And the third sacred morn began to shine,

Dawning through Heaven. Forth rush'd with whirlwind sound

The chariot of Paternal Deity,

750

Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,

the

Ver. 748. And the third sacred morn &c.] Milton, by continuing the war for three days, and reserving the victory upon third for the Messiah alone, plainly alludes to the circumstances of his death and resurrection. Our Saviour's extreme sufferings on the one hand, and his heroick behaviour on the other, made the contest seem to be more equal and doubtful upon the first day; and on the second Satan triumphed in the advantages he thought he had gained, when Christ lay buried in the earth, and was to outward appearance in an irrecoverable state of corruption: But as the poet represents the Almighty Father speaking to his Son, ver. 699.

"Two days are therefore past, the third is thine;
"For thee I have ordain'd it; and thus far

"Have suffer'd, that the glory may be thine

"Of ending this great war, since none but Thou
"Can end it."

Which he most gloriously did, when the third sacred morn began to shine, by vanquishing with his own almighty arm the powers of Hell, and rising again from the grave: and thus, as St. Paul says, Rom. i. 4, "He was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." GREENWOOD.

Ibid.

sacred morn began to shine,] Homer, Il. xi.

84. αέξετο ἱερὸν ἦμαρ, BowLE.

Ver. 749.

Forth rush'd with whirlwind sound The chariot &c.] Ezek. i. 4. "And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself:" Or perhaps Milton here drew Isaiah likewise to his assistance, lxvi. 15. “ For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind." NEWTON.

Ver. 751.

wheel within wheel undrawn, &c.]

Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoy'd

By four Cherubick shapes; four faces each
Had wonderous; as with stars, their bodies all
And wings were set with eyes; with eyes the wheels 755
Of beryl, and careering fires between ;

Over their heads a crystal firmament,

As in Ezek. i. 5, 16, 19, 20. “ Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, and their appearance was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel: And, when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels." NEWTON.

"And

Had wonderous; &c.] As in Ezek. i. 6. every one had four faces." Again, ch. x. 12. " And their whole body, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes round about." NEWTON.

Ver. 755.

the wheels

Of beryl, and careering fires between ;] The beryl is a precious stone of a sea-green colour, and careering fires are lightnings darting out by fits, a metaphor taken from the running in tilts See Ezek. i. 16, and 13. "The appearance of wheels and their work was like a beryl: And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning." NEWTON.

Milton has again described this part of the prophetick vision, and with additional sublimity, ver. 848.

"One Spirit in them rul'd, and every eye

"Glar'd lightning, and shot forth pernicious fire

This is like the bold and tremendous painting of Eschylus, Prom. Vinct. v. 356, edit. Schütz.

Ἐξ ὀμμάτων δ' ἤστραπτε γοργωπὸν σέλας. TopD.

Ver. 757. Over their heads a crystal firmament, &c.] See Ezek. i. 22, 26, 27, 28. "And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creatures, was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above: And

Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure.
Amber, and colours of the showery arch.
He, in celestial panoply all arm'd

760

Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought,
Ascended; at his right hand Victory

Sat eagle-winged; beside him hung his bow

above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness
of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: And I saw
as the colour of amber, as the appearance of the bow that is in
the cloud in the day of rain." NEWTON.

Ver. 760. He, in celestial panoply &c.] An allusion to Ephes.
vi. 11. "Put on the whole armour (ñavoñλlav) of God;" and to
the contexture of gems in Aaron's breast-plate, Exod. xxviii. See
also the notes, v. 527. Fenton reads, and points the two preced-
ing lines as follows:

"Where, on a sapphire throne, (inlaid with pure
"Amber, and colours of the showery arch)

"He, in celestial panoply" &c. TODD.

Ver. 762.

at his right hand Victory

Sat eagle-wing'd;] Victory is thus personified by

Shakspeare, Rich. III. A. v. S. 3.

"Victory sits on our helms."

And by Beaumont and Fletcher, who join the epithet winged:
in the False One:

"the tent, on which wing'd Victory

"Shall make a certain stand."-

The same phrase is employed in their Prophetess, A. iv. S. 4. And
in. Sylvester's Du Bartas, P. 4. D. 3. W. 2.

"Winged Victory

"Shaking her laurels.".

The expressive epithet eagle-winged is applied by Shakspeare to
the "pride of sky-aspiring and ambitious thoughts,” K. Rich. II.
A. i. S. 3. TODD..

And quiver with three-bolted thunder stor❜d;
And from about him fierce effusion roll'd
Of smoke, and bickering flame, and sparkles dire:
Attended with ten thousand thousand Saints,
He onward came; far off his coming shone;
And twenty thousand (I their number heard)
Chariots of God, half on each hand, were seen;
He on the wings of Cherub rode sublime
On the crystalline sky, in sapphire thron'd,

Ver. 764.

765

770

with three-bolted thunder stor'd ;] So, in

his Epigram, In inventorem bombardæ.

"Et trifidum fulmen surripuisse Jovi." TODD.

Ver. 765. And from about him fierce effusion roll'd

Of smoke, and bickering flame, &c.] A furious tempest pouring forth smoke and fighting flame round about him. Bickering, fighting and thence destroying, of the Welsh bicre, a combat. See Psalm xviii. 8. “There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured." And Psalm 1. 3. "A fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." HUME.

See the expression of Tryphiodorus, noticed by Merrick, μapváμevov up. And observe also Milton's own explanation of the word bickering, in his Eiconoclastes, ch. iv. "If they discover not withal the true reason why he departed, only to turn his slashing at the court-gate to slaughtering in the field; his disorderly bickering into an orderly invading." TODD.

66

Ver. 767. Attended with ten thousand thousand Saints, &c.] See S. Jude, 14. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Saints." Psalm lxviii. 17. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand." Rev. vii. 4. "I heard the number of them.” Let it be remarked how much of his sublimity, even in the sublimest part of his works, Milton owes to Scripture. NEWTON.

Ver. 771. He on the wings of Cherub rode] See Psalm xviii. 10. "He rode upon a Cherub" &c. GREENWOOD.

Illustrious far and wide; but by his own
First seen: Them unexpected joy surpris'd,
When the great ensign of Messiah blaz'd
Aloft by Angels borne, his sign in Heaven;
Under whose conduct Michael soon reduc'd

His army, circumfus'd on either wing,

775

780

Under their Head imbodied all in one.
Before him Power Divine his way prepar'd;
At his command the uprooted hills retir'd
Each to his place; they heard his voice, and went
Obsequious; Heaven his wonted face renew'd,
And with fresh flowerets hill and valley smil'd.
This saw his hapless foes, but stood obdur'd,
And to rebellious fight rallied their Powers,
Insensate, hope conceiving from despair.

Ver. 776.

probably. GREENWOOD.

785

his sign] The sign of the cross

Matt. xxiv. 30. "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven." GILLIES.

Ver. 779. Under their Head] See Rom. xii. 5. many, are one body in Christ." And Col. i. 18. Head of the body." GREENWOOD.

"We, being

"He is the

Ver. 781. At his command &c.] We frequently read in the Scriptures of hills and mountains trembling, and moving, at the presence or the command of the Lord: But it is generally, if not always, mentioned as the effect or proof of his high displeasure. Here the poet lays hold of the same thought, and applies it as an instance of his great goodness, to renew the wonted face of Heaven. GREENWOOD.

Ver. 782.

they heard his voice, and went

Obsequious;] Habakk. iii. 6. "The everlasting mountains were scattered; the perpetual hills did bow." TODD.

Ver. 787.

hope conceiving from despair.] Imitated