Where armies whole have sunk: the parching air Burns frore, and cold performs th' effect of fire. 595 Thither by harpy-footed Furies hal'd At certain revolutions all the damn'd Are brought; and feel by turns the bitter change Their soft ethereal warmth, and there to pine Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, 600 605 The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe, All in one moment, and so near the brink : But fate withstands, and to oppose th' attempt 610 The ford, and of itself the water flies In confus'd march forlorn, th' advent'rous bands, 615 620 595 Burns] Virg. Georg. i. 93. 'Boreæ penetrabile frigus adurat.' Newton. 620 Alp] In the singular number; so in Dionysius Perieg. See Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death, A universe of death, which God by curse Created evil, for evil only good, 625 Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds, Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceiv'd, Meanwhile the adversary of God and man, 635 He scours the right-hand coast, sometimes the left; Schnieder's note to Orphei Argon. p. 198. "Akios dox, singulari numero, est in Dion. Perieg. ut in Metrodori Epigr. (Anal. ii. 481.) Alpem Juvenalis nominat. (Sat. x. 152.) 621 Rocks] 'Rocks, shelves, gulfs, quicksands, hundred, hundred horrors.' See Middleton's World tost at Tennis, p. 26. 623 evil] Esch. Eumen. ver. 71. κακῶν δ ̓ ἕκατι κἀγένοντ. 625 all monstrous] See Heywood's Hierarchie, p. 437, lib. 7. 'So that all births which out of order come Are monstrous and prodigious.' 640 Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring Hell bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof; And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were brass, Three iron, three of adamantine rock, Impenetrable, impal'd with circling fire, Yet unconsum'd. Before the gates there sat 645 650 The one seem'd woman to the waist, and fair, 639 Of Ternate] See Fanshawe's Lusiad, p. 219, c. x. 84, 132. (1655). 'Tidore see! Ternate! whence are rolled (Holding black night a torch) thick plumes of flame.' 640 trading] treading. Bentl. MS. 642 nightly] rightly. Bentl. MS. 645 thrice threefold] Samson Agon. ver. 1122. 'And seven times folded shield.' 'Clypei septemplicis.' Bentl. MS. 653 mortal sting] Spens. F. Q. ver. i. i. 15. 'pointed with mortal sting. Bentl. MS. 654 A cry] And that some troop of cruel hellish curs Encircle them about.' v. Phillis of Scyros. p. 104. (1655). 660 A hideous peel: yet, when they list, would creep, Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, And shook a dreadful dart; what seem'd his head, The likeness of a kingly crown had on. Satan was now at hand, and from his seat The monster moving onward came as fast, With horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. 660 Vex'd] Dulichios vexasse rates.' Bentl. MS. 675 665 labouring moon] See Ovid. Metam. iv. 333. and Stat. Theo. ver. 687. 'Siderum labores.' v. Plin. N. Hist. lib. ii. c. x. p. 162, ed. Brotier. Casimir Sarb. Lyr. ii. v. 'Soli et lunæ labores.' 672 And shook] 'His dart anon out of the corpse he took, And in his hand, a dreadful sight to see, With great triumph eftsones the same he shook.' See Sackville's Int. to Mirror for Mag. p. 266, ed. 1610. 676 hell] And made hell gates to shiver with the might.' Sackville's Introd. p. 265. Th' undaunted fiend what this might be admir'd; 680 685 Whence and what art thou, execrable shape, That dar'st, though grim and terrible, advance Thy miscreated front athwart my way To yonder gates? through them I mean to pass, That be assur'd without leave ask'd of thee. Retire, or taste thy folly, and learn by proof, Hell-born, not to contend with spirits of heav'n. To whom the goblin full of wrath replied. Art thou that traitor-angel, art thou he, Who first broke peace in heaven and faith, till then Unbroken, and in proud rebellious arms Drew after him the third part of heaven's sons Conjur'd against the Highest; for which both thou And they, outcast from GOD, are here condemn'd To waste eternal days in woe and pain? And reckon'st thou thyself with spirits of heav'n, Hell-doom'd, and breath'st defiance here and scorn, Where I reign king, and, to enrage thee more, Thy king and lord? Back to thy punishment, 691 695 679 Created] See Wakefield's Lucretius, lib. i. 117, and Sylva Critica, v. p. 74, where this phrase is illustrated. 683 miscreated] Spens. F. Q. i. ii. 3. 'miscreated fair.' ii. vii. 42. 'miscreated mould.' Bentl. 692 Drew] 'He boldly drew millions of souls.' See Beaumont's Psyche, c. xv. st. 296. 693 Conjur'd] Virg. Geo. 1. 280. 'Et conjuratos cœlum rescindere fratres.' Hume. |