4. ~mild~: an attributive of the whole clause, 'regions of calm and serene air.' ~calm and serene~. These are not mere synonyms: the Lat. _serenus_ = bright or unclouded, so that the two epithets are to be respectively contrasted with 'smoke' and 'stir' (line 5); 'calm' being opposed to 'stir' and 'serene' to 'smoke.' Compare Homer's description of the seat of the gods: "Not by wind is it shaken, nor ever wet with rain, nor doth the snow come nigh thereto, but _most clear_ air is spread about it _cloudless_, and the white light floats over it," _Odyssey_, vi.: comp. note, l. 977. 5. ~this dim spot~. The Spirit describes the Earth as it appears to those immortal shapes whose presence he has just quitted. 6. There are here two attributive clauses: "which men call Earth" and "(in which) men strive," etc. ~low-thoughted care~; narrow-minded anxiety, care about earthly things. Comp. the form of the adjective 'low-browed,' _L'Alleg._ 8: both epithets are borrowed by Pope in his _Eloisa_. 7. This line is attributive to 'men.' ~pestered ... pinfold~, crowded together in this cramped space, the Earth. _Pester_, which has no connection with _pest_, is a shortened form of _impester_, Fr. _empêtrer_, to shackle a horse by the foot when it is at pasture. The radical sense is that of clogging (comp. _Son._ xii. 1); hence of crowding; and finally of annoyance or encumbrance of any kind. 'Pinfold' is strictly an enclosure in which stray cattle are _pounded_ or shut up: etymologically, the word = _pind-fold_, a corruption of _pound-fold_. Comp. _impound_, sheep-_fold_, etc. 8. ~frail and feverish~. Comp. "life's fitful fever" (_Macbeth_, iii. 2. 23). This line, like several of the adjacent ones, is alliterative. 9. ~crown that Virtue gives~. This is Scriptural language: comp. _Rev._ iv. 4; 2 _Tim._ iv. 8, "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness." 10. ~this mortal change~. In Milton's MS. line 7 was followed by the words, 'beyond the written date of mortal change,' _i.e._ beyond, or after, man's appointed time to die. These words were struck out, but we may suppose that the words 'mortal change' in line 10 have a similar meaning. Milton frequently uses 'mortal' in the sense of 'liable to death,' and hence 'human' as opposed to 'divine': the mortal change is therefore 'the change which occurs to all human beings.' Comp. _Job_, xiv. 14: "all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my _change_ come": see also line 841. Prof. Masson takes it to mean 'this mortal state of life,' as distinguished from a future state of immortality. The Spirit uses 'this' as in line 8, in contrast with 'those,' line 2. 11. ~enthroned gods~, etc. In allusion to _Rev._ iv. 4, "And upon the thrones I saw four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold." Milton frequently speaks of the inhabitants of heaven as _enthroned_. The accent here falls on the first syllable of the word.