570. ~mine ear~: see note, l. 171. 571. ~wizard~. Here used in contempt, like many other words with the suffix _-ard_, or _-art_, as braggart, sluggard, etc. Milton occasionally, however, uses the word merely in the sense of magician or magical, without implying contempt: see _Lyc._ 55, "Deva spreads her _wizard_ stream." 572. ~certain signs~: see l. 644. 574. ~aidless~: an obsolete word. See Trench's _English Past and Present_ for a list of about 150 words in _-less_, all now obsolete: comp. l. 92, note. ~wished~: wished for. Comp. l. 950 for a similar transitive use of the verb. 575. ~such two~: two persons of such and such description. 577. ~durst not stay~. _Durst_ is the old past tense of _dare_, and is used as an auxiliary: the form _dared_ is much more modern, and may be used as an independent verb. 578. ~sprung~: see note, l. 256. 579. ~till I had found~. The language is extremely condensed here, the meaning being, 'I began my flight, and continued to run till I _had found_ you'; the pluperfect tense is used because the speaker is looking back upon his meeting with the brothers after completing a long narration of the circumstances that led up to it. If, however, 'had found' be regarded as a subjunctive, the meaning is, 'I began my flight, and determined to continue it until I had found (_i.e._ should have found) you.' Comp. Abbott § 361. 581. ~triple knot~, a three-fold alliance of Night, Shades, and Hell. 584. "This confidence of the elder brother in favour of the final efficacy of virtue, holds forth a very high strain of philosophy, delivered in as high strains of eloquence and poetry" (Warton). And Todd adds: "Religion here gave energy to the poet's strains." 585. ~safely~, confidently. ~period~, sentence. 586. ~for me~, _i.e._ for my part, so far as I am concerned: see note, l. 602. 588. ~Which erring men call Chance~. 'Erring' belongs to the predicate; "which men erroneously call Chance." Comp. Pope, _Essay on Man_: "All nature is but art, unknown to thee; All chance, direction, which thou canst not see." 588. ~this I hold firm~. 'This' is explained by the next line: "this belief, namely, that Virtue may be assailed, etc., I hold firmly." 590. ~enthralled~, enslaved. Comp. l. 1022. 591. ~which ... harm~, which the Evil Power intended to be most harmful. 595-7. ~Gathered like scum~, etc. According to one editor, this image is "taken from the conjectures of astronomers concerning the dark spots which from time to time appear on the surface of the sun's body and after a while disappear again; which they suppose to be the scum of that fiery matter which first breeds it, and then breaks through and consumes it."