T and cursorily proposed by him in the following Lines No. 309, of the first Book, Space may produce new Worlds, whereof so rife A Generation, whom his choice regard Celestial Spirits in bondage, nor th' Abyss It is on this Project that Beelzebub grounds his What if we find Some easier Enterprize? There is a Place In Power and Excellence, but favour'd more Pronounc'd among the Gods, and by an Oath, That shook Heav'n's whole Circumference, confirm'd. The Reader may observe how just it was, not to omit in the first Book the Project upon which the whole Poem turns: As also that the Prince of the fall'n Angels was the only proper Person to give it Birth, and that the next to him in Dignity was the fittest to second and support it. There is besides, I think, something wonderfully beautiful, and very apt to affect the Reader's Imagina tion, in this antient Prophecy or Report in Heaven, concerning the Creation of Man. Nothing could shew more the Dignity of the Species, than this Tradition which ran of them before their Existence, They are represented to have been the Talk of Heaven, before they were created. Virgil in compliment to the Roman Common-wealth, makes the Heroes of it appear in their State of Pre-existence; but Milton does a far greater Honour to Mankind in general, as he gives us a Glimpse of them even before they are in Being. The Saturday, Feb. 23, 1712, No. 309, The rising of this great Assembly is described in a Saturday, very sublime and poetical Manner, Feb. 23, 1712. Their rising all at once was as the sound Of Thunder heard remote The Diversions of the fallen Angels, with the par tícular Account of their Place of Habitation, are described with great Pregnancy of Thought, and Copiousness of Invention. The Diversions are every way suitable to Beings who had Nothing left them but Strength and Knowledge misapplied. Such are their Contentions at the Race, and in Feats of Arms, with their Enter tainment in the following Lines. Others with vast Typhæan Rage more fell Rend up both Rocks and Hills and ride the Air In Whirlwind, Hell scarce holds the wild uproar, Their Musick is employed in celebrating their own criminal Exploits, and their Discourse in founding the unfathomable Depths of Fate, Free-will, and Fore Knowledge, The several Circumstances in the Description of Hell are very finely imagined; as the four Rivers which disgorge themselves into the Sea of Fire, the Extreams of Cold and Heat, and the River of Oblivion The monstrous Animals produced in that infernal World are represented by a single Line, which gives us a more horrid Idea of them, than a much longer Description would have done, Nature breeds, Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious Things, Than Fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceiv'd, This Episode of the fallen Spirits, and their Place of Habitation, comes in very happily to unbend the Mind of the Reader from its Attention to the Debate. An ordinary Poet would indeed have spun out so many Circumstances to a great Length, and by that Means have weakned, instead of illustrated, the prin cipal Fable. The The Flight of Satan to the Gates of Hell is finely No. 309. imaged. Saturday, 1712. I have already declared my Opinion of the Allegory Feb. 23, concerning Sin and Death, which is however a very finished Piece in its Kind, when it is not considered as Part of an Epic Poem, The Genealogy of the several Persons is contrived with great Delicacy. Sin is the Daughter of Satan, and Death the Offspring of Sin. The incestuous Mixture between Sin and Death produces those Monsters and Hell-hounds which from Time to Time enter into their Mother, and tear the Bowels of her who gave them Birth. These are the Terrors of an evil Conscience, and the proper Fruits of Sin, which naturally rise from the Apprehensions of Death. This last beautiful Moral is, I think, clearly intimated in the Speech of Sin, where complaining of this her dreadful Issue, she adds, Before mine Eyes in Opposition sits Grim Death thy Son and Foe, who sets them on I need not mention to the Reader the beautiful Circumstance in the last Part of this Quotation. He will likewise observe how naturally the three Persons concerned in this Allegory are tempted by one common Interest to enter into a Confederacy together, and how properly Sin is made the Portress of Hell, and the only Being that can open the Gates to that World of Tortures, The descriptive Part of this Allegory is likewise very strong, and full of sublime Ideas. The Figure of Death, the Regal Crown upon his Head, his Menace to Satan, his advancing to the Combat, the Outcry at his Birth, are Circumstances too noble to be past over in Silence, and extreamly suitable to this King of Terrors. I need not Mention the Justness of Thought which is observed in the Generation of these several Symbolical Persons, that Sin was produced upon the first Revolt of Satan, that Death appeared soon after he was cast into Hell, and that the Terrors of Conscience were No. 309, were conceived at the Gate of this Place of Torments. Saturday, The Description of the Gates is very poetical, as the Feb. 23, opening of them is full of Milton's Spirit. 1712, -On a sudden open fly With impetuous recoil and jarring sound Excell'd her Pow'r the Gates wide open stood, Under spread Ensigns marching might pass through In Satan's Voyage through the Chaos there are several imaginary Persons described, as residing in that immense Waste of Matter. This may perhaps be conformable to the Taste of those Criticks who are pleased with Nothing in a Poet which has not Life and Manners ascribed to it; but for my own Part, 1 am pleased most with those Passages in this Description which carry in them a greater Measure of Probability, and are such as might possibly have happened. Of this Kind is his first Mounting in the Smoak, that rises from the infernal Pit, his falling into a Cloud of Nitre, and the like combustible Materials, that by their Explosion still hurried him forward in his Voyage; his springing upward like a Pyramid of Fire, with his laborious Passage through that Confusion of Elements, which the Poet calls The Womb of Nature, and perhaps her Grave. The Glimmering Light which shot into the Chaos from the utmost Verge_of the Creation, with the distant Discovery of the Earth that hung close by the Moon, are wonderfully Beautiful and Poetical L Monday I 'Mr. SPECTATOR, AM a certain young Woman, that love a certain young Man very heartily; and my Father and Mother were for it a great While, but now they say I can do better, but I think I cannot. They bid me love him, and I cannot unlove him. What must I do? quickly, 'Dear SPEC. Speak Biddy Doughbake.' Feb. 19, 1712, I have lov'd a Lady entirely for this Year and Half, tho' for a great Part of the Time (which has con tributed not a little to my Pain) I have been debarred the Liberty of conversing with her. The Grounds of our Difference was this; That when we had enquired into each other's Circumstances, we found that at our first setting out into the World_we should owe five hundred Pounds more than her Fortune would pay off. My Estate is seven hundred Pounds Year, besides the Benefit of Tin-Mines. Now, dear SPEC upon this State of the Case, and the Lady's positive Declaration that there is still no other Objection, I beg you'll not fail to insert this, with your Opinion, as soon as possibly, whether this ought to be esteemed a just Cause or Impediment why we should not be join'd; and you will for ever oblige Yours sincerely, Dick Lovesick, P. S. Sir, if I marry this Lady by the Assistance of your Opinion, you may expect a Favour for it' 'Mr. SPECTATOR, I have the Misfortune to be one of those unhappy Men who are distinguished by the Name of discarded Lovers; but I am the less mortified at my Disgrace, because the young Lady is one of those Creatures who set up for Negligence of Men, are forsooth the most rigidly 1712, |
