They now, and men hereafter may discern, His divine nature is artfully concealed under a partial and ambiguous representation; and the angels are first to learn the mystery of the incarnation from that important conflict, which is the subject of this poem. They are seemingly invited to behold the triumphs of the man Christ Jesus over the enemy of mankind; and these surprise them with the glorious discovery of the God -inshrin'd Son, 165 Again, the words consummate virtue are ambiguous, and may be referred to the divine nature of Christ as well as the human. Their present connexion applies them directly to the human nature: but they had a secret reference, I conceive, in the poet's meaning to the majesty of that heavenly part of him, which denominates Christ in the holy Scriptures the wisdom of God and the power (or virtue) of God, Osov dvvauv, Dei virtutem, In fleshly tabernacle, and human Lat. Vulg. 1 Cor. i. 24. Hunc form. That Christ was perfect man is a partial truth, and serves to keep the higher perfection of his divine nature, for the present, out of sight, without denying or excluding it. It is likewise very truly said of this perfect man, that he is by merit called the Son of God. Justin Martyr observes in his second Apology, [p. 67. Ed. Col.] that Christ, considered only as man, deserved for his superior wisdom to be called the Son of God. Υίος δε Θεου ὁ Ιησους λεγομενος, εἰ και κοινως μόνον ανθρωπος, δια σοφιαν ažios vios Orov Asyida. In either capacity of God or Man he had a claim of merit to the title. The Father, speaking to his eternal Word in Paradise Lost, iii. 308. on his generous undertakings for mankind, saith, and hast been found By merit more than birthright Son of God. tamen solum primogenitum divini nominis appellatione dignatus est, patria scilicet virtute, ac majestate pollentem. Esse autem summi Dei filium, qui sit potestate maxima præditus, non tantùm voces prophetarum, sed etiam Sibyllarum vaticinia demonstrant. Lactantius, Div. Inst. lib. iv. 6. Cum igitur a prophetis idem manus Dei, et virtus, et sermo dicatur. ibid. 29. Paradise Lost, vi. 713. -Into thee such virtue and grace Christ shewed his heavenly wis- sition from, So spake th' eternal Father, and all heaven Admiring stood a space, then into hymns Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd, Circling the throne and singing, while the hand 168. So spake th' eternal Father, and all heaven Admiring stood a space,] We cannot but take notice of the great art of the poet in setting forth the dignity and importance of his subject. He represents all beings as interested one way or other in the event. A council of devils is summoned; an assembly of angels is held upon the occasion. Satan is the speaker in the one, the Almighty in the other. Satan expresses his diffidence, but still resolves to make trial of this Son of God; the Father declares his purpose of proving and illustrating his Son. The infernal crew are distracted and surprised with deep dismay; all heaven stands a while in admiration. The fiends are silent through fear and grief; the angels burst forth into singing with joy and the assured hopes of success. And their attention is thus engaged, the better to engage the attention of the reader. 169. —then into hymns Burst forth, and in celestial measures mov'd,] Milton, we may suppose, had here in his mind the ancient chorus. In his original plan of the Par. Lost, under a dramatic form, he proposed to introduce a chorus of angels. The drama seems to have been his favourite species of poetry, and that which particularly caught and occupied his imagination: so at least we 66 170 may judge from the numerous plans of tragedies which he left behind him. Indeed he has frequent allusions to dramatic compositions in all his works. In the second book of his Reason of Church Government against Prelacy he terms the Song of Solomon a divine Pastoral drama, consisting of two persons and a double chorus:" and he speaks of the Apocalypse of St. John, as "the majestic image of a high and stately tragedy, shutting up and intermingling her solemn scenes and acts with a sevenfold chorus of halleluiahs and harping symphonies." Dunster. 171. while the hand Sung with the voice,] We have pretty near the same phrase in Tibullus, iii. iv. 41. Sed postquam fuerant digiti cum voce locuti, Edidit hæc dulci tristia verba modo. And the word hand is used by Milton once again in this poem, and also in the Arcades, to dis tinguish instrumental harmony from vocal, iv. 254. There thou shalt hear and learn the If my inferior hand or voice could hit Compare also the Hymn on the Sung with the voice, and this the argument. Victory' and triumph to the Son of God Now ent'ring his great duel, not of arms, But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles. The Father knows the Son; therefore secure Nativity, st. ix. and Lucretius, iv. 588. Dunster. 174. Now ent'ring his great duel,] There is, I think, a meanness in the customary sense of this term that makes it unworthy of these speakers and this occasion; and yet it is observable, that Milton in his Paradise Lost makes Michael use the very same word where he is speaking to Adam of the same thing, xii. 386. To whom thus Michael. Dream not of their fight, As of a duel, &c. The Italian duello, if I am not mistaken, bears a stronger sense, and this, I suppose, Milton had in view. Thyer. If it be not a contradiction, it is inaccurate at least in Milton, to make an angel say in one place, Dream not of their fight as of a duel; and afterwards to make the angels express it by the metaphor of a duel, Now ent'ring his great duel. 174. The Paradise Regained however exhibits the temptation of our blessed Saviour in the light of a duel, or personal contest between him and the archenemy of mankind; in which our Lord by his divine patience, fortitude, and resignation to the will of his heavenly Father, vanquishes the wiles of the devil. He thereby attests his own superiority over his anta 175 gonist, and his ability to restore the lost happiness of mankind, by regaining Paradise for them, and by rescuing and redeeming them from that power, which had led them captive. In the opening of the poem we may notice allusions to the duel, or trial by combat; -the tempter foiled In all his wiles defeated and repuls'd. And in the Invocation, Thou Spirit, who ledd'st this glorious eremite Into the desert, his victorious field, Against the spiritual foe, and brought'st him thence By proof th' undoubted Son of God. And ver. 130. Gabriel, this day by proof thou shalt behold. Fleta defines the duel, or trial by combat, "singularis pugna inter duos ad probandam veritatem litis, et qui vicit probasse intelligitur. Dunster. 175. But to vanquish by wisdom] He lays the accent on the last syllable in vanquish, as elsewhere in triumph; and in many places, in my opinion, he imitates the Latin and Greek prosody, and makes a vowel long before two consonants. Jortin. 175. by wisdom] This is wisdom in its frequent scriptural sense of true piety. Dunster. 176. The Father knows the Son; Ventures his filial virtue, though untried, Against whate'er may tempt, whate'er seduce, Be frustrate all ye stratagems of hell, And devilish machinations come to nought. So they in heav'n their odes and vigils tun'd: Could this have been said by 182. their odes and vigils tun'd:] This is a very uncommon expression, and not easy to be understood, unless we suppose that by vigils the poet meant those songs which they sung while they kept their watches. Singing of hymns is their manner of keeping their wakes in heaven. And I see no reason why their evening service may not be called vigils, as the morning service is called mattins. 180 185 182. The evening service in the Roman Catholic churches is called vespers. There was formerly a nocturnal service called vigils or nocturns, which was chanted and accompanied by music. Ducange explains vigilia" ipsum officium nocturnum quod in vigiliis nocturnis olim decantabatur." The old writers often speak of the vigiliarum cantica. Dunster. 183. who yet some days Lodg'd in Bethabara where John baptiz'd,] The poet, I presume, said this upon the authority of the first chapter of St. John's Gospel, where several particulars, which happened several days together, are related concerning the Son of God, and it is said ver. 28. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. 189. One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading, And his deep thoughts,] And his deep thoughts, the better to converse 190 Thought following thought, and step by step led on, He enter'd now the bord'ring desert wild, This is wrong pointed in all the Lake, or Dead Sea. The differeditions thus, One day forth walk'd alone, the leading as well as the Spirit. And as Mr. Thyer observes, what a fine light does Milton here place that text of Scripture in, where it is said, that Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, and how excellently adapted to embellish his poem! He adheres strictly to the inspired historian, and yet without any sort of profanation gives it a turn which is vastly poetical. 190. the better to converse With solitude,] ent parts of it had different names from the neighbouring cities or mountains; thus 1 Sam. xxiii. 14. it is called the wilderness מדבר But at most there should be only of Ziph, and xxiv. 1. the wilderness of Engaddi. The word a comma after leading, for the construction is, his deep thoughts rendered in our version of does not mean a country absoScripture wilderness or desert lutely barren or uninhabited, but only uncultivated. In Joshua xv. we read of six cities in the stood nearest to the river Jordan, wilderness. Of these Engaddi and the northern end of the Dead Sea. And we may suppose the desert where Milton now places our Lord to be that of the wilderness of Judea part in the neighbourhood of Engaddi. The wildernesses, or uncultivated parts of Judea, appear chiefly to have been forests and woods. (See Reland's Palæstina, 1. i. c. 56.) About Engaddi also there were many mountains and rocks. (See 1 Sam. xxiii. 29. xxiv. 2.) Milton's description accordingly is extremely accurate. It should be observed that Bethabara was not, where D'Anville places it, on the eastern bank of Jordan almost opposite Enon; but, in all probability, at the southern end of the river Jordan, on the western bank; and within a little distance of this "bordering desert," being only a very few miles from the Dead Sea. Dunster. Comus, 375. -wisdom's self Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude. Dunster. 193. He enter'd now the bor dering desert wild, And with dark shades and rocks environ'd round,] The wilderness, in which John preached the Gospel, and where Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, went out to him, and were baptized in Jordan, was according to St. Matt. iii. 1. the wilderness of Judea; which extended from the river Jordan all along the western side of the Asphaltic |