The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

by John Milton

  1. baits of travellers: stops at an inn (OED 7).

  7. second stock Noah, but glancing too at Christ, in whom believers were ‘ingrafted’. See iii 293n.

  24. one Nimrod (identified obliquely in lines 30 and 36).

  30–32. Hunting… tyrannous Cp. Gen. 10. 8–10: ‘Nimrod… began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord…. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel’. Nimrod was the archetypal tyrant. M. in Eikonoklastes (1649) calls him ‘the first King’ (YP 3. 598) and John Vicars in God in the Mount (1646) praises Cromwell for resisting ‘the mighty Nimrods and hunting Furies of our time’ (273). Even Salmasius admitted that kingship began with Nimrod, who won his power by ‘arms’ (see YP 4. 1027).

  34. Before the Lord M. offers two possible interpretations of the phrase (Gen. 10. 9). Either Nimrod openly defied God (in despite of Heav’n) or he claimed divine right (second sov’reignty), like the Stuart kings.

  36. rebellion… name An ancient (but false) etymology derived ‘Nimrod’ from Hebrew marad, ‘to rebel’. M. often employs the paradox that kings are rebels. Cp. ‘rebel king’ (i 484) and ‘rebel Thrones’ (vi 199). In TKM M. calls Charles I a ‘rebell to Law’ (YP 3. 230).

  38–62. See Gen. 11. 1–9 on the Tower of Babel. Genesis does not say that Nimrod built the tower, though it associates him with Babel (10. 10). Josephus first made Nimrod responsible for the Confusion (Antiquities I iv 2).

  41. *gurge whirlpool (coined from Latin gurges).

  42. mouth of Hell Cp. Sylvester, DWW (1592–1608), Babilon (1598): ‘there, for their firme foundations / They digg to hell’ (154–5).

  43. cast determine (OED 44), scheme (OED 43), and throw (anything fluid) into a particular shape (OED 49).

  45. get themselves a name Cp. Gen. 11. 4: ‘And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth’. Name means ‘reputation’ but also suggests the proper names ‘Nimrod’ and ‘Babel’, to which Michael alludes in lines 36 and 62. Cp. the devils who ‘got them new names’ (i 365).

  52. in derision Cp. Ps. 2. 4: ‘the Lord shall have them in derision’.

  53. various *‘calculated to cause difference’ (OED 5b).

  55. jangling noise Cp. Sylvester, DWW (1592–1608), Babilon (1598): ‘Through all the worke… A jangling noyse’ (190–91).

  56–60. gabble… hubbub The nonsense words suggest ‘Babel’, but M. avoids the obvious pun ‘babble’. ‘Hubbub’ was a Gaelic interjection of contempt (OED), so the builders (like the metamorphosed devils) cast scorn ‘on themselves from their own mouths’ (x 546).

  62. Confusion named Cp. Gen. 11. 9: ‘Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth’. Babel (Babylon) means ‘gate of the gods’ but was punningly related to Hebrew balal, ‘confound’. See Josephus, Antiquities (I iv 3) and A.V. marginal gloss.

  81. affecting aspiring.

  82–101. yet know… inward lost Michael roots political in psychological servitude. The whole passage implicitly blames the English people for capitulating to monarchy in 1660. Cp. SA 268–71.

  84. right reason conscience, planted by God in all men.

  85. dividual separate, distinct.

  101. irreverent son Ham, who looked on the nakedness of his drunken father, Noah. Noah then cursed Ham’s son Canaan and all his descendants: ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren’ (Gen. 9. 25).

  104. vicious depraved.

  race descendants (OED 1), tribe (OED 2b). OED records ‘one of the great divisions of mankind’ only from 1774, so M. is probably thinking of the Canaanites rather than black Africans (who were also classed among Ham’s descendants). But Noah’s curse was used to justify black slavery and M. is untroubled by the persecution of ‘Slaves and Negro’s’ in Of Reformation (YP 1. 617).

  111. peculiar specially chosen. Cp. Deut. 14. 2: ‘the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself’.

  113. one faithful man Abraham. Lines 113–63 are based on Gen. 11. 27–25. 10.

  115. Bred up in idol-worship Abraham’s father Terah ‘served other gods’ (Josh. 24. 2).

  117. the patriarch Noah, who lived for 350 years after the Flood (Gen. 9. 28).

  119. their own work in wood and stone Cp. Jeremiah’s scorn for those who say ‘to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth’ (Jer. 2. 27). M. now gives no hint that pagan gods were devils (cp. i 365–75).

  125–6. seed… blest Cp. Gen. 12. 3: ‘in thee shall all families of the earth be blest’. At line 148 Michael connects God’s promise with the Messiah.

  127. Not knowing… believes Cp. Heb. 11. 8: ‘By faith Abraham… went out, not knowing whither he went’.

  130. Ur a city on the west bank of the Euphrates.

  131. Haran a city east of the Euphrates, north-west of Ur.

  132. servitude slaves and servants.

  139–45. From… eastward The Promised Land is bounded to the north by Hamath, a city on the Orontes (Num. 34. 8, Josh. 13. 5), to the south by the desert of Zin (Num. 34. 3), to the west by the Mediterranean (Num. 34. 6), and to the east by the Jordan (Num. 34. 12) or Mount Herman (Josh. 13–5).

  140. names… yet unnamed Cp. Virgil, Aen. vi 776: ‘Names to be heard for places nameless now’.

  144. Mount Carmel on the Mediterranean, near modern Haifa.

  double-founted M. follows an incorrect tradition that the Jordan springs from two streams, named ‘Jor’ and ‘Dan’.

  146. Senir a peak of Mount Hermon, depicted on seventeenth-century maps as a ridge.

  152. faithful Abraham italicized in Ed I, perhaps (as Flannagan notes) to emphasize a phrase instituted by God at Gal. 3. 9. God renames Abram at Gen. 17. 5: ‘Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee’. Cp. Gen. 12. 2: ‘I will bless thee, and make thy name great’. ‘Abraham’ is the first personal name Michael has revealed.

  153. son Isaac.

  grandchild Jacob.

  160. younger son Joseph (see Gen. 45–6).

  161–96. As at i 306–7, M. identifies the Pharaoh of Exod. 1 (who enslaved the Israelites) with the Pharaoh of Exod. 14 (who pursued them).

  165. Suspected to mistrusted by (OED 1b).

  sequent successive (to Joseph’s Pharaoh) and pursuing (Moses). Latin sequor could mean ‘pursue’.

  166. overgrowth too rapid growth.

  inmate foreign (OED 1b).

  168. kills their infant males Exod. 1. 16–22.

  173. denies refuses.

  179. murrain cattle plague.

  180. Botches boils, tumours.

  blains pustules.

  188. Palpable darkness See ii 406n.

  190. ten wounds the ten plagues (Exod. 7–12).

  191. The]Ed II; This Ed I.

  river-dragon Pharaoh is called ‘the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers’ at Ezek. 29. 3. Cp. Satan as dragon (x 529) and Leviathan (i 201).

  197. two crystal walls Cp. Exod. 14. 22: ‘the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left’. Cp. also vii 293 (‘crystal wall’) and M.’s version of Ps. 136 (line 49): ‘walls of glass’. Sylvester in DWW (1592–1608), The Lawe (1606) describes the Red Sea dividing into ‘walls of cristall’ (690).

  199. *rescued OED’s earliest participial instance.

  200. saint holy person (Moses).

  202–3. Before… fire Exod. 13. 21–4. M.’s view that God was present in his angel, not in his own person, is based on Exod. 33. 2–4. See further CD i 5 (YP 6. 254).

  205–13. king pursues… waves return Exod. 14. 23–31. Cp. i 306–11.

  207. defends repels, prevents (OED 1, 2).

  210. craze shatter (OED 1).

  214. war *soldiers in fighting array (OED 6b).

  216. not the readiest
way M.’s explanation for the Israelites’ detour through the desert (lasting thirty-eight years) is from Exod. 13. 17–18.

  217. alarmed called to arms.

  225. great senate the Seventy Elders (Exod. 24. 1–9, Num. 11. 16–30). M. in REW exalts ‘the supreme councel of seaventie call’d the Sanhedrim’ as a model republican government (YP 7. 436).

  227–30. God… laws Exod. 19. 16–20.

  232. types any person, event or object in the O.T. prefiguring a Christian counterpart. Cp. Heb. 8 and see below, 238–44n.

  236–8. they beseech… terror cease Cp. Exod. 20. 19: ‘Speak thou with us and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die’.

  238. what they besought] Ed II; them their desire, Ed I.

  238–44. Moses is a type or figure of Christ in his office as mediator. See Deut. 18. 15–19, Acts 3. 22 and cp. CD i 15: ‘the office of mediator is also ascribed to Moses, as a type of Christ’ (trans. Carey, YP 6. 431).

  247. tabernacle See Exod. 25–6 and Heb. 9.

  255. as in a zodiac Josephus says the candlestick had seven lamps in imitation of the seven planets (Antiquities III vi 7).

  256–8. over the tent… journey Exod. 40. 34–8.

  263–7. the sun… overcome When Joshua defeated the Amorites he said: ‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies’ (Josh. 10. 12–13). Gibeon and Aialon were a few miles north of Jerusalem.

  264. adjourn The context (a day) invites a play on French jour.

  267. the third Jacob, named Israel (‘he wrestles with God’) at Gen. 32. 28.

  274. eyes true op’ning Contrast the false eye-openings of ix 708, 875, 985, 1071, x 1053, xi 412. True is an adverb (OED C).

  277. His day Adam means ‘Abraham’s day’, but M.’s voice behind him alludes to John 8. 56: ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day’. When asked if he had seen Abraham, Jesus replied: ‘Before Abraham was, I am’ (8. 58). Adam will learn the meaning of Abraham’s seed (273) at xii 446–50.

  287. evince make evident (OED 5). ‘Overcome’ (OED 1) is a momentary possibility, but it cannot survive line 290 (law can reveal sin, but not remove it). Cp. Rom. 3. 20: ‘by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin’.

  288. natural pravity Original Sin (theological term).

  291–2. shadowy… goats Cp. Heb. 10. 4: ‘it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins’. Blood sacrifices under the law were ‘a shadow of good things to come’ (Heb. 10. 1).

  293. blood more precious I Pet. 1. 18.

  294. Just for unjust I Pet. 3. 18.

  295. imputed attributed vicariously (OED 2, theological term).

  297–8. law… Cannot appease Cp. Gal. 2. 16: ‘A man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ’.

  301. resign make over, yield up (OED 2).

  307–10. not Moses… Joshua Deut. 34, Josh. 1. Cp. CD i 26: ‘The imperfection of the law was made apparent in the person of Moses himself. For Moses, who was a ‘type’ of the law, could not lead the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, that is, into eternal rest. But an entrance was granted to them under Joshua, that is, Jesus’ (trans. Carey, YP 6. 519).

  310. Joshua… Jesus ‘Jesus’ is the Greek equivalent of ‘Joshua’ (‘saviour’). Thus the O.T. Joshua was a type of Christ. See above, 232n on typology.

  316. but except.

  319. he saves them penitent ambiguous, since penitent could mean ‘relenting’ (OED 2) and so modify he as well as them. OED cites the Douay Bible (1609): ‘Thou art our Lord, most highe, benigne, long-suffering, and very merciful, and penitent upon the wickednes of men’.

  322–4. promise… endure See II Sam. 7. 16 for Nathan’s promise to David: ‘thy throne shall be established for ever’.

  325–7. royal stock… son Messianic prophecies about David’s line are frequent in the O.T. (e.g. Isa. 11. 10, Ps. 89. 36) and are applied to Jesus in the N.T. (e.g. Luke 1. 32).

  329–30. of kings / The last M. in TKM (1649) argues that Christ’s kingship made other kings redundant (YP 3. 256).

  332. next son Solomon. See I Kings 5–8, II Chron. 2–4 on the Temple. The ark is clouded because God spoke from amidst clouds (Exod. 24. 16) and a cloud of glory filled the Temple when the ark was placed there (I Kings 8. 10).

  338. Heaped… sum ‘Added to the sum total of the people’s sins’.

  339–45. expose… seventy years See II Kings 25, II Chron. 36 and Jer. 39 on the Babylonian Captivity and the destruction of the Temple (sixth century BC). Jeremiah prophesied seventy years of captivity (Jer. 25. 12).

  348–50. Returned… re-edify The Persian kings Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes permitted the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple (Ezra, Neh. 1–6).

  349. disposed put into a favourable mood (OED 6).

  353–7. priests… sceptre The apocryphal II Mace. 4–6 tells how strife between the priests enabled the Seleucid King Antiochus IV to sack Jerusalem and pollute the Temple, which he dedicated to Zeus (169 BC). They (356) are the priestly dynasty of the Maccabees (Hasmoneans), one of whom, Aristobulus I, proclaimed himself king in 104 BC, becoming the first king since the Babylonian Captivity.

  357. sons descendants.

  358. stranger Antipater the Idumean. The Romans made him governor of Jerusalem in 61 BC and procurator of Judaea in 47 BC.He was Herod the Great’s father.

  364. solemn holy (OED 1), awe-inspiring (OED 7).

  367. *squadroned OED’s earliest participial instance.

  370–71. bound… Heav’ns Cp. Ps. 2. 8 (which was referred to Christ): ‘I shall give thee… the uttermost parts of the earth’. Christ’s reign on earth will last throughout the Millennium – the 1,000 years following his Second Coming (Rev. 20). See CD i 33 (YP 6. 623–4). Cp. also Virgil’s prophecy that Augustus will bound his ‘empire with Ocean, his glory with the stars’ (Aen. i 287).

  373. Surcharged overwhelmed (OED 4b) and weighed down with moisture (OED 3c). Cp. SA 728.

  379. virgin mother, hail Luke 1. 28. Cp. v 385–7, xi 158.

  383. capital on the head (OED 1), fatal (OED 2d).

  393. recure heal a wound (OED 2).

  394. destroying… works Cp. I John 3. 8: ‘For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil’.

  396. want lack.

  401. apaid satisfied.

  402. exact rigorous, strict (OED 4, 5) and perfect (OED 1).

  403–4. love… law Cp. Rom. 13. 10: ‘Love is the fulfilling of the law’.

  406. cursèd death Cp. Gal. 3.13 (citing Deut. 21.23): ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’.

  409. Imputed attributed vicariously (OED 2, theological term).

  410. though legal works ‘though their works accorded with the (Mosaic) law’. M. shared the general Protestant belief in Justification by Faith. See CD i 22.

  415–16. to the cross he nails… sins Col. 2. 14.

  419. satisfaction payment of penalty (theological term).

  422. stars of morn literal stars and angels. Cp. Job 38. 7: ‘the morning stars sang together’. Christ was also called ‘morning star’ (Rev. 22. 16), though Michael here presents the resurrected Son as a rising sun (dawning light).

  432. in… stings Cp. I Cor. 15. 55: ‘O death, where is thy sting?’ Flannagan notes that Sin’s sting returns to its source in Satan’s head. Cp. ii 752–8.

  433. temporal temporary (OED 1). M. believed that body and soul died and were resurrected together.

  442. profluent flowing. M. believed that baptism should be performed in running water (CD i 28, YP 6. 544).

  450. So… blest Michael now reveals the meaning of God’s promise to Abraham that all nations will be blessed in his seed (xii 277,
Gen. 12. 3). The seed is Christ. Cp. Gal. 3. 8: ‘the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed’.

  454. prince of air Satan is ‘prince of the power of the air’ at Eph. 2. 2 and is led captive ‘up on high’ at Eph. 4. 8. He is led in chains at Rev. 20. 1.

  460. quick living. The N.T. often speaks of judging ‘the quick and dead’ (e.g. Acts 10. 42, II Tim. 4. 1).

  467. period consummation, end (OED 5).

  469–78. O goodness… abound Much debated. Many hear Adam as articulating the paradox of the ‘Fortunate Fall’, but Adam says only that God’s bringing good out of evil is more wonderful than his bringing light out of darkness. He does not say that man will be more happy for sinning. Contrast Fletcher, CV (1610) iii 12: ‘Such joy we gained by our parentalls, / That good, or bad, whither I cannot wiss, / To call it a mishap, or happy miss / That fell from Eden, and to heav’n did rise’. M. never implies that the Fall is a precondition for man’s ascent to Heaven. Adam and Eve could have reached Heaven without sinning (see v 496–503, vii 155–61) and the Son could have become incarnate without man’s Fall (see v 839n and Danielson 215–27).

  469. immense unmeasured, infinite (OED 1).

  478. wrath… abound Cp. Rom. 5. 20: ‘Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’.

  486. Comforter the Holy Spirit (John 15. 26).

  488–9. law… love Rom. 3. 27, Gal. 5. 6.

  491–2. spiritual armour… fiery darts Cp. Eph. 6. 11–17: ‘Put on the whole armour of God… taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked’.

  493. What… afraid Cp. Ps. 56. 11: ‘In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid / What man can do unto me’.

  501. To speak all tongues Cp. Mark 16. 17 (‘they shall speak with new tongues’) and the fulfilment of this promise in Acts 2. 4–7.

  505. race well run A Pauline metaphor (I Cor. 9. 24, II Tim. 4. 1, etc.) used by M. in Areopagitica: ’the race, where that immortall garland is to be run for’ (YP 2. 515).

  508. grievous wolves Cp. Acts 20. 29: ‘For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock’. Cp. iv 183–7, Lycidas 113–31, and M.’s sonnet To the Lord General Cromwell 14.