his taste. 177. None are, thou think' ft, but taken with fuch toys.] The line would be clearer, if it run thus, None are, thou think'ft, taken but with fuch toys. Sympfon. 178. Before the flood, &c.] It is to be lamented that our author has fo often adopted the vulgar notion of Falfe the Angels having commerce with To these that fober race of men, Shall yield up all their virtue, Ignobly, |