340 Albert S. Cook, 



airy region. Probabl}' a reminiscence of Shakespeare, R.and J. 

 2. 2. 21. Cf. the (st/iena plaga of Virgil, ^n. 1. 394; 9. 638, and 

 the aerios tr actus of Culex 22. Jebb translates l^y cvtlieris in p lag is. 



106. its. Only here and P.L. 1. 254; 4. 813 (Verity). 

 last fulfilling-. Pleonastic. 



107. such harmony alone. Either, ' such harmony without assist- 

 ance ' or, ' nothing but such harmony.' If the first, then the mean- 

 ing would be : ' Were this harmony to be continued, Nature's assist- 

 ance would be superfluous ' : but this would fail to take account of 

 the comparative in ' happier.' If the second, it would mean : ' No 

 other agency could effect a union superior to the present,' which 

 might imply that Nature's rule would then be positively detrimental. 

 This, however, would be to ignore the harmony of the spheres (cf. 

 131), which must be included within the scope of Nature. 



Jel:)b renders : 



Nee postulari iam sua foedera 

 Ut terra cum ca^lo iugetur, 

 Quos melius iuget ille cautus. 



110. globe. This carries a connotation of the Latin globus, in 

 the sense of compact troop, as in Virgil, j^n. 10. 373. This sense 

 is found in P.L. 2. 512 ; P.R. 4. 581. Fletcher had employed it nine- 

 teen years before, in his Christ's Victory : ' A globe of winged angels.' 

 Another example is later (1648), and is by Joseph Beaumont, Psyche 

 7. 217: 



Behold, a sudden globe of pliant Light 

 Into a stranger apparition parted : 



A numerous quire of Angels we descry'd. 



circular. If this means ' spherical,' it seems superfluous ; but 

 can it have the usual sense of circular ? Jebb renders by solis instar : 

 Mox solis instar suspicientibus 

 Afi^ulget orbis flammifer. 



But it is hard to reconcile this with Milton's words, or even to im- 

 agine it. Does it not mean that the whole dome of the sky is 

 filled with angels, rank above rank ? 



111. long beams. Cf. Com. 340: 'thy long levelled rule of 

 streaming light.' 



night arrayed. Cf. Mantuan, Opera 1. 73 a: 



Nam jubar immensum coelo deduxerat infans. 

 Illustrique die noctis disjecerat umbram. 



