gan
gan?
gan
gan?
thus renews
stopping place
Her
Why gendered female?
But thir spite still serves [ 385 ] His glory to augment.
Is this Milton speaking? Making a comment?
. Thus Beelzebub Pleaded his devilish Counsel, first devis'd By Satan, and in part propos'd
Why is Beelzebub making this suggestion and not Satan?
The former vain to hope argues as vain The latter
I'm not following the logic here. Former = Chance and Latter = Chaos. Is he saying that since it is vain (useless) to hope for Chance to overcome fate, then it is also van/useless to hope that Chaos judge the strife?
mould
Mould: Mold? Container used to hold and shape a substance?
could make the worse appear The better reason
sophistry
Concave
I'm not sure what this means, but probably not "curving inward" in the modern sense. "Con" = with and "caves" = hollow?
Or, should this be "Conclave"?
ribs
Echoes the creation of Eve from Adam.
who overcomesBy force, hath overcome but half his foe.
What is the other half? Conviction? Conversion? Winning of hearts and minds? Is he saying that God would have been better off if he had overcome the rebellion in a different way?
mee
Mee = me?
Of cold Olympus rul'd the middle AirThir highest Heav'n; or on the Delphian Cliff,Or in Dodona, and through all the boundsOf Doric Land; or who with Saturn oldFled over Adria to th' Hesperian Fields, [ 520 ]And ore the Celtic roam'd the utmost Isles.
Here and before: epic lists.
wonted
wonted = usual
with high words, that boreSemblance of worth, not substance
Milton is making a distinction here between rhetorical worth and actual worth.