Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheld'st, 820 825 No sooner he with them of man and beast 830 881 horned] See Browne's Britan. Past. ii. p. 190. 'And now the horned flood bore to our isle.' Hor. Od. iv. 14. 25. 'Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus.' and Virg. Geo. iv. 371. Æn. viii. 77. 885 haunt] Virg. Æn. V. 128. 'Apricis statio gratissima mergis.' Hom. Hymn. Apoll. 77. Πουλύποδες δ' ἐν ἐμοὶ θαλάμας, φῶκαί τε μέλαιναι, 885 clang] Hom. Il. iii. 3. Stat. Theb. v. 15, xii. 515. Cum videre Pharon; tunc æthera latius implent To teach thee that God attributes to place 839 He look'd, and saw the ark hull on the flood, His sluices, as the heaven his windows shut. 852 840 hull] v. Donne's Poems, p. 316. xxxi. A great ship overset, or without saile hulling.' Queen Elizabeth's Tear, by C. Lever, 1607, 4to. F. 2. 'Hulling upon the river where she lay.' Sandys's Psalms, p. 181. The ship hulls, as the billows flow.' 847 tripping] Drayton applies this word to the flow of rivers: Polyolb. Song xiii. The Avon trips along;' xv. 'The Isis from her source comes tripping with delight;' and xxvi. 'Darwin from her fount comes tripping down towards Trent.' Todd. 848 soft foot] See Drakenborch's Note on Sil. Italicus, vi. 140. p. 298. Lucret. v. 274. 'Liquido pede,' with Wakefield's Note, and Jer. Taylor's Sermon on Lady Carbery, fol. p. 169. 852 tops] Backs. vii. 206. Bentl. MS. With clamour thence the rapid currents drive A dove, sent forth once and again to spy Anon dry ground appears, and from his ark 855 860 865 870 875 Ọ thou, who future things canst represent As present, heav'nly instructor, I revive At this last sight, assur'd that man shall live With all the creatures, and their seed preserve. Far less I now lament for one whole world Of wicked sons destroy'd, than I rejoice For one man found so perfect and so just, That God vouchsafes to raise another world From him, and all his anger to forget. But say, what mean those colour'd streaks in heav'n, Distended as the brow of God appeas'd? Or serve they as a flow'ry verge to bind 880 brow] Fenton proposed to read 'The bow of God.' 880 The fluid skirts of that same wat❜ry cloud, To whom th' archangel. Dextrously thou aim'st; So willingly doth God remit his ire, 885 891 Though late repenting him of man deprav'd, 896 886 late] Fenton placed a comma after 'late,' but Bentley removed it, and gave the line agreeably to Milton's own editions. 1 260 PARADISE LOST. BOOK XII. THE ARGUMENT. THE angel Michael continues from the flood to relate what shall succeed; then, in the mention of Abraham, comes by degrees to explain, who that seed of the woman shall be, which was promised Adam and Eve in the fall; his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension; the state of the church till his second coming. Adam, greatly satisfied, and recomforted by these relations and promises, descends the hill with Michael; wakens Eve, who all this while had slept, but with gentle dreams composed to quietness of mind and submission. Michael in either hand leads them out of Paradise, the fiery sword waving behind them, and the Cherubim taking their stations to guard the place. As one who in his journey bates at noon, 1 As one] When the last book was divided into two, in the second edition, these first five lines were added. |