Servant of Servants, on his vitious Race.
Just awful. Here Milton (along with the Bible) sets up a hierarchy among humans based on race. The Bible has this story in Genesis 9:25-27KJV---"And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."
Tyrannie must be, [ 95 ] Though to the Tyrant thereby no excuse
Here, rulers are seen as necessary by God because of humanity's unrestrained passions. This echoes St. Paul's concept in Romans 13:1 RSV--"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God."
said God
An interesting shift in persons. Above, the Son is creating. Does "God" here refer to the Son (the Father creating through the Son) or does it refer to God the Father?
Silence, ye troubl'd waves, and thou Deep, peace, Said then th' Omnific Word, your discord end:
Here we see the Son does the creating instead of God the Father.
And by my Word, begotten Son, by thee This I perform, speak thou, and be it don
Here Milton incorporates the Soo as creator rather than the Father. This links to the Gospel of John: "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being" (John 1:3 RSV). The Son does tiis in VII:116-231.
His crime makes guiltie all his Sons
This is the God of mercy?
Hell her numbers full, Thenceforth shall be for ever shut. Mean while The World shall burn,
Doesn't sound like a God of merch.
once more I will renew [ 175 ] His lapsed power
Big deal. It didn't work the first, why should it work in the future?
if I foreknew, Foreknowledge had no influence on their fault, Which had no less prov'd certain unforeknown.
I think Milton dropped the ball here. He simply states that foreknowledge doesn't contradict the humans' free will. But he doesn't explain how that can be.
whom no bounds Prescrib'd, no barrs of Hell, nor all the chains Heapt on him there,
So God is NOT all powerful, or omnipotent as the Son claims (372)
Each at the Head Level'd his deadly aime; thir fatall hands No second stroke intend, and such a frown Each cast at th' other, as when two black Clouds With Heav'ns Artillery fraught, come rattling on [ 715 ] Over the Caspian, then stand front to front Hov'ring a space, till Winds the signal blow To join thir dark Encounter in mid air: So frownd the mighty Combatants, that Hell Grew darker at thir frown, so matcht they stood; [ 720 ] For never but once more was either like To meet so great a foe:
Fearlessness of a warrior
through them I mean to pass
Intention worthy of a hero.
Than Hells dread Emperour with pomp Supream, [ 510 ] And God-like imitated State;
Shows Satan as noble: pomp and god-likeness
But I should ill become this Throne, O Peers, [ 445 ] And this Imperial Sov'ranty, adorn'd With splendor, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd And judg'd of public moment, in the shape Of difficulty or danger could deterr Mee from attempting.
These lines do show a sort of nobleness: Satan says he doesn't deserve his high position if he lack the courage to face the dangers involved.
The stedfast Earth. At last his Sail-broad Vannes He spreads for flight, and in the surging smoak Uplifted spurns the ground, thence many a League As in a cloudy Chair ascending rides [ 930 ] Audacious, but that seat soon failing, meets A vast vacuitie: all unawares Fluttring his pennons vain plumb down he drops Ten thousand fadom deep, and to this hour Down had been falling, had not by ill chance [ 935 ] The strong rebuff of som tumultuous cloud Instinct with Fire and Nitre hurried him As many miles aloft: that furie stay'd, Quencht in a Boggy Syrtis, neither Sea, Nor good dry Land: nigh founderd on he fares, [ 940 ] Treading the crude consistence, half on foot, Half flying; behoves him now both Oare and Saile. As when a Gryfon through the Wilderness With winged course ore Hill or moarie Dale, Pursues the Arimaspian, who by stelth [ 945 ] Had from his wakeful custody purloind The guarded Gold: So eagerly the fiend Ore bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare, With head, hands, wings, or feet pursues his way, And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flyes
In this passage, Satan seems almost comic: he’s blown up and down, files, swims wades, and crawls.
I know thee not, nor ever saw till now Sight more detestable then him and thee.
Again, Satan appears ridiculous. Doesn't recognize his daughter with whom he lay and sired the son he is now about to battle.
For since no deep within her gulf can hold Immortal vigor, though opprest and fall'n, I give not Heav'n for lost. From this descent Celestial vertues rising, will appear [ 15 ] More glorious and more dread then from no fall, And trust themselves to fear no second fate: Mee though just right, and the fixt Laws of Heav'n Did first create your Leader, next free choice, With what besides, in Counsel or in Fight, [ 20 ] Hath bin achievd of merit, yet this loss Thus farr at least recover'd, hath much more Establisht in a safe unenvied Throne Yielded with full consent. The happier state In Heav'n, which follows dignity, might draw [ 25 ] Envy from each inferior; but who here Will envy whom the highest place exposes Formost to stand against the Thunderers aim Your bulwark, and condemns to greatest share Of endless pain? where there is then no good [ 30 ] For which to strive, no strife can grow up there From Faction; for none sure will claim in Hell Precedence, none, whose portion is so small Of present pain, that with ambitious mind Will covet more.
In lines 12-16 he has a silly argument that he and his angels will be more powerful because of their fall. He further mentions his impregnable glory because no on would want his throne with all of its suffering.
Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue Vain Warr with Heav'n, and by success untaught His proud imaginations thus displaid
I’m starting here for the Module 3 annotation and am listing here where my other annotations will be. Here are some passages that show Satan as “ridiculous.” In lines 7-10, we see that he hasn’t learned his lesson and is driven by hubris.. Further, his arguments seem silly: he and his crew will be even more powerful after their fall than before (lines 12-16). He then argues that in Heaven his position was enviable and thus vulnerable, but in Hell his position is safe because no one would envy his suffering, a silly argument (lines 11-33). In lines 744-745 he fails to recognize his daughter/lover and his son. Lines 927-954 are amusing: he’s blown up and down, files, swims wades, and crawls.
Other places of Book Two show Satan to be more heroic. He shows some courage in volunteering to leave in search of the humans and endure the dangers of the trip (lines 445-456). He also looks noble when the council breaks up, he shows pomp and god-likeness (510-511). He shows courage and will in intending to go through the Gates (lines 684-685, 711-722).