he intended to Alight, the Gate, there where Gabriel fate; 'twas a Level flight, 543, 549.

561 Gabriel, to Thee thy Course by Lot bath giv'n

Charge and Strict Watch

Luk. i. 8,9 and it came to pass that while be executed the Prieft's Office before God in the Order of bis Course, according to the Custom of the Prieft's Office; his Lot was to burn Incenfe. See alfo 1 Chron. iii. 6.

567 God's Latest Image:

the Earliest was Christ, Heb. i. 3. Coloff. i. 15.

ibid.

I Defcrib'd his Way
Bent all on Speed, and markt bis Aerie Gate;
but in the Mount that lies from Eden North,
Where be first Lighted, foon difcern'dhis Looks
Alien from Heav'n, with Passions Foul Ob-
fcur'd:

Mine Eye perfu'd him ftill, but under Shade
Loft Sight of him;

These are the Grounds of Sufpicion which Uriel lays before Gabriel, to induce him to Search, fearing one of the Banisht Crew was come with Mischievous Intent. He Directed him in his Way (he appearing to be in Violent Haste) Obferv'd a Particularity in his Motion, and that notwithstanding his Haste he took not the Readiest Way, for the Mountain North of Eden was not So; his Looks were Sufpicious, and he Hid himself in Darkness, by which

M 4

which Means he knows not what became of him, but Fears what was very probably the Case, as it Afterwards prov'd. See III. 722, 733,741,742. IV. 125, &c. 'tis true, IX. 60. Uriel is said to have Descry'd his Entrance into Eden; Here he Describes his Way Thither. This Entrance Descry'd, and the Description of the Way mention'd in the first Line of the present Passage are plainly two Distinct things.

584

Hard thou knowst it to Exclude

See the Note on v. 181.

592 Beneath the Azores;

the Azores are Islands in the great Atlantic, or Western Ocean; there are Nine of them, and are commonly called the Terceras; Some Include the Canaries under That Name.

ibid

Whither the Prime Orb,

Whither is Thus spelt in the two First, and Some Other Good Editions: it should be Whether; though the Sense of the Place Evidently shows it, yet this Small Mistake of the Printer has led Some Readers Wrong from whom One might have Expected Better.

594

Volúbil Earth

Volubil, with the Second Syllable Long is Latin, and the Measure of the Verse requires it to be So pronounc'd.

603.
- Amorous descant
a Love-Song Repeated and Vary'd.

604 Silence was pleas'd;

Beautifully Poetical! Silence is Personiz'd, and made to Listen Delighted. the Sun, the Ev'ning Star, the Moon, Night, Silence, Sleep, All are of the Audience while the Angel speaks. VII. 100, &c.

605 with Living Saphirs;

the Saphir is a Blew Stone; 'till the Absence of the Sun all the Stars were Invisible in the Azure Sky, and as of the Same Colour with it, Now they seem to be Li't up, to be Alive, in Effect Dead Before, So we say a Live Coal when the Fire is in it.

ibid.

Hesperus that led

the Starry Host Hesperus is the Planet Venus, but is call'd Hefperus when it follows the Sun; the Morning Star when it precedes him. he leads the Starry Host, as being the First that Appears in the Ev'ning. Surely Here is the most InchantingDescription of the Ev'ning that ever was made!

614

- and the Timely Dew of Sleep Now falling with Saft Slumbrous Weight inclines

Our Eye-lids;

Timely, Timely, Seafonable, Accustom'd about This time. What a Description of Drowsiness! the Dew of Sleep; falling on the Eye-lids Soft as Dew, yet giving a Grateful kind of Heaviness, Inclining, bearing down, from the Latin Inclino. Did not the Beauty of the Poetry keep the Mind Awake, the Words would Lull the Reader Insensibly.

Sleep it felf is frequently call'd a Dew by the Poets from it's Soft falling, and the Delight and Refreshment it gives.

627 our Walk at Noon,

'tis Walks in the First Edition, but in None of the Others. Alter'd doubtless because it might be Understood as if the Arbours were for Walking in as well as the Alleys, whereas Those were for Repose after Weariness by Walking in the Long Alleys, Dressing the Garden, &c.

with Branches Overgrown, too Luxuriant, So as to be Troublesome, and therefore wanted to be Reform'd: not that they grew Over the Alleys, so as to make what they call Berceau Walks; Such indeed These were, they were their Noon Walks, and the more Overgrown in That Sense the Better.

diately after, to Lop, to Rid away what is scatter'd.

640 All Seasons and their Change,

All Times, Morning, Noon, &c. as it is explain'd Immediately Afterwards. 'tis not Spring, Summer, &c. Those were not Yet Changing, 'twas Now an Eternal Spring, v. 268. He ufes Seafons for Hours, as the Greeks do Hours for Seafons. Conf. IX. 200. with V. 170.

667 in Nature and all things,

in all Natural things, in all Nature, the New Creation.

So Virgil, Munera Lætitiamque Dei for Munera Lata, Æn. I. 640. Squamis Auroque for Aureis Squamis, Æn. VIII. 436. Milton has a like Phrafe (X. 345.) with Joy and Tydings for Joyful Tydings.

Adam Here talks very Naturally, as not being Yet Better Instructed, and Eve is as Naturally Fully Satisfy'd with her Husband's Superiour Understanding. 'twas another Sort of Conversation when Adam Enquir'd of the Angel concerning these Heav'nly Bodies, VIII. 15. but Neither Then was he Taught Much more Philofophy of This Kind, but far Better.

687

- Instrumental Sounds