The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems (201 page)
Read The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems Online
Authors: John Milton,Burton Raffel
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Literary Collections, #Poetry, #Classics, #English; Irish; Scottish; Welsh, #English poetry
5308
the River Pechora, in Siberia, flowing down from the Urals into the Arctic Ocean
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5309
Cathay = China
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5310
muddy/wet places
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5311
causing things to be petrified/turned to stone
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5312
three-pronged fish spear or scepter: wielded by Neptune in creating the Cyclades (islands in the Aegean)
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5313
one of the Cyclades: it floated until Zeus fixed it in place, for the birth of Apollo and Diana/Artemis
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5314
the most famous (and the only mortal) Gorgon, Medusa, turned to stone anyone who looked at her
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5315
harshness, strictness
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5316
blackish mineral, containing among other things pitch
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5318
mass, massive structure
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5320
the primum mobile or other shell of the universe
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5321
(1) without a safeguarding fence, (2) defenseless
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5324
Persian king who invaded Greece in 480
B.C
.
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5325
biblical Shushan, founded by Tithonus, Memnon’s father
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5326
the Dardenelles, the strait between Turkey and southeastern Europe
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5328
bridge-making
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5329
suspended, hanging
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5332
flying, flight
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5333
regions, borders
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5334
pushed itself in
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5336
roads, paths
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5338
turning, moving
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5339
i.e., steering a central course, through the high point of the sky
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5340
the sun (Uriel) rises under the sign of Aries; it is opposite to Scorpio, which is near Centaurus
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5345
Christ’s/God’s
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5346
he (Satan) returned
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5349
follow after
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5350
inevitable, deadly
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5351
relationship, connection
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5352
(1) to build/establish a position/structure of defense, (2) to become powerful
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5353
(1) marvelous, prodigious, (2) bearing portents, omens, signs
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5354
with odds = and more (“and then some!”)
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5355
defeat, repulse
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5357
decision, judgment
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5358
turned away
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5359
Heaven is square
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5360
the earth and all our world/universe is round/globular
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5362
i.e., on earth
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5364
invested with full power/authority
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5365
i.e., the “new kingdom” has, by his action, been exposed to sin and death
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5367
loss, damage
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5368
poison, destruction
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5369
suddenly infected
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5370
(though planets usually influence the earth, they are now struck, in their turn, by the activities of Sin and Death)
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5371
[bisyllabic, second accented]
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5372
darkening, loss of splendor
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5374
divided-into-parts
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5376
walls, gates
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5379
anxious, apprehensive
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5380
cut off, stop, hinder
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5381
[adjective, modifying “emperor”]
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5382
i.e., had earlier commanded
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5383
near the mouth of the Volga
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5384
Persian ruler
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5385
greater Armenia
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5386
Tabriz, in northwestern Persia
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5387
Kazvin, in northern Persia
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5391
drawing together
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5394
of low rank
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5399
directed, turned
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5401
(1) hall of state, (2) raised floor area, used (with pillows) as a kind of couch or sofa
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5405
stubborn, difficult, unmanageable
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5406
possessing no creator, since existing from the very beginning
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5408
rumor, report
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5411
beguiled, led astray
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5412
(although there are no stage directions, this being an epic poem and not a drama, Milton clearly intends at this point a burst of laughter from Satan’s devilish audience)
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5414
sudden attack
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5415
move hither and thither
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5416
break, smash, crush
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5417
ordained, established, fixed
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5418
brought low, stumbling
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5421
presumptuous, audacious
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5422
tumult, disorder, violence
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5423
twisted/twined together
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5424
mythical serpent with a head at each end
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5425
mythical water snake
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5427
dismal, melancholy
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5428
the bite of which caused intense thirst
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5429
serpents grew from Gorgon blood
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5430
“full of snakes”: one of the Balearic Islands
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5431
the dragon whom
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5432
the Pythia = the prophetess of Apollo
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5433
i.e., the sun’s heat engenders the monster in the mud (“slime”) of the Nile River
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5436
in station = at their proper post
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5438
proud, erect
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5442
make worse, weigh down, exasperate
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5445
a Fury, all three of whom had snakes in their hair
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