So should thy goodness and thy greatness both
Be question'd and blasphemed without defence.

To whom the great Creator thus reply'd :
O Son, in whom my soul hath chief delight,
Son of my bosom, Son who art alone
My word, my wisdom, and effectual might,
All hast thou spoken as my thoughts are; all
As my eternal purpose hath decreed,

me

Man shall not quite be lost, but saved who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in n
Freely vouchsafed. Once more I will renew
His lapsed pow'rs, though forfeit and enthrall'd
By sin to foul exorbitant desires:
Upheld by me, yet once more he shall stand
On even ground against his mortal foe,
By me upheld, that he may know how frail
His fall'n condition is, and to me owe
All his deliv'rance, and to none but me

165

170

175

180

Some I have chosen of peculiar grace

Elect above the rest; so is my will:

The rest shall hear me call, and oft be warn'd

185

Their sinful state, and to appease betimes

Th' incensed Deity, while offer'd grace
Invites; for I will clear their senses dark,
What may suffice, and soften stony hearts
To pray, repent, and bring obedience due.
To pray'r, repentance, and obedience due,
Though but endeavour'd with sincere intent,
Mine ear shall not be slow, mine eye not shut.
And I will place within them as a guide

190

My umpire Conscience; whom if they will hear,

195

170. My word, my wisdom: John i. 1.

172. Eternal purpose: Ephes. i. 4, 11; ii. 7-10; Rom. ix. 15, 16.

180. Upheld: Compare this with line 178, and remark the happy effect of

changing the position of this word in the two lines.

189. Stony: Ezek. xxxvi. 26.

195. Rom. ii. 14, 15.

Light after light well used they shall attain,
And, to the end persisting, safe arrive.
This my long suff'rance and my day of grace
They who neglect and scorn, shall never taste;
But hard be harden'd, blind be blinded more,
That they may stumble on, and deeper fall:
And none but such from mercy I exclude.
But yet all is not done: Man disobeying,
Disloyal breaks his fealty, and sins
Against the High Supremacy of Heav'n,
Affecting Godhead, and so losing all,
To expiate his treason hath nought left,
But to destruction sacred and devote,
He, with his whole posterity, must die;
Die he or justice must; unless for him
Some other able, and as willing, pay

200

205

210

The rigid satisfaction, death for death.

Say, heav'nly Pow'rs, where shall we find such love?

Which of ye will be mortal to redeem

Man's mortal crime, and just th' unjust to save?

215

Dwells in all Heaven charity so dear?

He ask'd; but all the heav'nly choir stood mute,

Must have been lost, adjudged to Death and Hell

By doom severe, had not the Son of God,

In whom the fulness dwells of love divine,

225

His dearest mediation thus renew'd :

Father, thy word is past, Man shall find grace;

199. Matt. xiii. 14-16; Luke xiv. 24; Acts xiii. 41.

208. Devote: Devoted.

210. Heb. ix. 22, 28; x. 4-7.

217. Choir stood mute: This is a beautiful circumstance; the occasion was

a fit one to produce such silence in heaven, Rev. viii. 1.

And shall grace not find means, that finds her way,

The speediest of thy winged messengers,

To visit all thy creatures, and to all

230

Comes unprevented, unimplored, unsought?
Happy for man, so coming: he her aid
Can never seek, once dead in sins and lost:
Atonement for himself or off'ring meet,
Indebted and undone, hath none to bring.
Behold me then; me for him, life for life

235

I offer on me let thine anger fall;

Account me Man: I for his sake will leave

Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee

Freely put off, and for him lastly die

240

Well pleased: on me let Death wreak all his rage :
Under his gloomy pow'r I shall not long

:

Lie vanquish'd thou hast given me to possess

Life in myself for ever; by thee I live,
Though now to Death I yield, and am his due
All that of me can die; yet that debt paid,
Thou wilt not leave me in the loathsome grave
His prey, nor suffer my unspotted soul

245

For ever with corruption there to dwell;

But I shall rise victorious, and subdue

250

My Vanquisher, spoil'd of his vaunted spoil;

Death his death's wound shall then receive, and stoop

231. Unprevented: Not preceded by anything, by any effort in man. 236. The frequent repetition of me, reminds one of a line in Virgil's Æneid, Book ix. 427. 66 Me, me, adsum qui feci in me convertite ferrum."

241. Wreak: Inflict, 1 Pet. iii. 18.

244. John v. 26.

249. Corruption: Decomposition of the body, Acts ii. 25–31.

250-1. It has been objected to Milton's story that the hero is unsuccessful, and by no means a match for his enemies. This gave occasion to Dryden's reflection that Satan was in reality Milton's hero. To this it may be replied, that Paradise Lost is a narrative poem, and he that looks for a hero in it searches for that which Milton never intended; but if he is determined to fix the name of a hero upon any person in it, the Messiah is certainly the hero, both in the principal action and in the chief episodes.-A

Inglorious, of his mortal sting disarm'd.

:

I through the ample air in triumph high
Shall lead Hell captive maugre Hell, and shew
The Pow'rs of darkness bound. Thou at the sight
Pleased, out of Heav'n shalt look down and smile,
While by thee raised I ruin all my foes,
Death last, and with his carcase glut the grave
Then with the multitude of my redeem'd
Shall enter Heav'n long absent, and return,
Father, to see thy face, wherein no cloud
Of anger shall remain, but peace assured
And reconcilement; wrath shall be no more
Thenceforth, but in thy presence joy entire.

His words here ended, but his meek aspéct-
Silent yet spake, and breath'd immortal love
To mortal men, above which only shone
Filial obedience; as a sacrifice

255

260

265

Glad to be offer'd, he attends the will

270

Of his great Father. Admiration seized

All Heav'n, what this might mean, and whither tend,

Wond'ring; but soon th' Almighty thus reply'd:
O thou in Heav'n and Earth the only peace

Found out for mankind under wrath! O thou
My sole complacence! well thou know'st how dear

275

253. See 1 Cor. xv. 55-7.

255. Maugre Hell: In spite of Hell, Ps. lxviii. 18; Eph. iv. 8; Col. ii. 15. 266. What a charming and lovely picture has Milton given us of God the Son, considered as our Saviour and Redeemer! not in the least inferior in its way to that grander one in the Sixth Book, where he describes him clothed with majesty and terror, taking vengeance of his enemies. Before he represents him speaking, he makes "divine compassion, love without end, and grace without measure, visibly to appear in his face," (140); and carrying on the same lovely picture, makes him end it with a countenance "breathing immortal love to mortal men." Nothing could be better contrived to leave a deep impression upon the reader's mind; and I believe one may venture to assert, that no art or words could lift the imagination to a stronger idea of a good and benevolent being. There is a mute eloquence prettily expressed by the poet in his "Silent, yet spake.”—T.

269. John iv. 34; Ps. xl. 6, &c.

To me are all my works, nor Man the least,
Though last created; that for him I spare
Thee from my bosom and right hand, to save,
By losing thee a while, the whole race lost.
Thou therefore whom thou only canst redeem,
Their nature also to thy nature join
And be thyself Man among men on earth,
Made flesh, when time shall be, of virgin seed,
By wondrous birth: be thou in Adam's room.
The Head of all mankind, though Adam's son.
As in him perish all men, so in thee,
As from a second root, shall be restored
As many as are restored; without thee none.
His crime makes guilty all his sons; thy merit
Imputed shall absolve them who renounce
Their own both righteous and unrighteous deeds,
And live in thee transplanted, and from thee
Receive new life. So Man, as is most just,
Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die,
And dying rise, and rising with him raise

280

285

290

295

His brethren ransom'd with his own dear life.

So heav'nly love shall outdo hellish hate,
Giving to death, and dying to redeem,
So dearly to redeem what hellish hate

300

So easily destroy'd, and still destroys

In those who, when they may, accept not grace.

281-2. John i. 14; Heb. ii. 16. These lines may be transposed to exhibit the true meaning: "Thou therefore, join to thy nature the nature also of them whom thou only canst redeem."

287. 1 Cor. xv. 21-2.

290. Rom. v. 12-19.

301. The language is here accommodated to the eternity of the speaker, to whom past, present, and future are one.-S.